AP

Posted: 2007-12-14 09:01:40

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) – Myanmar’s military Friday invited private gem dealers to a major auction Friday, just days after the United States tightened laws to discourage ruby and jade imports from the army-ruled country.

A notice published in the Kyemon daily Friday invited traders to a sale of gemstones, jade and jewelry organized by the Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings Ltd., a holding company 100 percent owned by active and retired military personnel.

The event will take place Jan. 15-19 in Myanmar’s commercial center, Yangon, the newspaper said.

Myanmar is one of the biggest jade- and gem-producing countries in the world, as well as the source of up to 90 percent of its rubies.

Gem auctions are a major revenue earner for the ruling junta, which faces economic and political sanctions from the West because of its poor human rights record and failure to hand over power to a democratically elected government.

The U.S. House of Representatives approved legislation Tuesday to tighten already tough sanctions by stopping virtually all imports of rubies and high-quality jade from Myanmar, closing a loophole that previously allowed the import of Myanmar gems refined in third countries.

The state-owned Myanmar Gems Enterprise earned about US$150 million (euro103.5 million) at a gem and jade sale in November – its first since the junta sparked an international outcry in September with a bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protests.

America’s first lady Laura Bush, an advocate for human rights and democracy in Myanmar, said the junta made half the revenue it had expected from that sale because of the pressure put on buyers not to do business there.

Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings is also involved mining, trading, transportation, hotels and banking.