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AP – Lawyers for Myanmar’s Suu Kyi file witness appeal
AP – Obama nominee indicates possible change on Myanmar
AFP – Aung San Suu Kyi says trial politically motivated
AFP – France, Germany in joint appeal for Aung San Suu Kyi
AFP – Myanmar’s Suu Kyi hits out over guarded home
Reuters – Climate change worsens disaster risks for poor-UN
Reuters – France, Germany deplore Myanmar attitude
EUbusiness – EU concerned at Myanmar army offensive on Karen rebels
YaleGlobal Online – Tunnels, Guns and Kimchi: North Korea’s Quest for Dollars – Part I
The Himalayan Times – Allow Suu Kyi to campaign:Singapore
ReliefWeb – Sri Lanka: Ambassador Gunaratna lauds Myanmar for being a “friend indeed”
ReliefWeb – UN in Myanmar calls for urgent support to education
Monsters and Critics  – Myanmar imposes condition to repatriate Rohingyas from Bangladesh
The Daily Star – Myanmar firm keen to export 500MW power to Bangladesh
VOA News – French President: Burma Blocks Call to Detained Opposition Leader
UPI – Suu Kyi trial may last two more weeks
BBC News – Burma’s Karen unable to return home
The New Nation – Myanmar co keen to set up hydroelectricity plant
The Indian Express – Recent action against Suu Kyi deeply troubling: US
CNA News – Singapore assists Myanmar in post-cyclone recovery efforts
CNA News – SM Goh urges Myanmar to continue with national reconciliation process
The Gulf TImes – MSF plans healthcare in camps
The Asian Age – Opinion: Economics no reason for silence on Suu Kyi
Xinhua – Myanmar leader to visit China: FM
Xinhua – Online visa on arrival system introduced in Myanmar
The Nation – Reasons why Thailand can’t push Burma too far
Mizzima News – British MPs vow to support democracy-human rights in Burma
The Irrawaddy – Big Demand for Suu Kyi Birthday Portrait
The Irrawaddy – Being a Defense Lawyer in Burma Is a Risky Business
DVB News – Commentary: Impunity bars justice for Burmese ethnic groups
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Lawyers for Myanmar’s Suu Kyi file witness appeal
Thu Jun 11, 9:32 am ET

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) – Lawyers for jailed opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi filed an appeal Thursday to Myanmar’s High Court to reinstate two key defense witnesses in a case that could put her in prison for five years.

Suu Kyi gave her legal team instructions to pursue a second appeal during a 90-minute meeting Wednesday at Insein Prison, where she is being held while on trial on charges of violating the terms of her house arrest, lawyer Nyan Win said. The charges stem from the surprise visit of an American man who swam across a lake to her house.

The District Court trying Suu Kyi allowed only one of four defense witnesses to take the stand. On appeal, the Yangon Divisional Court on Tuesday ruled that a second witness could be heard. Two senior members of Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party remain barred from giving testimony.

Suu Kyi “told us to see it through to the end as the ruling is legally wrong,” Nyan Win said.

The Nobel Peace Prize laureate also told her lawyers that she believes the case against her is “politically motivated” but that this wouldn’t stop her from continuing her fight for democracy, he said.

“She said she is engaged in politics due to her political belief and commitment,” Nyan Win said. “She would not be doing politics if she were afraid of the consequences. ”

The High Court initially set a hearing for June 17 to decide whether to allow the second appeal but later said no date had been decided, Nyan Win said.

He also accused the government of trying to pressure Suu Kyi’s defense team, saying that the wife of lawyer Hla Myo Myint who worked as a civil servant was suddenly dismissed from her job Tuesday.

“No reason or explanation was given for the dismissal. This clearly shows that there is no rule of law,” Nyan Win said. The dismissal could not immediately be confirmed because government offices are not allowed to speak to the media.

Suu Kyi is charged with violating terms of her house arrest because an uninvited American man swam secretly to her closely guarded lakeside home last month and stayed two days. If convicted, she faces up to five years in prison.

It is widely expected that Suu Kyi, 63, will be found guilty because courts in Myanmar are known for handing out harsh sentences to political dissidents.

The hearing has drawn outrage from the international community and Suu Kyi’s local supporters, who say the military government is using the bizarre incident as an excuse to keep the pro-democracy leader detained through next year’s elections.

President Barack Obama’s choice for the top U.S. diplomat in East Asia said the outcome of Suu Kyi’s trial would be a major consideration as Washington decides whether to relax its long-standing policy of isolation against Myanmar.

Kurt Campbell told U.S. lawmakers at his Senate confirmation hearing that Myanmar’s heavy-handed treatment of Suu Kyi hindered any effort to change course and engage the junta.

He said the junta’s trial of Suu Kyi was “deeply, deeply concerning, and it makes it very difficult to move forward.”

It was not clear if another appeal for more defense witnesses, which could cause further delays in the proceedings, would be accepted. Closing arguments that had originally been scheduled for June 1 were postponed by the court without explanation until June 5 and were delayed again by the first appeal for more witnesses.

Since at least one extra witness now must be heard, no new date has been set for closing arguments.

Nyan Win said Tuesday that he did not expect a verdict for at least two more weeks.

The uninvited American visitor, John Yettaw of Missouri, and two women who live with Suu Kyi are being tried on the same charge.

Suu Kyi’s party won the country’s last elections in 1990 but was not allowed to take power by the military, which has run the country since 1962. She has been under house arrest for more than 13 of the past 19 years.

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Obama nominee indicates possible change on Myanmar
By FOSTER KLUG, Associated Press Writer  – Wed Jun 10, 6:19 pm ET

WASHINGTON (AP) – President Barack Obama’s choice as top U.S. diplomat for East Asia said Wednesday the United States is interested in easing its long-standing policy of isolation against military-run Myanmar.

Kurt Campbell, however, told U.S. lawmakers at his Senate confirmation hearing that Myanmar’s heavy-handed treatment of detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi hinders any U.S. effort to change course and engage the ruling junta in Myanmar, also called Burma.

“As a general practice, we’re prepared to reach out, not just in Burma but in other situations as well,” Campbell said.

But, he said, the junta’s trial this week of Suu Kyi on charges that could put her in prison for five years is “deeply, deeply concerning, and it makes it very difficult to move forward.”

Expectations are that the 63-year-old Nobel laureate will be found guilty by a court known for handing out harsh sentences for political dissidents.

The outcome of Suu Kyi’s trial, Campbell said, will be a major consideration as the Obama administration reviews U.S. policy on Myanmar.

The United States has traditionally relied heavily on tough sanctions meant to force the generals to respect human rights and release thousands of imprisoned political activists. Those sanctions are widely supported among both senior Democratic and Republican lawmakers.

Campbell emphasized that greater engagement with Myanmar would not mean the removal of sanctions.

But his comments indicate that the State Department is considering seriously a change in policy.

While Campbell has not yet been confirmed as assistant secretary of state for East Asia, he is close to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who he said views Myanmar as a priority. Campbell said he has had intense talks with Clinton about how best to bring change to Myanmar, which has been ruled by military juntas since 1962.

Clinton, on a trip through Asia in February, addressed the administration’ s dilemma with Myanmar. Neither tough U.S. sanctions nor engagement by neighbors, she said, have persuaded the junta to embrace democracy or release Suu Kyi. Clinton said the U.S. planned to work closely with the region on ideas on “how best to bring about positive change in Burma.”

Campbell told lawmakers that previous U.S. policy on Myanmar clearly had “not borne fruit.”

“In the past, there has been a determination that, `Not much can be done; let’s live with our sanctions,’” Campbell said. “I think there’s a very high-level degree of interest in seeing what’s possible going forward, and a deep sense of disappointment in the recent steps that the junta has taken toward Aung San Suu Kyi.”

Jeremy Woodrum, co-founder of the U.S. Campaign for Burma, said regional talks similar to the six-nation North Korean nuclear disarmament negotiations could be used with Myanmar.

If the generals were to make substantial changes, Woodrum said, then pressure could be lifted. But he said sanctions have been important tools in confronting the junta.
Campbell’s comments came in response to repeated questions from the Senate Foreign Relations Asia subcommittee’ s Democratic chairman, Sen. Jim Webb, who suggested that “affirmative engagement” would bring the most change to Myanmar.

It has been 19 years since Suu Kyi’s party won a landslide victory at the ballot box but was prevented from taking office. She has been detained without trial for more than 13 of the past 19 years, including the last six.

Suu Kyi is charged with violating terms of her house arrest because an uninvited American man swam secretly to her closely guarded lakeside home last month and stayed two days.

The trial has drawn outrage internationally and from Suu Kyi’s Myanmar supporters, who say the junta is using the bizarre case of the American swimmer as an excuse to keep Suu Kyi detained through next year’s scheduled elections.

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Aung San Suu Kyi says trial politically motivated
Thu Jun 11, 7:58 am ET

YANGON9 (AFP) – Myanmar pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi believes her trial by the ruling junta is “politically motivated”, her lawyer said Thursday, as he lodged an appeal over a ban on two witnesses.

The opposition leader met with her legal team in prison on Wednesday to discuss her defence against charges that she broke the rules of her house arrest when an American man swam to her lakeside property in May.

“Daw Aung San Suu Kyi said yesterday when we met that the trial is politically motivated,” Nyan Win, one of her three lawyers and the spokesman for her National League for Democracy (NLD), told AFP.

The 63-year-old Nobel laureate faces between three and five years in jail if convicted, which would keep her locked up far beyond controversial elections which the military regime has promised to hold next year.

Critics have dismissed the planned polls as a sham designed to entrench the military’s hold on power as Aung San Suu Kyi is barred from standing.

Her legal team submitted a high court application on Thursday seeking an appeal to allow testimony from two defence witnesses who were banned by judges at the trial, being held behind closed doors at Yangon’s Insein Prison.

“The high court will hold a hearing for admission on the coming 17th (June),” Nyan Win said, adding that if the court decided to admit the complaint, it would then schedule a further date for a formal appeal hearing.

A lower court on Tuesday overturned a ban on her having a second defence witness to testify — one legal expert has already given evidence — but upheld the ruling excluding the other two.

The barred witnesses are Win Tin, a dissident journalist who was Myanmar’s longest serving prisoner until his release in September, and Tin Oo, the detained deputy leader of the NLD.

Nyan Win also said that the wife of another of Aung San Suu Kyi’s lawyers had been fired from her government job on Tuesday, which he took as a political move by the authorities.

Lawyer Hla Myo Myint’s wife Khin Khin Aye was dismissed from her work as a senior manager overseeing cooperative- run businesses.

“We assume that it is to put pressure on us because of the trial,” Nyan Win said.

He added that Aung San Suu Kyi is dissatisfied that her lakeside home is still guarded by authorities despite her house arrest having officially ended in May.

“She is not very satisfied,” said Nyan Win.

“She said that her house arrest ended on May 26, but her friends are not allowed to go into her house for cleaning. Security staff said they are still waiting for permission from their superiors,” he told AFP.

Aung San Suu Kyi has spent 13 of the last 19 years in detention since the junta refused to recognise the NLD’s landslide victory in the country’s last elections, in 1990.

She has spent most of that time in virtual isolation at her house, where the regime has allowed her to receive visits from only a handful of people, including her doctors and lawyers.

The trial, which has drawn a storm of international protest, is due to resume for a procedural hearing on Friday.

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France, Germany in joint appeal for Aung San Suu Kyi
Thu Jun 11, 7:52 am ET

PARIS (AFP) – The leaders of France and Germany expressed grave concern Thursday for Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been put on trial by Myanmar’s junta, and appealed to China and India to intervene on her behalf.

During a joint news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, President Nicolas Sarkozy said he had sought to speak by phone to the pro-democracy leader but the military government denied his request.

“We are asking our Chinese and Indian friends for help and to take into account the concern that we have for the Nobel Peace Prize winner ahead of a conviction that appears, unfortunately, unavoidable, ” said Sarkozy.

The 63-year-old pro-democracy leader faces up to five years in jail on charges of breaching the terms of her house arrest after an eccentric American man swam to her lakeside house in Yangon and stayed the night.

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Myanmar’s Suu Kyi hits out over guarded home
Thu Jun 11, 12:18 am ET

YANGON (AFP) – Myanmar pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi is dissatisfied that her lakeside home is still guarded by authorities despite her house arrest officially ending in May, a lawyer has said.

The Nobel laureate, currently held in Yangon’s notorious Insein prison, said friends had been denied access to her residence despite the fact that police told her in May that the house arrest had been cancelled.

The 63-year-old is on trial for breaching the terms of her house arrest following a bizarre incident in which a US man swam to the property in May. She faces up to five years in jail if convicted.

“She is not very satisfied,” said Nyan Win, one of her three lawyers and the spokesman for her National League for Democracy (NLD), after meeting with the opposition leader inside the prison on Wednesday.

“She said that her house arrest ended on May 26, but her friends are not allowed to go into her house for cleaning. Security staff said they are still waiting for permission from their superiors,” Nyan Win told AFP.

Aung San Suu Kyi has spent 13 of the last 19 years in detention since Myanmar’s military junta refused to recognise the NLD’s landslide victory in the country’s last elections, in 1990.

She has spent most of that time in virtual isolation at her house, where the regime has allowed her visits from only a handful of people including her doctors and lawyers.

Nyan Win said her legal team planned to lodge a high court appeal to allow two further defence witnesses at her trial, after Aung San Suu Kyi instructed them to push ahead with the move during the prison visit.

A lower court on Tuesday overturned a ban on her having a second defence witness to testify — one legal expert has already given evidence — but a ban on two other witnesses was upheld.

“We are preparing to submit an application to the high court today. If our paperwork is completed today, we can submit it,” Nyan Win said.

The two barred defence witnesses are Win Tin, a dissident journalist who was Myanmar’s longest serving prisoner until his release in September, and Tin Oo, the detained deputy leader of the NLD.

The trial, which has drawn a storm of international protest, is due to resume for a procedural hearing on Friday.

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Climate change worsens disaster risks for poor-UN
Thu Jun 11, 2009 9:20am EDT
By Alister Doyle, Environment Correspondent

BONN, Germany, June 11 (Reuters) – Climate change will aggravate natural disasters and people in developing nations such as Dominica, Vanuatu, Myanmar and Guatemala are most at risk, a U.N.-backed study showed on Thursday.

It urged governments to invest hundreds of billions of dollars to curb mounting impacts of hazards such as cyclones, floods, droughts, landslides, earthquakes and tsunamis.

“Risk is … felt most acutely by people living in poor rural areas and slums,” U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon wrote in the report, issued on the sidelines of June 1-12 U.N. climate talks in Bonn working on a new treaty to combat global warming.

“Climate change will magnify the uneven distribution of risk, skewing disaster impacts even further towards poor communities in developing countries,” the Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction said.

Andrew Maskrey, lead author of the report, said that developing countries with big populations — led by China, India, Bangladesh and Indonesia — suffered the most fatalities from natural disasters.

“But you also have to look at it in relative terms — the proportion of the population at risk,” he told a news conference. By that yardstick, those at risk were “mainly small countries — many small islands … and small countries.”

The list was topped by Dominica in the Caribbean, Vanuatu in the Pacific along with Myanmar and Guatemala.

AFRICAN

In those nations, risks of an individual dying from cyclones, floods, earthquakes or landslides were close to one in 10,000 per year. The survey did not account for risks of droughts, which would have boosted hazards for African states.

According to the report, the safest places to avoid natural disasters include Saudi Arabia, Oman, Belgium and Britain.

“Wealthier countries are not immune, as bush fires in Australia reminded us so tragically at the start of this year,” Ban wrote.

“Risk is increasing globally even without climate change,” the report said, largely because of a rising global population with people living in vulnerable areas such as flood plains.

The number of people living in squatter settlement — most exposed to risks such as storms or floods — was 1 billion and rising by 25 million a year.

Illustrating risks in developing nations, Maskrey said 17 times as many people died in the Philippines from cyclones than in Japan, even though the number of people living in vulnerable areas was similar.

And he said governments should take more account of disaster planning.

Converting mangroves into shrimp farms could make coasts more vulnerable to storm surges, he said. Draining wetlands to build houses curbs the ability of soils to regulate floods. Deforestation loosened soil and added to risks of landslides.

Needed investments to disaster-proof economies totalled hundreds of billions of dollars, he told Reuters.

“Often poor countries say ‘we can’t afford disaster risk reduction’,” he said. His advice was “rather than build 100 schools which will fall down in the next cyclone or earthquake, build 80 to disaster risk standards.”

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France, Germany deplore Myanmar attitude
Reuters – Friday, June 12

PARIS, June 11 – France and Germany criticised the Myanmar authorities on Thursday for their attitude over detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and said they were trying to enlist China and India to exert further pressure on the country.

Nobel peace laureate Suu Kyi is on trial in Myanmar for breaking the terms of her house arrest after an American man swam uninvited to her lakeside home.

The case has sparked outrage in the West, and Europe has considered tougher sanctions against the military government.

Speaking at a joint news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Paris, French President Nicolas Sarkozy expressed the leaders’ deep worry over Suu Kyi, who has been detained for more than 13 of the past 19 years.

“I tried to reach her by telephone in recent days. The Burmese junta refused to allow contact,” said Sarkozy.

“I deplore this attitude very deeply and Mrs Merkel and I have decided to express our great concern at this extraordinary Burmese attitude.”

France and Germany were asking China and India to take their concerns into account a few days before Suu Kyi appeared likely to be sentenced, Sarkozy said.

Speaking late on Wednesday, Suu Kyi’s lawyer said that the detained opposition leader believed her trial was an attempt by the ruling generals to prevent her from running in multi-party elections next year.

In Asia, governments have gone no further than chastising the regime for putting Suu Kyi on trial.

EU ministers have said it is incumbent upon Myanmar’s neighbours to try to sway the regime through political pressure.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations , which includes Myanmar, has said that the trial threatened the regime’s “honour and credibility” and repeated a call for her release.

Myanmar’s main backer, China, has said Myanmar should be left alone to handle its internal affairs.

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EUbusiness – EU concerned at Myanmar army offensive on Karen rebels
11 June 2009, 22:31 CET

(BRUSSELS) – The Czech EU presidency voiced “serious concern” Thursday at Myanmar’s growing offensive against Karen rebels which has forced civilians to flee to Thailand, and called for an immediate truce.

“The authorities should refrain from seeking military solutions against the ethnic minorities; this only fosters instability, long-term divisions and hatred,” the EU presidency said in a statement.

“The EU has noted with serious concern the mounting offensive of the Burmese Army and its allies against the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), which has resulted in large numbers of civilians fleeing from the conflict area in Kayin/Karen State to Thailand,” it added.

“The EU calls for an immediate ceasefire and requests the authorities and military operators to ensure the protection of civilians at all times and to comply with international humanitarian and human rights law,” the statement said.

While assuring Yangon that the European Union is committed “to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Burma/Myanmar, ” the EU presidency called for the start of inclusive political dialogue “leading to national reconciliation” .

The EU is also “strongly concerned about the humanitarian situation of the thousands of newly displaced persons in Thailand,” the statement said.

It acknowledged the efforts of the Thai government to provide the new arrivals “with all necessary care”.

Myanmar government soldiers have been battling Karen National Union (KNU) guerillas in the country’s east for decades, but the latest exodus into neighbouring Thailand is one of the biggest in years.

Myanmar’s Karen rebels urged the international community Tuesday to pressure the ruling junta into talks, after around 3,000 villagers fled to Thailand to escape a military offensive.

The EU said it stood ready to provide more assistance where possible.

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YaleGlobal Online – Tunnels, Guns and Kimchi: North Korea’s Quest for Dollars – Part I
North Korea digs tunnels for Burma’s brutal, secretive regime
Bertil Lintner
YaleGlobal, 9 June 2009

BANGKOK: Missiles and missile and nuclear technology, counterfeiting money and cigarette smuggling, front companies and restaurants in foreign countries, labor export to the Middle East – North Korea has been very innovative when it comes to raising badly needed foreign exchange for the regime in Pyongyang. But there is a less known trade in service that the North Koreans have offered to its foreign clients: expertise in tunneling. A fascinating new glimpse of this business has now been offered in secret photos from Burma obtained by this correspondent.

The photos, taken between 2003 and 2006, show that while the rest of the world is speculating about the outcome of long-awaited elections in Burma, the ruling military junta has been busy digging in for the long haul – literally. North Korean technicians have helped them construct underground facilities where they can survive any threats from their own people as well as the outside world. It is not known if the tunnels are linked to Burma’s reported efforts to develop nuclear technology – in which the North Koreans allegedly are active as well. (See Burma’s Nuclear Temptation).

The photographs published here show that an extensive network of underground installations was built near Burma’s new, fortified capital Naypyidaw. In November 2005, the military moved its administration from the old capital Rangoon to an entirely new site that was carved out of the wilderness 460 kms (300 miles) north of Rangoon.

Meaning the “Abode of Kings,” Naypyidaw is meant to symbolize the power of the military and its desire to build a new state based on the tradition of Burma’s pre-colonial warrior kings. But underground facilities were apparently deemed necessary to secure the military’s grip on power. Additional tunnels and underground meeting halls have been built near Taunggyi, the capital of Burma’s northeastern Shan State and the home of several of the country’s decades-long insurgencies. Some of the pictures, taken in June 2006, show a group of technicians in civilian dress walking out of a government guesthouse in the Naypyidaw area. Asian diplomats have identified those technicians, with features distinct from the Burmese workers around them, as North Koreans.

This is quite a turn around as Burma severed relations with Pyongyang in 1983 after North Korean agents planted a bomb at Rangoon’s Martyrs Mausoleum killing 18 visiting South Korean officials, including the then-deputy prime minister and three other government ministers.

Secret talks between Burmese and North Korean diplomats began in Bangkok in the early 1990s.The two sides had discovered that despite the hostile act in the previous decade they had a lot in common. Both had come under unprecedented international condemnation, especially by the US, because of their blatant disregard for the most basic human rights and Pyongyang for its nuclear weapons program. Burma also needed more military hardware to suppress an increasingly rebellious urban population as well as ethnic rebels in the frontier areas. North Korea needed food, rubber and other essentials – and was willing to accept barter deals, which suited the cash-strapped Burmese generals. “They have both drawn their wagons in a circle ready to defend themselves,” a Bangkok-based Western diplomat said. “Burma’s generals admire the North Koreans for standing up to the United States and wish they could do the same.”

After an exchange of secret visits, North Korean armaments began to arrive in Burma. The curious relationship between Burma and North Korea was first disclosed in the Hong Kong-based weekly Far Eastern Economic Review on July 10, 2003. A group of 15-20 North Korean technicians were then seen at a government guesthouse near the old capital Rangoon. The report was met with skepticism, especially because of the 1983 Rangoon bombings. But, when North Korean-made field artillery pieces were seen in Burma in the early 2000s, it became clear that North Korea had found a new ally – several years before diplomatic relations between the two countries were restored in April 2007.

“While based on a 1950s Russian design, these weapons [the field guns] were battle-tested and reliable,” Australian Burma scholar Andrew Selth stated in a 2004 working paper for the Australian National University. “They significantly increased Burma’s long-range artillery capabilities, which were then very weak.” Since then, Burma has also taken delivery of North Korean truck-mounted, multiple rocket launchers and possibly also surface-to-air missiles for its Chinese-supplied naval vessels.

Then came the tunneling experts. Most of Pyongyang’s own defense industries, including its chemical and biological-weapons programs, and many other military as well as government installations are underground. This includes known factories at Ganggye and Sakchu, where thousands of technicians and workers labor in a maze of tunnels dug under mountains. The export of such know-how to Burma was first documented in June 2006, when intelligence agencies intercepted a message from Naypyidaw confirming the arrival of a group of North Korean tunneling experts at the site. Today, three years later, the dates on the photos published today confirm the accuracy of this report. By now, the tunnels and underground installations should be completed, as would those near Taunggyi. This well-hidden complex ensures there is no danger of irate civilians storming government buildings, as they did during the massive pro-democracy uprising in August-September 1988. Sources say that the internationally isolated military junta may also consider these deep bunkers as their last repair in case of air strikes of the kind that the Taliban in Afghanistan or Saddam Hussein regime in Iraq endured.
It is not clear how much, or what, Burma has paid for the assistance provided by the North Korean experts, but it could be food – or gold, which is found in riverbeds in northern Burma. Or some other mineral. Burma, of course, is not the only foreign tunneling venture by North Korea.

In southern Lebanon following the 2006 war, Israel’s Defense Forces and the United Nations found several of the underground complexes, which by then had been abandoned by Hezbollah militants. By coincidence or not, these tunnels and underground rooms – some big enough for meetings to be held there – are strikingly similar to those the South Koreans have unearthed under the Demilitarized Zone that separates South from North Korea. Under small, manhole cover-sized entrances hidden under grass and bushes were steel-lined shafts with ladders leading down to big rooms with electricity, ventilation, bathrooms with showers and drainage systems. Some of the tunnels are 40 meters deep and located only 100 meters from the Israeli border. North Korea’s possible involvement in digging these tunnels is however, difficult to ascertain.

According to Israeli investigative journalist Ronen Bergman, a senior officer in the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, who had defected to the West, revealed that, “thanks to the presence of hundreds of Iranian engineers and technicians, and experts from North Korea who were brought in by Iranian diplomats…Hezbollah succeeded in building a 25-kilometer subterranean strip in South Lebanon.”

Beirut sources suggest that it is more likely that Hezbollah has used North Korean designs and blueprints given to them by their Syrian or Iranian allies – both of whom are close to the North Koreans. (Both Iran and Syria have acquired missile technology from North Korea, and what was believed to be a secret nuclear reactor in Syria built with North Korean help was destroyed by the Israeli air force in September 2007.) Either way, North Korean expertise in tunneling has become a valuable commodity for export. And Pyongyang is flexible about the method of payment as long as it helps the international pariah regime.

Bertil Lintner is a Swedish journalist based in Thailand and the author of several works on Asia, including “Blood Brothers: The Criminal Underworld of Asia” and “Great Leader, Dear Leader: Demystifying North Korea under the Kim Clan.” He can be reached at lintner@asiapacific ms.com

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The Himalayan Times – Allow Suu Kyi to campaign:Singapore
Last Updated : 2009-06-11 11:01 PM

SINGAPORE: Myanmar’s ruling generals should allow Aung San Suu Kyi to campaign for her party, the National League for Democracy, in elections due next year, former Singapore Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong said in remarks published Friday.

“Because if she’s not campaigning for the party and whoever wins, well, one could argue that it’s not quite legitimate because the main opposition party was not campaigning with its leader,” he was quoted as saying by broadcaster Channel NewsAsia on its website.

Speaking to Singapore media at the end of a four-day trip to politically isolated Myanmar, Goh reiterated the city-state’s dismay over the arrest of the pro-democracy icon for allegedly allowing an American man to enter her home.

Goh said Singapore was “concerned as to what the verdict will be like and what the sentence will be like.”

The country’s military regime said the Nobel Peace Prize winner breached the terms of her house arrest for allowing the American man to swim to her lakeside home in May.

Aung San Suu Kyi, 63, is currently on trial and faces between three and five years in jail if convicted, which would keep her locked up far beyond controversial elections which the military regime has promised to hold next year.

Critics have dismissed the planned polls as a sham designed to entrench the military’s hold on power, as Aung San Suu Kyi is barred from standing for election herself.

Aung San Suu Kyi has spent 13 of the last 19 years in detention since the junta refused to recognise the National League for Democracy’s landslide victory in the country’s last elections in 1990.

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ReliefWeb – Sri Lanka: Ambassador Gunaratna lauds Myanmar for being a “friend indeed”
Source: Government of Sri Lanka
Date: 11 Jun 2009

While receiving the donation of US$ 50.000 of the Union Government of Myanmar to Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka Ambassador to Myanmar, Newton Gunaratna said that the friendship between the two nations grows day by day.

The Government Union of Myanmar donated US$ 50,000 to Sri Lanka as humanitarian assistance today (11) which will be utilized for the welfare activities of the IDPs in the North.

The Foreign Minister of Myanmar U Nyan Win handed over the donation to Ambassador Gunaratna.

Ambassador Gunaratna while expressing the gratitude of the Government of Sri Lanka to Myanmar said “physically handing over the donation of $ 50,000 to me at this moment is very timely”.

“Our two nations possessing an unbroken friendship and mutual understanding for quite a long period of time whenever a natural disaster occurred, one of the two countries, the other came forward without any hesitation to support their humanitarian assistance,” Ambassidor said.

“I would like to recall few tragedies in the recent past, for example Tsunami devastation in Sri Lanka in December 2004 and Nargis Cyclone in Myanmar in May 2008, I could remember recently during the visit of Myanmar Foreign Minister, to Sri Lanka Hon. Rohitha Bogollagama, Minister of Foreign Affairs on behalf of Government of Sri Lanka donated a cheque for US$ 25,000 for the welfare of the Nargis victims.”, Mr. Gunaratne added.

Speaking at the occasion Foreign Minister Win noted that the people of Myanmar share the joy of the people of Sri Lanka for their victory over violence, war and hatred, as well as for the dawn of peace, stability and reconciliation in Sri Lanka.

“This donation, though modest, would reflect the gesture of goodwill and sympathies of the people of Myanmar towards the friendly people of Sri Lanka”, he added.

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ReliefWeb – UN in Myanmar calls for urgent support to education
Source: United Nations Country Team in Myanmar
Date: 10 Jun 2009

(Yangon: 10 June 2009): More support is required for the Education sector in Myanmar. That was the key message in the donor meeting on Education, organized by the UN in Yangon Tuesday. Around 60 participants attended, including Heads of Diplomatic missions, UN Agencies and National and International Non-Governmental Organizations.

“The international community should increase its efforts, in cooperation with the Government of Myanmar and local organizations, in order to promote quality education for all children and youth in Myanmar. Active policy engagement with the Government is required and more resources should be directed to Education, in order to reach the Global Development Goal of completed primary education for all. Also, increased support and collaboration are required to enable more youth to accomplish higher education,” said the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator, Bishow Parajuli.

There are shortages of learning material and qualified teachers. Further education or vocational training opportunities for dropout students from general education are limited. Efforts should be made to reach all out-of-school children. In the meeting, local organizations spoke about their role in supplementing the Government and the international community’s activities.

“Encouraging community participation in Education is a key priority for local organizations in Myanmar. We have human resources and are growing. However, our efforts are limited by severe funding constraints and lack of technical capacity,” said representative from the local civil society, Aye Myat Thu.

The donor meeting was followed by a field visit to several villages in the Ayeyarwaddy delta Wednesday. The donor representatives witnessed the progress that have been done over the past year, in rebuilding Government and Monastic schools, training teachers, establishing community based Early Childhood Care and Development Centres and more. At the same time, they observed children in over filled class rooms in schools with nothing but plastic sheeting as walls.

“Over half a million of children in the affected areas have benefited from Education support, since Cyclone Nargis destroyed and damaged over 4000 schools of which 1255 completely collapsed. More efforts are required to increase education opportunities to children not only in the delta, but also in the rest of the country,” said UNICEF Deputy Representative, Juanita Vasquez, who accompanied the field mission.

So far, 1,400 schools in the delta have been repaired. The objective is to build back better all the destroyed schools with permanent structures designed to reduce the risk of possible future disasters, by April 2011. According to the Post-Nargis Recovery and Preparedness plan (PONREPP), US$ 157 million is needed for the Education sector for the next three years.

For further information, please contact Astrid Sehl, Communication Officer, Mob +95 1 (0)9507 4853, astrid.sehl@ undp.org

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Monsters and Critics  – Myanmar imposes condition to repatriate Rohingyas from Bangladesh
South Asia News
Jun 11, 2009, 17:14 GMT

Dhaka – Yangon on Thursday said it would consider the repatriation of Rohingya refugees from Bangladeshi camps if Dhaka provided proof that the migrants were Myanmar nationals.

‘We will think of rehabilitating them if Bangladesh provides strong evidence that they are citizens of Myanmar,’ Phae Thann Oo, the Myanmar ambassador in Dhaka said concerning the Rohinjyas, a Muslim minority from Myanmar’s Rakhaine state.

Bangladeshi Foreign Minister Dipu Moni who also attended the discussion said that repatriation of Rohingya refugees was a ‘three- decade-old crisis’ and an attempt was made to solve the problem through diplomatic channels in late 1970s.

An agreement between Bangladesh and Myanmar was signed to this effect on July 9, 1978 after the first influx of Myanmar nationals into Bangladesh, she said.

During her visit to Myanmar in May, Dipu Moni requested Yangon to resume repatriation of the Rohingyas from Bangladeshi camps.

The junta government has suggested neighbouring Bangladesh send a list to help resume the process stalled for more than five years.

The minister said after the second influx in 1991-92 of some 300,000 Rohingyas into Bangladesh, the government repatriated 236,600 of them with the help of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees.

She added that there has been no progress over the last few years in the repatriation of some 22,000 refugees living in two camps near the city of Teknaf and the city of Cox’s Bazar in the country’s south-east.

In addition to this, a large number of Myanmar refugees are living outside the camps illegally, she said, stating that estimates of their number range from 200,000 to 400,000.
‘In the spirit of good neighbourly relations, Myanmar should take the refugees back after creating a congenial atmosphere so that once the refugees are repatriated, they will be encouraged to stay on in their country,’ the minister said.

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Friday, June 12, 2009
The Daily Star – Myanmar firm keen to export 500MW power to Bangladesh
Staff Correspondent

A Myanmar company is interested to set up a 500-megawatt hydroelectric plant in Rakhine state and export electricity to Bangladesh, Foreign Minister Dipu Moni said yesterday.

The minister said she talked to the authorities of the company, Shwe Taung Development Co, during her recent visit to Myanmar.

Besides, a local company that has already got lease of land in Rakhine state to set up two power plants would consider exporting electricity to Bangladesh after meeting the demand of the state, she said.

Dipu Moni said this at a seminar on Bangladesh-Myanmar Relations organised by the Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies (BIISS) on its premises in the capital.

Technical experts from the ministry of energy will visit Rakhine state to make a feasibility study on the prospects of electricity import as Myanmar government has agreed to Bangladesh’s proposal to arrange a visit to the state in this regard, she said.

A team of the power ministry is expected to visit Myanmar in the first week of July, Dipu Moni said.

The amount of bilateral trade between Bangladesh and Myanmar will be increased from the present $140 million to $500 million during 2009-10 fiscal year, she said.

“This figure was envisioned during the last visit of Myanmar’s Vice Senior General Maung Aye,” Dipu Moni said, adding that Bangladesh is putting its efforts on going back more to normal trade than only border trade.

She said rail and road connectivity with Myanmar and other Southeast Asian countries and China, which is underway, will create enormous scopes for trade and cooperation.

She noted that presently neither Bangladesh Biman nor any airline from Myanmar is operating flights between Dhaka and Yangon. To facilitate trade and tourism, bi-weekly direct flights on the route or Mandalay-Cox’ s Bazar could be operated by any Bangladeshi private airline.

“We are also working to establish direct banking facilities for the benefit of businessmen of both the countries,” Dipu Moni said.

The government is also preparing an updated list of Rohingya refugees, upon request of Myanmar, to repatriate them to their home country, she said. Presently, around 22,000 Rohingya refugees and an estimated two to four lakh illegal Rohingya settlers are staying in Bangladesh.

Major General Sheikh Md Monirul Islam, former ambassador Ashfaqur Rahman, Brig Gen (retd) Salim Akhtar and Prof Syed Anwar Husain of Dhaka University also spoke.

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VOA News – French President: Burma Blocks Call to Detained Opposition Leader
11 June 2009

French President Nicolas Sarkozy says he tried to telephone Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi but was prevented by Burma’s military government.

Mr. Sarkozy made the statement Thursday in Paris at a joint press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

The French president said he and Mrs. Merkel are very concerned about Aung San Suu Kyi, who faces a possible five-year prison sentence for allegedly violating the terms of her house arrest.

Mr. Sarkozy said the two leaders have asked China and India for help in pressing their concerns about the Nobel Peace laureate.

Also Thursday, Aung San Suu Kyi’s lawyers filed an appeal with Burma’s Supreme Court to allow two more defense witnesses to testify at her trial.

Her legal team filed an appeal after the court hearing her case barred three of her four witnesses from testifying on her behalf.

An appeals court this week reinstated one of the witnesses, but upheld the ban on two others, who are both senior members of Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy.

Only one witness has testified in defense of the pro-democracy leader so far, while the prosecution was allowed 14 witnesses.

A member of her defense team, Nyan Win, said Aung San Suu Kyi told them to file the appeal after a brief meeting Wednesday inside Rangoon’s notorious Insein prison.

Nyan Win said Aung San Suu Kyi also said that the charge against her is politically motivated.

Her charge stems from an uninvited visit to her lakeside Rangoon house by an American man.

Critics of the government say the trial is a pretext for Burma’s military rulers to keep the pro-democracy leader in detention through next year’s election.

The 63-year-old Aung San Suu Kyi already has spent more than 13 of the last 19 years under house arrest.

Burma has been under military rule since 1962. Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy won elections in 1990, but the military refused to recognize the results.

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Suu Kyi trial may last two more weeks
Published: June 11, 2009 at 7:24 AM

YANGON, Myanmar, June 11 (UPI) — Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s lawyers will ask the Supreme Court to reinstate both her witnesses at her trial, her party said.

Only one witness has been allowed by the prosecution at her trial, which is expected to last another two weeks, CNN reported.

Suu Kyi, who has already spent 13 of the past 19 years under house arrest, is on trial in the military junta-ruled country, formerly called Burma, on charges of violating her confinement.

A pending Supreme Court petition will prevent the trial court from making its ruling, Suu Kyi’s spokesman was quoted as saying.

The 64-year-old democracy activist is accused of offering temporary shelter to American John William Yettaw, who swam to her lakeside home May 3, CNN said. Suu Kyi has said she doesn’t know Yettaw and denied any wrongdoing.

Critics have said the trial is only an excuse to further extend her confinement.

Closing arguments at the trial are set for Friday, and if convicted, Suu Kyi could receive a sentence of up to five years in prison, the report said.

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BBC News – Burma’s Karen unable to return home
updated at 12:17 GMT, Thursday, 11 June 2009

More than 4,000 ethnic Karen in eastern Burma have fled to Thailand after renewed fighting between Burmese government forces and Karen rebels.

Many of those who have fled over the past week were living at the Ler Per Her camp for internally displaced people in Burma – and had already left their home villages.

Rainbow, who is the secretary of the camp and the headmaster of the school there, told the BBC News website about what is forcing the Karen to flee and the difficult circumstances they now face:

Last week government troops attacked our camp. They were shelling every day. The fighting between the Burmese army and the Karen rebels was taking place close to the camp. It became a dangerous place. So we decided to leave.

There were 1,264 people living in the camp. Since October 2008 we’ve had about 300 new arrivals.

The Democratic Karen Buddhist Amy (DKBA) [allied to the Burmese army] have been trying to force people in the area to join them in the last few months.

They wanted to be in control of the area and they needed more people.

In order to put pressure on villagers they put mines close to rice fields. To avoid being recruited to the army, many have abandoned their homes and farms and gone to live in camps for internally displaced people.

Farms are abandoned and homes burnt down.

No place to go

There are over 3,000 people now in different places on the Thai side of the border.

There are more than 1,000 of us in this village. We are being taken care of for now, but it’s really difficult as there are too many people and not enough accommodation. It’s very crowded and it’s constantly raining.

But there’s nothing we can do. We are just waiting to see what will happen.

We are in a very difficult situation. We can’t go back because the military has taken over our camp.

But we can’t stay here for long either. We are illegal here and eventually we’ll have problems with the Thai authorities.

We can only hope that we’ll be able to go home soon.

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Internet Edition. June 12, 2009
The New Nation – Myanmar co keen to set up hydroelectricity plant
BSS, Dhaka

A private company operated in Myanmar has shown interest in setting up a hydroelectricity power plant with the capacity of 500 megawatt in Rakhine state for exporting electricity to Bangladesh.

Foreign Minister Dr Dipu Moni on Thursday revealed this while addressing a seminar as the chief guest on Bangladesh-Myanmar relations organised by the Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies (BIISS) in its auditorium in the city.

“During my last Myanmar visit, I met the chairman of that private company named Shwe Taung Development Company Ltd,” the foreign minister said.

Besides, following the Bangladesh request to set up the hydroelectric plant in Myanmar, the Myanmar authorities recently informed that a local company that had already taken lease of a piece of land in Rakhine state would set up two power plants for exporting electricity to Bangladesh after meeting the demand of the state, she said.

Dr Dipu Moni said the Myanmar government has also agreed to the Bangladesh’s proposal for making a visit to the Rakhine state by technical experts from the ministry of energy to make a feasibility study on the prospects of the electricity export. A team of the Energy, Power and Mineral Resources Ministry is expected to visit Myanmar in the first week of July, Dr Dipu Moni said. The government is also preparing an updated list of the Rohingya refugees upon the request of Myanmar to repatriate them to their home country, she said.

Presently, 22,000 Rohingya refugees are living legally in Bangladesh and about four lakh illegally, the foreign minister said.

Mentioning that the amount of bilateral trade between Bangladesh and Myanmar is presently $140 dollars annually, she said the two countries would try to take it to Taka 500 million dollars in 2009-10, a figure envisioned during the last visit of Myanmar Vice Senior General Maung Aye to Dhaka.

“By pursuing a policy of good neighbourliness and peaceful coexistence, Bangladesh and Myanmar will fully exploit the aforesaid complementarities, potentialities and opportunities to optimise the benefits of cooperation for which political willingness must prevail,” she said.

Dr Dipu Moni said a discussion on establishing direct rail and road links with Myanmar is going on. The road and link links, which connect Bangladesh with China and South-East Asian countries via Myanmar, would create immense opportunities for trade between Bangladesh and other ASIAN countries.

Mentioning that there is yet to establish any direct air link between the two countries, Dr Dipu Moni said bi-weekly direct flights between Dhaka and Yangon or Mandalay and Cox’s Bazar could be operated by any of the private airlines of the country to facilitate trade and tourism.

She said they are also working for establishing direct banking facilities between the two countries to reduce the prices of commodities both in Bangladesh and Myanmar.

The foreign minister also said there are many scopes for enhancing cooperation in agriculture and mineral resource sectors of the two countries, ensuring a win-win situation.

BIISS Director Major General Sheikh Md Monirul Islam gave the welcome speech while former ambassador Ashfaqur Rahman, Brig Gen (retd) Salim Akhtar and Prof Syed Anwar Husain of Dhaka University presented separate papers on different economic and political aspects on Bangladesh-Myanmar relations.

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The Indian Express – Recent action against Suu Kyi deeply troubling: US
Agencies Posted: Thursday , Jun 11, 2009 at 1410 hrs IST

Washington: Observing that the recent action of the military junta against Aung San Suu Kyi is “deeply troubling”, an Obama nominee for the top diplomatic assignment in East Asia, has indicated that US may toughen its stand against Myanmar as neither sanctions nor ASEAN engagement seemed to be working.

There is a deep sense of disappointment in the recent steps that the junta’ has taken towards Aung San Suu Kyi, said Kurt Campbell, testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in his confirmation hearing for the post of Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs.

“The recent events with Aung San Suu Kyi are just deeply, deeply concerning, and it makes it very difficult going forward. We are in the midst of a very sensitive review. We are looking at the situation of the trial and what the junta is considering going forward,” Campbell said.

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Singapore assists Myanmar in post-cyclone recovery efforts
Channel NewsAsia – Friday, June 12

YANGON, Myanmar: Thirteen months after Cyclone Nargis lashed across the Irrawady region, the areas hard hit in Myanmar are slowly being rebuilt.

The latest reconstruction effort comes in the form of a 16-bed hospital, completed with the help of the Singapore Government under its Cyclone Nargis recovery assistance effort for Myanmar.

With a population of just about 800, it looked like the entire village was at hand to greet Singapore Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong as he officiated the opening of the Kayin Chaung Station Hospital.

The hospital started as a local project back in 2006.

But construction stopped when part of the building was destroyed by Cyclone Nargis.

With the approval of the Myanmar Government, Singapore decided to step in as part of its post-Nargis reconstruction efforts.

The 16-bed hospital is staffed by two doctors and three nurses, who were given training stints in Singapore.

For the villagers, the presence of this hospital means not having to make an hour-long travel by boat to the next nearest medical treatment facility in Twante township.

“To have a station hospital in our village is our strong desire and great dream as we have been facing difficulties with transportation in case of emergency medical problems, especially surgical cases and difficult deliveries, and we only have the waterway to commute to the township hospital,” said community leader U Kyin Hoke.

“When Cyclone Nargis hit, the area including where the hospital is located was submerged in waters four feet deep. Today, there’s much cause for celebration for the villagers.
The hospital will serve some 10,000 people.

Mr Goh said: “This hospital is first and foremost a tribute to the resilience of the Myanmar people. It is also a testimony to the close friendship between the Governments and people of Singapore and Myanmar. It is a positive example of a successful partnership between foreign donors and the Myanmar government in the post-Nargis recovery effort.”

Mr Goh noted the key role ASEAN played in the rapid despatch of aid to Myanmar in the aftermath of Nargis.

He added that Singapore strongly supports the extension of the mandate given to the ASEAN-UN-Myanmar Tripartite Core Group by another year till July 2010.

This group was formed to oversee and expedite the flow of international aid to victims and survivors of Cyclone Nargis.

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CNA News – SM Goh urges Myanmar to continue with national reconciliation process
By Channel NewsAsia’s Imelda Saad in Yangon | Posted: 12 June 2009 0138 hrs

YANGON, Myanmar: Singapore’s Senior Minister, Goh Chok Tong, has urged Myanmar to continue with its process of national reconciliation and democracy.

Wrapping up his four-day visit to the country, Mr Goh noted that without political reform, Myanmar will not be able to achieve fast economic growth like other ASEAN economies.

And in its efforts towards national reconciliation, Mr Goh said Myanmar cannot ignore the international interest surrounding pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s trial.

Ms Suu Kyi is currently on trial for breaching the rules governing her house arrest.

Mr Goh said he had constructive discussions with Myanmar’s top leaders, including Senior General Than Shwe. And it provided him with insights into just how complex Myanmar’s political situation is.

He said: “I could see that Senior General Than Shwe is in a very difficult position. He has inherited this military regime – Myanmar has been under military government since 1962, so it’s not his creation. Myanmar has come to a cul de sac, how does it make a u-turn? I think that’s not easy.”

Mr Goh added that Myanmar’s stability is dependent on bringing together the three parties – the military government, the ethnic groups and the opposition.

Seventeen ethnic groups have signed a ceasefire agreement, but it is still unclear if all will take part in the upcoming polls.

Mr Goh noted that Senior General Than Shwe would like to bring the country towards democracy, using a cautious but practical approach.

The key test would be in the country’s general election in 2010. Mr Goh said the process must be legitimate – that means fair and transparent elections.

He added that all parties that want to contest the elections should be allowed to do so, including Aung San Suu Kyi and her party – the National League for Democracy.

“Because if she’s not campaigning for the party and whoever wins, well, one could argue that it’s not quite legitimate because the main opposition party was not campaigning with its leader,” he said.

Mr Goh said he has conveyed Singapore’s view on the arrest of Ms Suu Kyi. He said Singapore is “dismayed by the arrest”… and it is “concerned as to what the verdict will be like and what the sentence will be like.”

And while the matter is a domestic affair, Mr Goh stressed that Myanmar cannot ignore international interest in Ms Suu Kyi’s trial and verdict because it would affect Myanmar’s international relations.

Mr Goh pointed out that President Barack Obama’s new administration is reviewing its foreign policy and Myanmar’s actions will determine its relations with America.

He said: “I gave observation that the US government under Presdent Obama and State Secretary Hilary Clinton is reviewing foreign policy on all countries, including China, India, the Islamic world and North Korea.

“President Obama is trying to reach out to others, including those the US does not have good relations with. So Myanmar, in time to come, will also be reviewed and if Myanmar wants to have good relations with the US, how the trial comes out and the verdict will be, it will affect Myanmar-US relations.

“I think the government is aware that there is international perspective on Aung San Suu Kyi’s trial. But it’s a domestic affair. What the verdict and sentence will be, we will not want to pre-judge or influence them in any way.”

Mr Goh added that how Myanmar is going to be governed will determine whether the country gets investments.

He observed that while there is progress in urban cities with new buildings and more cars, rural areas remain in poverty with many still living in thatched houses.

Myanmar’s Prime Minister, Thein Sein, had said he would like to see investments from Singapore, but Mr Goh pointed out that is not possible until Myanmar’s elections and results are known.

He said: “I don’t believe any Singapore investors would come in a big way before the picture is clear, before this move to democracy is seen to produce results.”

Mr Goh said he left with the impression that his points had been noted. “Beyond that, I cannot read their minds, but they gave me more than one hour, listening to my observations. We do not pressure them on what to do and I did not come here to give advice.

“But what I told him is we got to understand global trends, so what I could do as an old friend of Myanmar is to give inputs, and I made it very clear these are inputs.”

Mr Goh also explained why Singapore is concerned about developments in Myanmar. He said being part of ASEAN, if Myanmar prospers, it will be good for the region and it will be better to have a prosperous ASEAN than a region with all kinds of problems.

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The Gulf TImes – MSF plans healthcare in camps
IANS/Dhaka
Thursday11/6/ 2009June, 2009

Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) yesterday said that it would launch an emergency healthcare programme for Rohingya refugees in southeastern Bangladesh where tens of thousands of the Myanmar nationals have lived in squalid camps for years.

“In response to the situation, MSF is in the process of starting an emergency programme providing basic healthcare to children under five years of age, running an outpatient and inpatient feeding programme, and taking measures to improve the water and sanitation in the camps,” the humanitarian organisation said.

It said that MSF was recently alerted to a growing health crisis in Kutupalong camp, located in Cox’s Bazar district, adjacent to Myanmar’s Rakhine state from where tens of thousands of Rohingyas have fled to Bangladesh to avoid political persecution by the junta in Myanmar.

The Rohingyas are struggling to survive unassisted in a makeshift camp. An estimated 20,000 people were found to be living in foul conditions, with little access to safe drinking water or sanitation, according to an assessment by an MSF team in Bangladesh.

“In (the) Kutupalong unofficial camp the water and sanitation situation is appalling and needs to be addressed urgently,” said Michel Becks, MSF water and sanitation expert.

Becks added that with the forthcoming rainy season presenting a threat to the health of the population, urgent intervention is required to prevent the further spread of disease.

The makeshift Kutupalong camp is situated next to an official refugee camp operated by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. The makeshift camp has reportedly been in existence for over a year, gradually increasing in population size.

The camp is populated by Muslim Rohingyas, a people who for decades have fled the persecution and discrimination they face in Myanmar. Few of them find the assistance they hope for and many go on to suffer countless indignities in the countries to which they have fled, according to MSF.

Bangladesh has recently asked the Myanmar authorities to begin the repatriation of Rohingyas. The repatriation process has been stalled for more than five years. According to official estimates, as many as 22,000 Rohingyas are sheltering in camps.

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The Asian Age – Opinion: Economics no reason for silence on Suu Kyi
Srinath Raghavan

June.12 : The ongoing trial of Aung San Suu Kyi has attracted little remarkably attention in India. The Burmese Opposition leader has spent bulk of the last two decades under house arrest. Last month, she was charged by the military junta with violation of the terms of her detention by sheltering an American man in her house. The individual in question was, in fact, an intruder who had swum across the lake near her residence. Ms Suu Kyi bade him to leave, but allowed him to stay the night when he complained of exhaustion.

However, the charge will almost certainly be proven and sentence could be up to five years in prison. The backdrop to this ludicrous charade is the junta’s desire to put Ms Suu Kyi behind bars until the proposed elections are held next year.

The Indian government has maintained a studied silence on the farcical trial. This is continuous with its avowed policy of non-interference in the affairs of Burma – a policy that New Delhi adhered to even during the popular movement against the junta in 2007.

In the past decade-and-a- half, New Delhi’s Burma policy has been shaped by economic and security considerations. The estimated 300 billion cubic metres of gas reserves in Burma are naturally of great interest to India. Besides, several infrastructure projects are underway, aimed at improving connectivity between the two countries. These will facilitate India’s access to its own northeastern states as well as other Southeast Asian countries.

From the standpoint of security, there are two major factors driving the policy. In order to contain the insurgencies in the Northeast, it was essential to secure Burma’s cooperation. Since the mid-1990s, the junta has worked to ensure that various northeastern insurgent groups, especially the Nagas and the United Liberation Front of Asom (Ulfa), do not operate out of Burma with impunity.

The other factor is China’s mounting influence in Burma. Since the late-1980s – when the junta drew international censure for its iron-fisted approach – Beijing has been Burma’s most dependable ally. China is its largest trading partner, supplying everything from foodgrain to military equipment. China’s involvement in a variety of infrastructure development projects has also been viewed with concern by India. These are regarded as enabling China to easily access the Indian Ocean region. Besides, there were concerns that China had established a “listening post” in the Coco Islands close to India’s eastern seaboard. The junta has reportedly allowed Indian surveillance aircraft to over fly the Islands and ascertain facts. But India’s concerns about Chinese “encirclement” persist.

It can reasonably be argued that New Delhi’s approach is guided by narrowly-defined self-interest and that it goes against its democratic values. India could (and should) do more to secure the release of Ms Suu Kyi. But it is erroneous to assume that the problem in Burma is merely a struggle between forces of democracy and the junta. Ensuring a stable democratic transition will require addressing a larger set of issues. If Burma has seen the longest spell of uninterrupted military dictatorship anywhere in the world, it is because the country is also home to the longest civil war.

From the time it attained independence in 1948, Burma was wracked by a host of insurgencies. Initially, it were the Communists who turned against the government.

Concurrently, there was also an Islamist insurgency in the north of Arakan. Soon the Karens and Kachins of the highlands took up arms against the central government. These groups had enjoyed considerable autonomy under the British and feared that their standing would be eroded in a self-proclaimed Buddhist Burma. More important, they were very well armed, having played a major role in the anti-Japanese resistance during World War II. Two years into these conflicts, Prime Minister U Nu was periodically retreating into meditation to cope with the situation. His friend Jawaharlal Nehru observed that it seemed “as good a way of governing Burma as any”.

The situation was further complicated when the Communists established control over China in 1949. Parts of the worsted Kuomintang forces retreated across the border into eastern Burma. There they created a safe haven, recruiting additional forces, collecting taxes and undermining local political structures. These forces were joined by American and Taiwanese military “advisers”. The Burmese military’s efforts to root out these militias alienated the local population, so setting the stage for an insurgency led by the Shans.

More seriously, the presence of these forces led to periodic incursions by the Chinese military. By the mid-1960s, Beijing also began to support Communist insurgents against the Burmese regime. Meanwhile, Thailand too had leapt into the fray, supporting the Karens and other insurgents operating along the borders, believing this would weaken their traditional enemy.

The upshot of this anarchical situation was that the military began to consume much of the state’s financial resources and became by far the most powerful actor. This set the stage for the military coups of 1958 and 1962. Since the mid-1950s, the military also became a major stakeholder in Burmese economy and came to control a number of key sectors.

It was only in the early 1990s that the ceasefire agreements were reached with this bewildering array of insurgent groups. But these remain armed truces and the underlying disputes are yet to be resolved. In the meantime, many of these groups have become active players in drug trafficking from Thailand.

Any attempt to minimise the role of the junta can only succeed as part of a larger process that ends these longstanding ethnic disputes and establishes a fresh compact between the state and the people of Burma.

The time appears to be propitious for such an initiative. The junta is gradually handing over power to a younger generation of officers. Moreover, its legitimacy has been considerably undermined by the uprising of 2007, which was led by the Buddhist clergy. India could push for an effort at national reconciliation under the auspices of the UN special envoy for Burma. Seeking an end to the trial of Ms Suu Kyi might provide the appropriate point of departure.

Srinath Raghavan is at the National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bengaluru

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Myanmar leader to visit China: FM
www.chinaview. cn  2009-06-11 16:45:22

BEIJING, June 11 (Xinhua) — Myanmar State Peace and Development Council Vice-Chairman Maung Aye will pay an official visit to China June 15- 20 at the invitation of Vice President Xi Jinping, Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said on Thursday.

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Online visa on arrival system introduced in Myanmar
www.chinaview. cn  2009-06-12 10:53:06

YANGON, June 12 (Xinhua) — A private travel company has introduced an online visa on arrival service system in Myanmar, designed to expedite arrival visa and other services for the promotion of the country’s tourism industry, the state newspaper New Light of Myanmar reported Friday.

As part of Myanmar’s plan to introduce a 100-percent visa-on-arrival system for the promotion, the Diamond Palace and Travel and Tour Co. Ltd will practise the system with the permission of the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism, the report said.

The visa-on-arrival system will be applicable to international visitors with those of some countries be covered in the pilot phase, other report said.

At present, international travelers applying entry visas into Myanmar through Myanmar embassies abroad have to take four days in Beijing, 24 hours in Jakarta, five days in Paris and Tokyo, three days in London and two days in Bangkok and Singapore, according to the Myanmar Foreign Ministry earlier.

Domestic travel and tour companies are set to apply for their customers entry visas 15 days in advance with the presentation of their personal data.

Myanmar’s tourism business started to drop near the end of 2007and continued in 2008 during which deadly cyclone Nargis was experienced and the global financial crisis, which sparked in late2008, also delayed Myanmar’s tourism development.

The tourism authorities have stressed the need to promote the country’s international tourism market for the revival of its tourism industry.

According to official statistics, tourist arrivals in Myanmar in 2008 totaled over 260,000.

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The Nation – Reasons why Thailand can’t push Burma too far
By Supalak Ganjanakhundee
Published on June 11, 2009

There are at least four reasons why Thailand is not able to push Burma’s political development toward democracy and national reconciliation, as well as to free opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

First, the current government led by the Democrat Party has no record of civilian supremacy, not to mention democracy and reconciliation. The Thai government is not comfortable commenting on any military run government since it obtained help from military top brass to form its own coalition. Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva knows very well how much he owes the commanders.

People in this country love to call on the military to intervene whenever they have problems with civilian government. The latest military coup d’etat happened only three years ago.

The Thai military junta dissolved at the end of 2007. Nobody in this country could say the military has no influence in politics, notably over this current government.

So-called national reconciliation is a political term this government might not be able to spell out. As long as it cannot reconcile the red- and yellow-shirted movements, it’s better to have no comment about the even worse national division in Burma.

Disunity in that country is deeper than in Thailand, absolutely. It is not just a matter of political difference, but also a problem of race.

Second, Thai elites – notably those in power – have no clear vision about future opposition and dissident groups. They have no more faith in the opposition’s fighting against the Burmese junta.

It seems the Thai elite jump to the conclusion the opposition, and even the rebellious ethnic minorities Thailand uses as a buffer, have a very slim chance of defeating the Tatmadaw [Burmese military].

Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya has talked to ethnic minorities along the Thai border several times over past months since he took the position, to convince them to turn themselves into the junta’s fold.

The move is most helpful for the junta but weakens the dissidents.

Very few Thais connect strongly with Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy. Some female members of the ruling Democrat Party and SEA Write-award winning author Jiranan Pitpreecha met Suu Kyi more than a decade ago.

Thammasat University conferred an honorary doctorate degree on her when she turned 60, but such a link is very slim. No strong pressure group could force the Thai government to help her.

Third, the Thai economy relies too much on resources from Burma. The government, every government, would never dare challenge the junta. Making Burma angry might cause trouble in business.

Thailand could not join any economic sanctions to pressure the junta since they would pose a direct challenge to its own economy. The jewellery industry, for example, suffered from the US’s Tom Lantos Block Burmese Jade Act of 2008, since it stifled imports from any country of gems and jewellery containing Burmese raw material.
Rubies and other Burmese gemstones account for about 20 per cent of raw materials for the Thai jewellery industry.

Exports of gems and jewellery to the US dropped sharply in the last quarter of 2008 when the Act was enforced in October. Exports to the US contracted 35.19 per cent between October and December last year, according to Ministry of Commerce data.

Besides gemstones, Thailand is buying via pipeline more than a billion cubic feet of gas a day from Burma’s Yadana and Yedagun gas fields, accounting for some 20 per cent of total consumption in this country.

Fourth, Thailand has the burden of proximity as it shares more than 2,200 kilometres of border with Burma.

The borders shelter problems ranging from smuggling and trafficking to political conflict. The junta knows how to use border issues to mount pressure on Bangkok.

Burma’s military offensive against the Karen National Union over past weeks caused at least 3,000 people to flee to Thailand, home already to 111,000 displaced persons from Burma.

The operation coincided with the Thai Asean Chairman’s statement on Aung San Suu Kyi.

As long as this country fails to overcome these obstacles, it will find it very difficult in lending a hand to save Aung San Suu Kyi.

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Mizzima News – British MPs vow to support democracy-human rights in Burma
by Solomon
Thursday, 11 June 2009 22:42

New Delhi (Mizzima) – British Members of Parliament on Tuesday discussed Aung San Suu Kyi’s trial, calling it an ‘injustice’ and vowed to continue to strongly support the restoration of democracy and human rights in Burma.

Initiated by Alistair Carmichael MP and Secretary of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Democracy in Burma (APPB), the debate was held in the main Chamber of the House of Commons. The meeting acknowledged the need to provide more support to Burma.

Carmichael said the charge against the Burmese Nobel Peace Laureate is that of flouting the conditions of her house arrest. “This illegality heaped on illegality is a particular feature of Aung San Suu Kyi’s position, and of the loathsome regime by which she is being oppressed in Burma.”

Nang Seng, Parliamentary Officer of the Burma Campaigns UK said, Ivan Lewis, British Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth has particularly expressed his strong commitment for the restoration of democracy in Burma.

“Ivan Lewis has expressed his commitment to support the development of human rights and democracy in Burma and his willingness to urge neighbouring countries to pressure military-ruled Burma,” said Nang Seng.

The British government, in the ensuing European Council meeting in June, is likely to raise the issue of Aung San Suu Kyi to be discussed as one of the main agendas of the meeting.

“They have even said they are willing to impose financial sanctions on Burma,” said Nang Seng.

The British government is likely to call on the EU to impose a visa ban on all members of the military regime, their families, their business cronies and also lawyers and judges, who are conducting the trial and sentencing of Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, she added.

“We are greatly encouraged with their [MP] commitment. However, we want to see more action,” she added.

The Burmese pro-democracy leader, who has spent more than 13 of the past 19 years under house arrest, is currently facing trial for violating her detention law by allowing an American citizen, John William Yettaw, who sneaked into her lakeside house, to stay.

Organized by British Members of Parliament, a meeting between UK-based Burmese organizations and their supporters held discussions for providing more aid to Burma.

“They have promised to donate more aid to Burma,” Nang Seng said.

UK was one of the biggest donor countries providing £ 45 million for relief efforts, when Burma’s Irrawaddy delta was lashed by Cyclone Nargis on May 2 and 3, 2008, which left at least 140,000 dead or missing and devastated the lives of more than 2.4 million people.

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The Irrawaddy – Big Demand for Suu Kyi Birthday Portrait
By WAI MOE, Thursday, June 11, 2009

Thousands of portraits of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi are being snapped up in a “Free Suu Kyi” campaign launched in Burma ahead of her 64th birthday on June 19.

Fifty thousand portraits have been distributed so far in Rangoon, Mandalay, Pegu and Magway Divisions. Twenty thousand went in one day in more than 20 Mandalay townships.

“There’s been a big demand, from students to housewives, from workers to monks,” said a Mandalay activist.

Tee shirts bearing the word “Free” and a rose are also being distributed in some townships. A rose has come to be a symbol of Aung San Suu Kyi, and Burma’s censorship board sometimes bans its use in printed articles and verse.

The authorities have done nothing so far to hinder the distribution of the portraits and tee shirts, however.

Suu Kyi has spent most of her birthdays over the past 19 years in house detention. She is currently on trial in Rangoon’s Insein Prison, charged with giving shelter to an unauthorized visitor, an American who swam uninvited to her lakeside home.

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The Irrawaddy – Being a Defense Lawyer in Burma Is a Risky Business
By MIN LWIN, Thursday, June 11, 2009

As the trial of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi unfolds, many people are asking: How difficult is it to be a defense lawyer who represents political activists in Burma?
Defense lawyers who represent political dissidents routinely face government intimidation, in some cases leading to prison terms and the suspension or cancellation of their license to practice by the Burmese Bar Council.

Eleven lawyers who defended pro-democracy activists are currently serving prison terms across the country.

The Thailand-based human rights group, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma), said at least 207 Burmese lawyers, including central high court lawyers, have faced suspension, warnings, temporary suspension or dismissal of their license without a proper hearing process.

“If you want to be a defense lawyer for political activists, you can have your lawyer license cancelled at any time,” said Nyi Nyi Hlaing, who has represented political activists.

“Sometimes judges intimidate us by saying if we upset the judicial process, we can be punished,” he said.

Prominent defense lawyer Aung Thein, who recently served a four months prison sentence for contempt of court and had his license cancelled, told The Irrawaddy: “There are two kinds of lawyers who have had their license dismissed. Political activist lawyers who are dismissed for their political activities and lawyers dismissed in the process of defending their activist clients.

Aung Thein’s colleague, Khin Maung Shein, who has represented political activists including Aung San Suu Kyi, was also dismissed from practicing law and sentenced to four months in prison.

“The fact that the Burmese Bar Council cancelled our licenses is not fair, because we served four months detention in payment for what they called contempt of court,” said Aung Thein.

Late last year, attorney Saw Kyaw Kyaw Min was convicted of contempt of court after complaining of unfair treatment by a Rangoon court in a case involving political dissidents.

“I was intimidated by the judge from Kyimyindine Township court when I asked to call a government witness to the court to testify,” said Saw Kyaw Kyaw Min, 29. “She told me you don’t have a right to call the government witness. If you do that, your lawyer license will be cancelled.”

In addition, attorneys Nyi Nyi Htway and Saw Kyaw Kyaw Min were both sentenced to six months imprisonment for contempt of court while representing activists. Saw Kyaw Kyaw fled to Thailand rather than serve time in prison.

The convictions were politically motivated to intimidate other lawyers from defending political dissidents, said observers of the legal system.

Like activist lawyers, average citizens who are caught up in politically sensitive issues are frequently intimidated or charged with criminal acts by the military government.

Various professions, including comedians, doctors, private teachers, singers, writers, journalists and their family members, have been charged and imprisoned because of their political involvement.

On June 9, Khin Khin Aye, a senior manger in the Central Cooperative Society under the Ministry of Cooperative, was dismissed from her job without warning because her husband, attorney Hla Myo Myint, had represented Aung San Suu Kyi.

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DVB News – Commentary: Impunity bars justice for Burmese ethnic groups
Aung Htoo

June 11, 2009 (DVB)-While the world has remained rapt by the trial of Burma’s Aung San Suu Kyi, the ongoing crisis over rights for ethnic minorities in the country has received little international attention.

Burma’s ethnic minority groups constitute one-third of the population. This population has borne the brunt of the government’s well-documented and widely condemned human rights violations. Ethnic children have been forcibly recruited into the army, some to act as minesweepers for troop patrols, while rape of ethnic women has been labelled by human rights groups an attempt to dilute the ethnic diversity of Burma. Their situation is being compounded by a culture of impunity in Burma It is only when greater international attention is focused on government impunity and on rights for ethnic minorities that Burma will be able to achieve peace.

This was an argument put forward by Professor Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro, former UN special rapporteur to Burma from 2000 to 2008, in an article published last month in the New York Times. The article highlighted the grievances and loss of rights of the ethnic minority in the country, with whom he worked with for eight years.

While the plight of Burma’s ethnic groups has been sidelined by the Suu Kyi trial, the Burmese government has focused greater attention, albeit highly cynical, on transforming armed ethnic groups into political tools for the convenience of next year’s elections. One key issue that many observers have ignored is that if they accept such government proposals, they will effectively be complicit in supporting government impunity for crimes committed by the state army against their own people.

According to agency reports, a delegation of government officials lead by the junta’s chief of military affairs security, Lieutenant-General Ye Myint, has met with the Shan State Army-North (SSA-N) ceasefire group as part of a series of discussions with ceasefire groups across the country. It is understood that the government tried to persuade the Shan group to form a political wing to contest the upcoming elections, in return offering them an opportunity to retain their armed status by transforming into a government militia.

Rather than committing themselves to military rule, ethnic ceasefire groups should take this opportunity make demands about their status in the country and to speak out about their loss of rights.

‘License to Rape’, a 2002 report by the Shan Women’s Action Network that gained attention from the international community, highlighted details of rape cases against Shan women by the ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) army. But the SSA-N never made significant calls for international action against the SPDC’s crimes either against Shan people or other ethnic minorities. Similarly, the SSA-N stayed silent about the government’s manipulation of Burmese law under which their leader, Colonel Hso Ten, was in 2005 imprisoned for 106 years.

If the SSA-N bows to government persuasion and forms a political party to enter the elections, they would automatically be placed in a position where they accept the 2008 constitution. Buried within the constitution is section 445 of the penal code, which grants the government an amnesty for crimes committed by the army during the State Law and Order Restoration Council era from 1988 to 1997. This would effectively mean the group supports an ongoing culture of impunity in Burma. Pinheiro documented a case where a Burmese soldier last December abducted, raped and killed a 7-year-old Karen girl. Authorities refused to arrest the soldier; instead, officers threatened the parents with punishment if they did not accept a cash bribe to keep quiet.

This culture of impunity is becoming a huge problem for Burma, and is compounded by the country’s failing legal system. But pure political thinking which aims to bring a solution merely to arguments about the constitution or the election will not solve the current situation. We need to build a new approach by restoring law and order under a framework in which whoever commits a crime can be punished.

If Burma continues with the current 2008 constitution, people whose basic human rights were violated by the government will be denied their right to seek justice under legal terms of the abuses suffered. Furthermore, it would encourage such abuses to continue free of punishment. Since 1990, the United Nations’ special rapporteur has made 37 visits to Burma while the international body’s General Assembly and the Human Rights Council have passed over 35 resolutions regarding Burma. The UN Security Council, however, is yet to pass a single resolution.

Pinheiro points out the international community’s “diplomatic efforts [have] failed to bear fruit” and “the country’s domestic legal system will not punish those perpetrating crimes against ethnic minorities”. In this context, he says, “it is time for the United Nations to take the next logical step”.

Were this to happen, a possible indictment by the International Criminal Court could be on the horizon. This, Pinheiro argues, would have the dual effect of bringing greater attention to impunity in Burma, and deterring future crimes against humanity. If the ceasefire groups do not consider these facts and instead join hands with the government, whilst ignoring crimes being committed by them, they will, as the Burmese saying goes, be hiding from a lightning strike under a palm tree.

Aung Htoo is general secretary of the Burma Lawyers’ Council

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