AP – Suu Kyi bears no grudge against American intruder

AFP – Myanmar’s Suu Kyi marks six years of detention

Reuters – Suu Kyi’s health improves, ready for verdict

Inquirer.net – US presses Myanmar to free Aung San Suu Kyi

VOA News – Burma’s Aung San Suu Kyi Allowed to Meet with Lawyers

VOA News – Editorial: Injustice In Burma

EarthTimes – Suu Kyi meets with lawyers, discuss closing arguments in trail

The Straits Times – Ancient pagoda collapses

ReliefWeb – UNICEF Deputy Executive Director appeals for donor support in post-cyclone Myanmar

Morung Express News – Neiphiu Rio on winter diplomacy to Myanmar

The Bangkok Post – PTT seeks M9 delivery delay

The Irrawaddy – EDITORIAL: A Guilty Verdict is Certain, but What Then?

DVB News – Suu Kyi trial adjourned further

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Suu Kyi bears no grudge against American intruder
2 hrs 29 mins ago

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) – Myanmar’s detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi harbors no ill feelings toward an American whose uninvited intrusion into her house may put her behind bars for five years, her lawyer said Saturday.

The country’s military regime has accused her of violating the terms of her house arrest for sheltering American John W. Yettaw after he swam to her lakeside residence in early May.

“Daw Aung San Suu Kyi said she bore no grudge against Mr. Yettaw or his family,” her defense lawyer Nyan Win told reporters after meeting her for 2 1/2 hours to prepare for the defense’s final arguments. Daw is a term of respect for Myanmar women.

Some of Suu Kyi’s supporters have called Yettaw a fool or dupe for getting her into trouble.

Nyan Win said that Suu Kyi’s health was improving following reports Friday that she needed urgent medical attention in the prison where she is being held.

A party statement said it was “gravely concerned” about the Nobel Peace Prize laureate’s health, saying she cannot sleep well because she suffers from leg cramps.

Suu Kyi, 63, was treated for dehydration and low blood pressure in early May, a few days after Yettaw was arrested for sneaking into her home.

In her courtroom appearance Tuesday, Suu Kyi looked pale and weak.

Myanmar’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement last Sunday that Suu Kyi, who is being held in a prison “guest house,” is being “provided with adequate health care and she is in good health.” The government earlier said a team of doctors was taking care of her.

Closing arguments in the trial were rescheduled from next Monday to Friday. The reason was not immediately known, and court authorities were not available for comment.

The trial has drawn outrage from the international community and Suu Kyi’s local supporters, who worry that the military junta has found an excuse to keep her detained through next year’s elections. Her party overwhelmingly won the last elections in 1990 but was not allowed to take power by the military, which has run the country since 1962.

Suu Kyi has pleaded not guilty. Her defense team acknowledges that the 53-year-old Yettaw swam to her lakeside home, where he stayed for two days. But they argue it was the duty of government guards outside her closely watched house to prevent intruders.

Yettaw, who was taken to Suu Kyi’s home Thursday by officials to re-enact his visit, told the court Wednesday he had been sent by God to warn Suu Kyi of his premonition that she would be assassinated by terrorists, Nyan Win said.

Yettaw also secretly went to Suu Kyi’s home late last year but did not meet her. He testified that security personnel observed him during both visits but did not try to stop him, Nyan Win said.

Yettaw and two female party members who live with Suu Kyi face the same charge as Suu Kyi and have also pleaded not guilty.

The defense’s main argument appears to be that the charge against Suu Kyi is unlawful. Her lawyers say it cites a law that refers to a 1974 constitution which was annulled when the military took power in 1988.

However, supporters fear Suu Kyi may be found guilty because the courts are under the influence of the ruling junta and usually mete out harsh punishments to political dissidents.

Nyan Win said Thursday night he was “very confident of victory if the trial is carried out according to law.”

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Myanmar’s Suu Kyi marks six years of detention
Sat May 30, 4:14 am ET

YANGON (AFP) – Myanmar’s pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi marked the sixth anniversary of her latest period of detention Saturday, as she awaits her trial verdict amid renewed fears for her health.

Members of the Nobel peace laureate’s political party donated food to monks in early morning ceremonies as they recalled her arrest in 2003 following a pro-junta mob attack on her motorcade that left about 70 people dead.

She has been held under house arrest since the incident near Depeyin in northern Myanmar, but was moved to Yangon’s Insein Prison two weeks ago following fresh charges against her.

The 63-year-old has spent 13 of the past 19 years in detention and the new trial has drawn international outrage.

On Saturday US Defence Secretary Robert Gates told a high-level security forum in Singapore that Myanmar’s rulers must release her and begin dialogue with the opposition.

“We need to see real change in Burma — the release of political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi, and the institution of meaningful dialogue between the junta and the opposition,” Gates said, using Myanmar’s former name, Burma.

On Saturday the junta again attempted to defend the fresh charges relating to the surprise visit of an eccentric American to Aung San Suu Kyi’s home in early May.

“Every citizen is to understand the fact that the government’s promulgating the laws and taking action against offenders… are not associated with any forms of discrimination but just in the interests of the nation and the people,” state newspaper the New Light of Myanmar said.

On Friday Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) party said it was “very concerned” about her health as she was suffering from leg cramps.

NLD spokesman and her lawyer Nyan Win went to the prison Saturday in an attempt to meet his client after discovering Friday that final legal arguments had been delayed from Monday until Friday next week.

She faces up to five years in jail on charges of breaching her house arrest after 53-year-old Mormon John Yettaw swam to her house in Yangon.

State media said Yettaw had joined lawyers, police and judges on an inspection visit of her home on Friday.

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Suu Kyi’s health improves, ready for verdict
By Aung Hla Tun – 1 hr 15 mins ago

YANGON (Reuters) – Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s health has improved and she is ready to face a verdict that could see the Nobel laureate jailed for up to five years, her lawyers said on Saturday.

Suu Kyi, whose trial on charges of violating her house arrest will hear final arguments on Friday, was feeling better after she complained of leg cramps and a lack of sleep, Nyan Win, one of her lawyers, said.

The National League for Democracy (NLD) said on Friday it was “gravely concerned” for its leader’s health and demanded urgent care for the 63-year-old, who has been held at a guest house in Yangon’s Insein central prison since May 14.

Prison doctors visited Suu Kyi and recommended that she stop taking two medicines, said Nyan Win.

“She now can sleep well,” he said after her defense team was allowed to meet her for two hours on Saturday.

“She didn’t say what she expects the verdict to be. She is ready to face whatever happens.”

Suu Kyi may be jailed for three to five years if found guilty of breaking the terms of her house arrest by allowing an American intruder to stay for two days after he swam to her home on May 4.

She has spent more than 13 of the past 19 years in some form of detention, much of it a virtual prisoner inside her home on Yangon’s Inya Lake. Activists fear for her health if she is convicted, as is widely expected.

The West has condemned the “show trial” as a ploy to keep the charismatic opposition leader detained during the military government’s promised elections next year.
MORE PRESSURE

In Singapore, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates repeated Washington’s call for the release of Suu Kyi and more than 2,000 other political prisoners in the former Burma, where the military has ruled for nearly half a century.

Speaking at an Asian defense conference, he called Myanmar “one of the isolated, desolate exceptions to the growing prosperity and freedom of the region.”

“We saw Burma’s resistance to accept basic humanitarian aid last year following Cyclone Nargis — a decision indicative of that country’s approach to the rest of the world,” he said.

Myanmar’s Southeast Asian neighbors have also called for Suu Kyi’s release and said the trial threatened the military’s government’s “honor and credibility.”

The regime fired back on Thursday, accusing its critics of meddling in an “internal legal issue,” and denying the prosecution of Suu Kyi was a political or human rights issue.

Final arguments in the case had been expected on Monday, but the prison court informed Suu Kyi’s lawyers on Friday that the trial would resume on June 5. It gave no reason for the change.

The American intruder, John Yettaw, has told the court that God sent him to warn Suu Kyi that she was going to be assassinated by “terrorists.”

Suu Kyi has denied any prior knowledge of his plans and blamed the incident on a security breach, for which no officials have been punished.

She is accused of violating her house arrest under Section 22 of a security law protecting the state from “subversive elements.” Her lawyers argue that section is no longer valid because it is based on the 1974 constitution abolished years ago.

Suu Kyi’s two female housemates and Yettaw are charged under the same security law. The American is also accused of immigration violations and breaking a municipal law against swimming in Inya Lake.

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Inquirer.net – US presses Myanmar to free Aung San Suu Kyi
Agence France-Presse
First Posted 10:18:00 05/30/2009

SINGAPORE – US Defense Secretary Robert Gates pressed Myanmar’s military rulers Saturday to free pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and reopen dialogue with the opposition.

“We need to see real change in Burma – the release of political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi, and the institution of meaningful dialogue between the junta and the opposition,” Gates told a high-level security forum in Singapore.

Burma is Myanmar’s former name.

He described military-ruled Myanmar as “one of the isolated, desolate exceptions to the growing prosperity and freedom for the region.”

Aung San Suu Kyi is being detained in a notorious Yangon prison while facing trial on new charges, which have drawn international condemnation, including from Europe and Myanmar’s Southeast Asian neighbors.

She faces up to five years in jail on charges of breaching her house arrest after an eccentric American man swam to her lakeside house in Yangon.

Her political party on Friday said it was “very concerned” about the health of the 63-year-old Nobel Laureate.

Myanmar’s military junta has kept Aung San Suu Kyi in detention for 13 of the past 19 years, most of them in virtual isolation at her tightly guarded home by Yangon’s Inya Lake.

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VOA News – Burma’s Aung San Suu Kyi Allowed to Meet with Lawyers
30 May 2009

Aung San Suu Kyi’s lawyer says Burmese military authorities allowed the detained opposition leader to meet with her lawyers for two hours Saturday in Rangoon’s notorious Insein prison, apparently to prepare for final arguments in her trial.

Attorney Kyi Win told VOA Burmese Service that the Nobel peace laureate is in good health.

A spokesman for the National League for Democracy, Nyan Win, told VOA Burmese Service Friday that Aung San Suu Kyi is suffering from severe leg cramps, which keep her awake at night.

Burma’s military government said last week that she receives good medical care in prison.

Nyan Win also said the court has postponed final arguments in Aung San Suu Kyi’s trial from next Monday to next Friday. He said no reasons were given for the delay.

Aung San Suu Kyi is on trial for allegedly violating the terms of her house arrest.

The trial stems from a visit by an intruder who swam to her lakeside home in early May and stayed overnight.

The American intruder, John Yettaw, is also on trial. He told the court he had dreamt that the 63-year-old Nobel Prize laureate would be assassinated and that he came to warn her.

If convicted, Aung San Suu Kyi could be sentenced to a prison term of up to five years. She has spent 13 of the past 19 years under house arrest.

The sole defense witness allowed to testify argued in court Thursday that it was the job of government guards outside Aung San Suu Kyi’s home to keep intruders out.

Burma’s military government lashed out Thursday at foreign critics of the trial. Deputy Foreign Minister Maung Myint said during a Europe-Asia summit in Cambodia that the trial is an internal legal issue, not linked to politics or human rights.

The international community has condemned the trial as a pretext to extend the opposition leader’s house arrest and bar her from elections next year.

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VOA News – Editorial: Injustice In Burma
29 May 2009

Burmese justice, or more precisely the lack of it, is on full display in Rangoon with the trial of democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi on spurious charges of violating the terms of her house arrest.

Secretary General of Burma’s National League for Democracy, or NLD, and a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, she faces up to 5 more years in detention if convicted of allowing an uninvited intruder to spend the night in her home when he became too weak and ill to leave when so ordered.

The NLD party won Burma’s last elections in 1990, but the results were ignored by the government. New elections are planned next year, in which Aung San Suu Kyi likely could not have a voice if she were still in custody. U.S. President Barack Obama joined an international chorus condemning her arrest and demanding her immediate release.

“Such an action would be an affirmative and significant step on Burma’s part to begin to restore its standing in the eyes of the United States and the world community, and to move toward a better future for its people,” President Obama said.

With a new administration, the U.S. is reviewing its policy toward Burma, which has been subject to U.S. trade and investment sanctions because of its repressive government and repeated violations of human rights.

Aung San Suu Kyi’s lengthy detention and isolation and now her prosecution in what amounts to a government show trial cast serious doubt on the Burmese regime’s willingness to be a responsible member of the international community.

The U.S. is not alone in its concern for the imprisoned Nobel laureate. Asian and European Union leaders meeting in Vietnam jointly called for her release and that of all other Burmese political prisoners. Some of Burma’s neighbors have called for the Rangoon government to be suspended from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations if she continues to be detained.

Burma’s leaders have an important opportunity to show their commitment to genuine rule of law. They should release Aung San Suu Kyi immediately.

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EarthTimes – Suu Kyi meets with lawyers, discuss closing arguments in trail
Posted : Sat, 30 May 2009 15:17:47 GMT
Author : DPA

Yangon – Myanmar’s opposition leader currently on trial for allegedly breaking the terms of her house arrest met with her lawyers Saturday, one of her three lawyers said.

They met to discuss closing arguments with the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize laureate for about two hours at Insein Prison on the outskirts Yangon, said Nyan Win, one of her lawyers.

Nyan Win, who is also spokesman for the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD), which Suu Kyi leads, said final arguments by both the defence and prosecution are now scheduled for next Friday, having been pushed back from Monday.

The democracy advocate was moved to Insein Prison on May 8 to stand trial for allegedly allowing a US national to swim on May 3 to her home-cum-prison on Yangon’s Inya Lake. He departed on the night of May 5.

Suu Kyi has spent 14 of the past 20 years under house arrest in a country ruled by a military junta continually criticized for human rights abuses. She now faces another three to five years in jail if found guilty of breaking the terms of her latest, six-year detention.

Western leaders have criticized the current trial as a show trial that is designed to keep Suu Kyi out of the political scene while the junta stages a general election next year.

Some of Myanmar’s close allies in the Association of South-East Asian Nations have also raised concerns that the frail pro-democracy leader might face five more years of imprisonment, perhaps in Insein Prison, which is notorious for harsh treatment of inmates.

Suu Kyi, her two household aides and US national John William Yettaw stand accused of breaking Suu Kyi’s terms of house arrest as a result of Yettaw’s swim to her home.

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May 30, 2009
The Straits Times – Ancient pagoda collapses

YANGON (Myanmar) – AN ANCIENT pagoda collapsed close to Myanmar’s main city of Yangon on Saturday injuring more than 30 people, most of whom were soldiers working on reconstruction of the site, police told AFP.

A police officer said it was not known why the Danok pagoda in Dalla township, sat across a river from Yangon, had fallen suddenly in the afternoon, but the collapse came after two days of heavy rains.

‘The volunteers are trying to help those still trapped underneath the collapsed pagoda. So far more than 30 people are injured,’ the officer told AFP.

‘Many soldiers were injured as they were working on the pagoda construction,’ he said.

Military, navy, police, fire brigade and local Red Cross members were stationed at a nearby jetty to help ferry the wounded to hospital.

Yangon General Hospital confirmed 26 injured people had arrived from the pagoda for treatment, but did not elaborate on their injuries.

The tiered tower was recently the site of a religious ceremony led by the wife of Myanmar’s top leader, Than Shwe.

Kyaing Kyaing led the May 7 ceremony, hoisting a diamond orb to the top of the pagoda, situated about 30 kilometres from western Yangon.

Danok Pagoda, famous in Myanmar because it is enshrined with two sacred Buddhist relics, was damaged during Cyclone Nargis in May last year and was recently undergoing reconstruction.

Myanmar, which has been ruled by the military since 1962, is a predominantly Buddhist country and many pagodas can be seen around the country.

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ReliefWeb – UNICEF Deputy Executive Director appeals for donor support in post-cyclone Myanmar
Source: United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)
Date: 29 May 2009
By Zafrin Chowdhury

KUNGYANGON, Myanmar, 29 May 2009 – On a recent visit to Myanmar, UNICEF Deputy Executive Director Hilde F. Johnson made a strong appeal to donors to assist recovery efforts here – especially on issues of housing and income generation – one year after the devastation wrought by Cyclone Nargis.

The visit included extensive travel, in the midst of heavy rains, to a range of different UNICEF-supported interventions.

“It is very clear that there are major gaps in shelter, and many people are actually still living under the tarpaulin shacks without proper housing,” said Ms. Johnson. “That is going to be a significant challenge with the monsoon that is now unfolding here in Myanmar.

“We need to see a much larger response from donors to be able to finance and scale up both housing and livelihoods,” she added. “It’s with more income that people can invest in building a stronger base for their future, and those two areas are major gaps now. We would like to appeal to donors to really step up to the plate.”

Ms. Johnson met senior government officials in the capital, Nay Pyi Taw, and held meetings with the UN Country Team, ambassadors and diplomats in Yangon, in addition to travelling throughout the cyclone-torn Irrawaddy Delta.

New ‘child-friendly school’

In Kungyangon township, Ms. Johnson, along with UNICEF Representative in Myanmar Ramesh Shrestha, visited a newly built ‘child-friendly school’ providing a range of services for students. Ms. Johnson cut the ribbon to inaugurate the school with the Deputy Minister of Education, Brigadier General Aung Myo Min.

UNICEF plans to build close to 45 child-friendly schools across Myanmar with the currently available and committed funding support. The Kungyangon School is among the first nine being completed in the townships hardest hit by Cyclone Nargis. Classes in the new schools will resume in the new school year starting in June.

“The main thing now is that the government takes this on, and build schools at large scale that are stronger and can hold in the wake of storms and bad weather and natural disasters,” said Ms. Johnson.

About 60 per cent of damaged primary schools received direct assistance from UNICEF with repair, learning materials and teachers’ training, which helped bring over 400,000 primary school children back to school.

The model schools include innovative ways to reduce heat and noise and foster child-friendliness. They also have a library, a playground, a teachers’ room, new sanitary latrines with wash basins outside, safe-water storage facilities and a wheelchair-accessible ramp.

“In the old school, I had to sit and write on the floor. We did not have furniture like we now have. This school was built for us by UNICEF,” said Khine Thazin, a student in the third grade.

Reuniting families

In Laputta, Ms. Johnson met with Child Protection Community Support Group members and some of the children who were reunited with their extended families. The children she met lost both parents and are now living with family members who themselves were in dire hardship after the disaster.

The families shared with Ms. Johnson how they took on the added responsibility in spite of poverty and difficulties in taking care of their families. Some caregivers have received funding for small-scale business activities, such as selling groceries or raising livestock. Food and education support are offered for the children.

As of the end April in Laputta, UNICEF and its implementing partners helped reunite 603 children with either their immediate or extended families. Family tracing efforts are continuing for the few remaining separated children.

Struggle for survival

In the Interim Care Home, Ms. Johnson met the only two remaining siblings at the facility. Aye Myat Mon, 6, told her the harrowing tale of losing her parents on the night Cyclone Nargis struck, and of the struggle for survival that followed with her three-year-old brother, Ye Htet Kyaw.

“Days following the cyclone, we only ate whatever food items we could find floating on the water,” said Aye Myat Mon, “Eventually we found a boat and came here with some neighbours. I am happy here.”

At the home, they receive care from two full-time female caregivers with the Myanmar Red Cross Society, a UNICEF partner. Ye Htet Kyaw was diagnosed with tuberculosis while being treated for malnutrition and has just completed a six-month course of treatment. Aye Myat Mon is preparing to go to school when classes begin next month.
Ms. Johnson spent some time with the children. “They are taken care of, but it is difficult to live without mummy and daddy,” she said.

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Morung Express News – Neiphiu Rio on winter diplomacy to Myanmar
Al Ngullie

Perceived to be a subsequent rally to the May 20 New Delhi meeting with Myanmar’s Ambassador to India U-Kyi Thein, the chief minister of Nagaland Neiphiu Rio is likely to visit the Junta’s authorities either by the fall or winter.

Neiphiu Rio had met with U-Kyi Thein in New Delhi May 20 and interactions, over the issue of Nagas in Myanmar, were exchanged. The Myanmar Ambassador had then invited the Naga politician to visit Yangoon’s authorities to deliberate on the matter of ‘recognizing’ Myanmar’s minority Nagas with a “status” – within either the political or administrative framework of the country. Thein had assured that the matter would be communicated to the Myanmar government at the earliest. Latest independent confirmation, whether or not Thein has communicated with his government on the matter, could not be had for now.

Highly-placed sources in the state government said Rio would visit Yangoon probably autumn or early winter. The Chief Minister’s Office could not be contacted for independent confirmation but knowledgeable sources in the government said the tentative schedule is winter. The source also informed that no agenda specific to Rio’s Myanmar diplomacy has been officially discussed yet by the government. It was nonetheless understood after his return from Delhi that either by October or late November, Rio would be in Yangoon.

Another minister when contacted said, the date is being “talked out” winter. On the query who in the NPF-DAN Cabinet is being seen as members of Rio’s team for Yangoon, the minister said “he can choose whoever he wants to but no list or date has been finalized.”

Rio also issued a message addressed to Ambassador Thein today expressing gratitude for “inviting me to visit Myanmar and hold talks with representatives of your government and leaders of civil society in Myanmar.” Not mentioning when, the chief minister stated in his message to be looking forward to the Yangoon visit “at a convenient date soon.”
Making further assurances to Thein, Rio said to pursue “financial grant” for developmental initiatives in the Naga-inhabited territories, with the Government of India. “I am confident that with your initiative and support, the Government of India will do something positive to alleviate the problems and sufferings of the Naga people in erstwhile Burma. Thein’s suggestion to undertake cultural exchange efforts between the two peoples is appreciated by Rio

The Myanmar Nagas

Lack of from-the-spot data continues to be a blind-spot to making actual assessment of the plight of Myanmar Nagas. Nonetheless, information garnered from various news and internet sources estimate the minority to be a population of between 150, 000 to 200,000. The Nagas in Burma are said to be concentrated mainly in a number of townships such as Lahe, Namyun, Homemalin, Khamthi and Leshi and Pangsau of Sagaing regions and Shing Bwe Yang in the Kachin provinces.

Their socio-economic conditions are some of the worst in the military-administered provinces. The Nagas in Burma are widely said to be one of the most poverty-stricken and deprived communities in the police state. On the religious front, they are said to be persecuted on two sides: Buddhists who want the predominantly Christian Nagas to be converted to Buddhism, and the Myanmar military that constantly engage in razing Christian establishments and persecuting Christian missionaries.

Information updates on the Indo-Burma borders say that children are also recruited forcibly into the Myanmar military. With barely any road, transport or communication facility in the border provinces where the Nagas are concentrated, children are bare without education or basic healthcare. In fact, updates say, the highest a Naga child can study is till primary – then they join their parents’ in farming.

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ENERGY
The Bangkok Post – PTT seeks M9 delivery delay
By: NAREERAT WIRIYAPONG
Published: 30/05/2009 at 12:00 AM
Newspaper section: Business

PTT Plc, the national oil and gas flagship, has been negotiating with Burma to delay gas deliveries from Burma’s M9 block by two years to 2015, citing lower-than-expected domestic gas consumption.

PTT Exploration and Production Plc (PTTEP), the upstream petroleum arm of PTT, aims to spend 70 billion baht on the M9 project over five years to 2013.

The delivery of M9 gas has already been put back from 2012 to 2013 but the Thai side now wants new gas to arrive from 2015, said Chitrapongse Kwangsukstith, chief operating officer for PTT’s upstream petroleum and gas business.

“Earlier, we anticipated gas consumption in Thailand would grow by more than 10% a year over five years. But this year, for example, it will be flat as the economy slows,” he said.

The price of M9 gas has been agreed at the same level as that from Burma’s Yadana and Yetagun fields, although gas delivered from Burma through pipelines is normally priced higher than that pumped from the Gulf of Thailand due to transport costs, he said.

PTTEP currently pays an average of US$5.83 per million British Thermal Units (BTU).

The M9 block has clearly proven high gas reserves, which PTTEP puts at 1.7 trillion cubic feet, said Mr Chitrapongse.

PTTEP, which is 65.5% owned by PTT, was awarded the M9 block concessions in 2003 and began exploration activities in 2005. About 15% of the company’s five-year capital expenditure of 485 billion baht has been allocated to M9 block activities.PTTEP has reserves of 944 million barrels of oil equivalent, of which 80% is gas and 20% oil. PTTEP’s revenue of 140 billion baht last year came 65% from natural gas and 35% from oil.

In 2008 Thailand consumed 3,482 million cubic feet per day of gas, a third of which came from Burma, and 560 billion barrels of oil. Other foreign sources of gas are the Thailand-Malaysia Joint Development Area (JDA) and Indonesia’s Natuna gas field.

Shares of PTT closed yesterday on the Stock Exchange of Thailand at 220 baht, up three baht, in trade worth 2.43 billion baht. PTTEP shares closed at 130.50 baht, up 5.50 baht, in trade worth 2.99 billion baht.

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The Irrawaddy – EDITORIAL: A Guilty Verdict is Certain, but What Then?
Friday, May 29, 2009

Despite a note of guarded optimism struck by one of Aung San Suu Kyi’s lawyers and notwithstanding mounting international pressure, there is no real indication that her trial in Rangoon will end in her acquittal and release.

“We don’t accept pressure and interference from abroad,” said Burma’s Deputy Foreign Minister Maung Myint.

“The case against Aung San Suu Kyi is an internal legal issue,” he told a meeting of the European Union and Southeast Asian ministers in Cambodia.

Since the pro-democracy leader was first arraigned on a charge of violating the terms of her house arrest, international pressure has been increasing to unexpected levels, even from the organization where the regime traditionally finds protection, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean).

Strong statements came from world leaders such as US President Barack Obama, who said, “It is time for the Burmese government to drop all charges against Aung San Suu Kyi and unconditionally release her and her fellow political prisoners. Obama’s administration-which had been reviewing its hard-line policy towards Burma-also extended its economic sanctions against the junta right after her arrest on May 14.

Britain’s Prime Minister Gordon Brown delivered a particularly strong and impassioned statement, talking of action to ensure the release of Suu Kyi.

The statement, issued to mark Suu Kyi’s 64th birthday on June 19, declared: “I add my voice to the growing chorus of those demanding your release. For too long the world has failed to act in the face of this intolerable injustice. That is not changing. The clamour for your release is growing across Europe, Asia, and the entire world. We must do all we can to make this birthday the last you spend without your freedom.”

The UN Security Council was prompted to break its silence, expressing its concern over Suu Kyi’s arrest and trial and the current deadlocked political situation.

Asean, which is always cautious about criticizing its members, said the action now taken against Suu Kyi had damaged the image of the grouping. Asean’s Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan said Burma’s treatment of the pro-democracy leader and other political prisoners has damaged Asean’s image. The Thai government, the current chair of Asean, also expressed its concern over Suu Kyi’s trial and her state of health.

All these expressions of concern, however, fall on deaf ears in Naypyidaw. The junta’s Foreign Ministry said on Thursday that the trial “will not have any political impact. The government, therefore, will hold multiparty general elections, fifth step of the roadmap in 2010.”

There it is. Now it’s clear. Suu Kyi will be sentenced to three or five years imprisonment at the end of this carefully orchestrated trial, which is likely to end next week, according to Suu Kyi’s legal team.

So, what then? What can be expected from world leaders such as Obama and Brown and organizations such as the UN Security Council and Asean?

For his part, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Burma from 200 to 2008, has called for the Security Council to establish a commission of inquiry into crimes against humanity committed by the junta, with the possibility of obtaining an indictment by the International Criminal Court.

In the case of Asean, it is being suggested that the grouping might want to suspend Burma because of the damage it is doing to its image.

World leaders like Obama and Brown can work with the international bodies, the UN, EU and Asean, and even with Burma’s closest allies, China, India and Russia, which are quietly guarding their business interests with the junta by turning a blind eye to the trial and other injustices.

All need only one thing-political will.

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DVB News – Suu Kyi trial adjourned further

May 30, 2009 (DVB)-The next hearing in the trial of Burma’s Aung San Suu Kyi has been delayed by the court until 5 June, with no reason given, said the opposition leader’s lawyer.

In a letter sent to lawyer Kyi Win yesterday evening, the court at Rangoon’s Insein prison, where Suu Kyi is on trial for alleged breaching of conditions of her house arrest, announced the trial would be further adjourned until 5 June.

The next hearing had originally been set for 1 June.

Another member of Suu Kyi’s legal team, Nyan Win, said that no reason had been given for the delay.

Nyan Win had previously suggested that the court was attempting to rush through the trial, following last week’s abrupt dropping of the final nine prosecution witnesses, and the disqualification of all but one of Suu Kyi’s witnesses.

Yesterday the National League of Democracy spoke of their conern for Suu Kyi’s health.

She is being held at a special ‘guesthouse’ at Insein prison, and is said to be suffering from leg cramps that are preventing her from sleeping.

Reporting by Htet Aung Kyaw

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