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| Helicopter aid service grounded |
| Sunday, 30 August 2009 |
YANGON, 20 August 2009 (IRIN) - For aid workers, accessing Myanmar's cyclone-stricken Ayeyarwady Delta had meant a hop into the World Food Programme (WFP) helicopter and being airborne for about an hour. Not any more. The service stopped on 15 August after Myanmar’s government failed to extend it.
“It is back to six-hour-long road trips or boat rides,” grumbled an aid worker.
Chris Kaye, WFP country director, confirmed that the service had been discontinued. The agency had started off with a fleet of 10 helicopters after Cyclone Nargis struck Myanmar on 2 and 3 May 2008. The service delivered 1,119MT of life-saving supplies, including food and shelter materials, and transported thousands of aid workers and people needing urgent assistance.
The operation was reduced to a single helicopter in recent months but continued to provide critical access to the delta not only for WFP but the entire humanitarian community as roads are often inaccessible after rains.
"The service was a great convenience also for government officials and donors conducting assessments of the various post-Nargis programmes," said Thierry Delbreuve, head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Myanmar.
However, Andrew Kirkwood, Save the Children's country director in Myanmar, pointed out that the continuation of the service had to be weighed up against the fact that the relief operations in the delta were no longer in an emergency phase and “maybe the funds allocated for the air service could be better used elsewhere now”.
Aid operations, after Nargis killed nearly 140,000 people and affected 2.4 million, are now in a recovery phase, with thousands of beneficiaries.
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| Rebels say junta shell kills Chinese soldiers |
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The United Wa State Army (UWSA) that has joined battle with its Kokang ally against the Burma Army yesterday said a shell aimed for its mountain base near the border had overshot the mark and killed one People’s Liberation Army (PLA) soldier while wounding two others.
“When the Burma Army launched attack against the mountain base near Qingsuihe (Chinshwehaw) in the afternoon, we had no choice, but to join the fight,” said a UWSA officer who asked not to be named.
Kokang’s Qingsuihe, also known as Nampha in Shan is opposite the Wa’s Namteuk (written Nanding in Pinyin) in the south. The two towns are separated by the Namting, a tributary of the Salween, and connected by a bridge. The fall of the strategic mountain base would have threatened Namteuk, according to the UWSA.
“We captured more than a hundred POWs, whom we turned over to the PLA,” he claimed.
No independent confirmation of the rebels’ statement could be obtained as yet. (Latest information says the casualties were civilians, not PLA soldiers)
Resumption of hostilities between the Kokang-Wa-Mongla forces and the Burma Army (after 20 years of an uneasy but working truce) started yesterday morning when a police patrol that had strayed too near the Kokangs’ temporary headquarters was attacked. Three policeman were reportedly killed and the rest fled across the border where they were disarmed by the PLA. (Kachin News Group reported they were soldiers in police uniforms.)
Meanwhile, the Burma Army that had ousted Kokang leader Peng Jiasheng has appointed his former deputy-turned-defector Bai Souqian as the new leader. “The Kokang Army (also known as Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army) has about 1,000 troops,” said a businessman who had just gone out of business in Kokang. “Not more than 200 had joined Bai. The rest are still with Peng.”
The Burma Army’s next target after Kokang that covers the Wa’s northern border could be Mongla that protects the Wa’s southern border, said a the anti-Rangoon Shan State Army (SSA) ‘South’ source. The closure of two borders could have strangled the UWSA to death without fighting, according to a Thai security source.
However, according to reports coming from the Thai-Burma border, the Burma Army’s next target could also be the UWSA’s 171st Military Region, opposite Thailand’s Maehongson, Chiangmai and Chiangrai provinces.
The Operations Commander in Mongton, opposite Chinagmai, reportedly demanded on 26 August that the Wa withdraw from all their bases west of the Mongton-BP1 (Thai border) road. “He didn’t give any deadline as in the past,” said an informed source in Mongton. “He just said ‘at once’. Naturally, the Wa, instead of complying with his order, merely reinforced their positions.”
On the other hand, no reports of the new Burma Army units into the area have been received, said the SSA South. “But all our units have been placed on the alert,” said Col Yawdserk, the SSA’s supreme commander.
Meanwhile, Hkun Okker of the National Council of the Union of Burma (NCUB) said Burma’s military rulers could find itself fighting on two fronts as in 1988. “September is the second anniversary of the Saffron Revolution,” he told SHAN. “I certainly hope the two parties (those protesting in the towns and cities and those fighting on the borders) can find ways to cooperate and coordinate their activities.”
The military regime that was facing 8888 uprising on the one hand and facing the Chinese-backed Communist Party of Burma (CPB) on the other was saved by the mutinies that erupted within the CPB’s ranks in 1989. The ensuing ceasefire pacts between the mutineers and Burma’s military government had been celebrated by Kokang, Wa and Mongla in March, April and June respectively.
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| Scorched earth victims ordered to rebuild houses |
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(DVB)–Villagers in Burma’s central Shan state whose houses were razed in the junta’s latest scorched earth campaign this month have been ordered by the army to rebuild their property.
Some 500 hundred houses were burnt down by the Burmese army near Laihka town in Shan state between 27 July and 1 August, uprooting around 10,000 civilians.
Sein Kyi, deputy editor of the Shan Herald Agency for News, said that army officials in the area recently ordered those who fled to return to their villages and rebuild their homes.
“They also shot video and picture footage of the villages being rebuilt to make it look like the army was actually helping the villagers.”
He said the villages were burnt down by army soldiers together with troops from a splinter group of the opposition Shan State Army, known as the Brigade 758.
“Now the army officials are telling villagers it was the Brigade 758 who burnt down their houses, despite warning [the brigade] not to,” he said.
“But actually, it was the [government] troops who burnt down the villages and the Brigade 758 was only accompanying them.”
The order to rebuild the villages follows a press conference held two weeks ago in Bangkok by Shan right groups, who reported that around 40 villages have been targeted in the campaign.
According to the groups, it is the single largest forced relocation in Shan state since a campaign from 1996 to 1998 saw the uprooting of 300,000 villagers, many of whom fled to Thailand.
Some aid materials, brought to the displaced by sympathisers in nearby towns and villages, were reportedly intercepted by the army on August 7.
Sein Kyi said that the materials were recently distributed to the villagers under the army battalion’s name.
Much of the scorched earth campaign has focused on Laikha township, where over 100 villagers, including women, have been arrested and tortured, and three have died. Many of these were displaced by the previous campaign.
Reporting by Aye Nai |
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| 30,000 flee as China rebukes Burma |
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(DVB)–Around 30,000 refugees have crossed into China according to UN estimates as fighting between Burmese troops and ceasefire groups sparked a rare admonishment from China’s foreign ministry.
A spokesperson for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said today that between 10,000 and 30,000 civilians have fled Burma’s northern Shan state into China in recent days.
Fighting broke out between Burmese army troops and the Kokang ceasefire group yesterday after weeks of heightening tension.
Kokang troops yesterday attacked a police outpost near to Laogai town close to the China-Burma border, killing one Burmese police officer and injuring two.
The Kokang group has been joined by the United Wa State Army, Burma’s largest ceasefire group who had held a 20-year truce with the government.
Today China’s foreign ministry issued a statement urging Burma to "properly deal with its domestic issue to safeguard the regional stability in the China-Myanmar [Burma] border area".
"We also urge Myanmar to protect the safety and legal rights of Chinese citizens in Myanmar," said spokesperson Jiang Yu in the statement.
China is a key ally of Burma’s ruling junta, and seldom criticizes the internal affairs of its southern neighbour.
The mass of refugees pouring into China however, in addition to reports that a Burmese army shell fired across the border today killed a Chinese troop, has created a rare fissure between the two countries.
China has reportedly increased its troop patrols along the border area, and is said to be assisting the refugees.
“We have been informed that local authorities in Yunnan Province have already provided emergency shelter, food and medical care to the refugees,” said the UNHRC spokesperson Andrej Mahecic.
Local sources report that a number of civilians have also escaped into inner Shan state.
Reporting by Francis Wade |
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| Lawyers to appeal Suu Kyi sentence |
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(DVB)–Lawyers for Burma opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi are set to appeal her sentencing next week, following complaints that new conditions of her house arrest are stricter than before.
Suu Kyi met with her lawyers yesterday at her Rangoon compound where she has been sentenced to 18 months under house arrest.
“We mainly discussed an appeal to reconsider her sentence passed by the Insein district court,” said lawyer Nyan Win.
“We brought along the draft version of the appeal we wrote [which] is to be amended in the next few days.”
A finalised version of the appeal will be submitted next week. Nyan Win said lawyers also talked with Suu Kyi regarding the new house arrest conditions set by the government.
“In her previous house detention, she was allowed to meet with family members and also granted a regular medical check-up, but she doesn’t get these under the new conditions,” said Nyan Win, adding that a lot of the wording in the new conditions is unclear.
Suu Kyi was sentenced on 11 August to an 18-month commuted sentence under house arrest, following the visit in May of US citizen John Yettaw to her compound.
Yettaw, who was sentenced to seven years with hard labour, was released last week followig a visit to Burma by US senator Jim Webb.
Webb, who also met with Suu Kyi, stirred controversy following the visit with claims that Suu Kyi had hinted at a change in her pro-sanctions stance. This provided the basis for a commentary published in the New York Times yesterday.
“Daw Aung San Suu Kyi said she did not see his remarks as reflecting the Obama administration’s policy,” said Nyan Win.
Nyan Win said the National League Democracy (NLD) party was informed by the US embassy in Rangoon that three humanitarian experts from the US senate will be meeting with the party today.
It is unclear however what will be discussed in the meeting.
Reporting by Htet Aung Kyaw |
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| Junta Renews ‘Divide-and-Rule’ Tactic in Shan State |
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Two decades of ceasefire agreements between the Burmese junta and northern ethnic armies have collapsed as armed clashes broke out on Thursday when the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) and its ethnic allies opened fire on Burmese troops around the Kokang capital of Laogai.
Government troops took over Laogai on Monday without firing a single shot.
According to informed border sources, skirmishes continued from Thursday morning into Friday. Government troops fired artillery rounds into MNDAA positions, reportedly killing one Chinese civilian. One government policeman also has died, sources said.
Border guards and the regime’s constitution
Tension between the regime and ethnic ceasefire groups in northern Shan state increased steadily over the past few months as the junta began pressuring cease-fire groups to disarm and transform into a border guard force in April, in accordance with the new 2008 constitution which calls for all ethnic armies to be under the control of the regime.
Cease-fire groups such as the Wa, Kachin, Shan State Army [North] and Kokang have all rejected the guard force proposal.
Wa and Kokang delegates who attended the military-sponsored National Convention in Rangoon spoke out against the clause in the draft constitution, saying it limited the autonomy of ethnic minorities.
Aung Moe Zaw, a secretary with the exiled umbrella opposition National Council of Union of Burma, said the recent conflict clearly grows out of the flawed approval process of the constitution in 2008.
The ethnic minorities also are uphappy about the junta’s so-called “7-steps to democracy” process leading up to the 2010 national election.
Why the Kokang?
Why did the junta’s generals choose to confront the Kokang leaders first?
The Kokang army, with about 800 troops, is weaker than other ethnic armies, and its leaders clearly opposed placing their troops under government control. The Kokang are widely known to be heavily involved in the illicit drug trade.
Compared to the 20,000 Wa soldiers in the UWSA and the 4,000 Kachin soldiers with the KIA, the Kokang army presents an easy target.
The regime first launched a public relations offensive, linking Peng Jiasheng to the illicit drug trade. Bertil Linter, a Swedish journalist, noted the irony of the charge, considering that until recently Peng Jiasheng was always wheeled out to meet foreigner visitors including UN special envoy Ibrahim Gambari and presented as “a leader of the local nationals.”
The regime was also well aware of internal conflict among the Kokang leaders, and when Peng Jiasheng abandoned his headquarters in Laogai, it quickly put together a pro-regime Kokang faction to challenge the leadership of the MNDAA. It is a proven regime divide-and-rule tactic that was used successfully on Karen rebels in 1995.
“They [the junta] will replay the old game—create a proxy group then say two things: it’s a dispute over drugs and other criminal acts and it has nothing to do with the Tatamadaw [the armed forces],” said Min Zin, a US-based contributor to The Irrawaddy.
China’s role
China has repeatedly called for political stability on the northern border and for national reconciliation, and it is worried about a migration of refugees into Chinese territory.
It is difficult to gauge how China will deal with the armed clashes, but it has offered political support in the past to ethnic Wa, Kachin and Kokang along the border, while also supporting the junta.
On Thursday, the Secretary 1 of the junta, Gen Tin Aung Myint Oo, met with the visiting Chinese Deputy Commerce Minister Chen Jian in Naypyidaw.
Brig-Gen Kyaw Hsan, the information minister and an important member of the junta, met with the Chinese Cultural Counselor Charge d’ Affairs, Gao Hua, in the capital on Wednesday. Chinese officials were expected to raise the issue about the conflict along the northern border opposite Yunnan Province.
It is believed that senior Chinese and Burmese officials continue to hold meetings in Kunming, the capital of Yunnan, according to sources on the border.
During the meetings, Chinese officials reportedly have warned their Burmese counterparts, charging that Burmese soldiers crossed into Chinese territory this week.
According to the state-run China Daily, Song Qingrun, a senior researcher with the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, said that the situation on the border will have no impact on China-Burma relations.
Song, however, added it will hurt local businesses and border trade as more than 10,000 Chinese businessmen and workers live in Kokang-controlled territory where up to 90 percent of the businesses are owned by Chinese.
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| 10,000 More Kokang Refugees Flee into China |
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Another wave of 10,000 Kokang civilians fled into China on Thursday and Friday due to continued clashes between the Burmese army and ethnic militias in the Kokang region of northeastern Burma, said sources on the Sino-Burmese border.
Some 4,000 of the displaced villagers have not yet received food or shelter due to logistics, a relief worker in the area who requested anonymity told The Irrawaddy on Friday.
He said the newly arrived Kokang refugees are being divided into two shelters—one in Zheng Kang County and one in Gengma County where Chinese authorities are already providing humanitarian assistance to the more than 10,000 Kokangs who arrived within the last week.
He pointed out that many of the refugees are not sheltering in the camps because they can stay with their relatives on the Chinese side of the border.
Meanwhile, electricity and lines of communication have been cut in and around the Kokang capital, Laogai, said the relief worker.
Saeng Juen, one of the editors of the Thailand-based Shan Herald Agency for News, said at least 30,000 fled into China on Thursday. The Irrawaddy could not independently confirm this report, however.
A humanitarian NGO working in the region reported on Friday that refugees are still crossing the border into Yunnan Province and clashes between the Burmese army and the Kokang militia and its allies are ongoing.
Aung Kyaw Zaw, a Burmese analyst on the Sino-Burmese border, said that major clashes have been reported in Chinshwehaw, a Kokang town south of Laogai, at about 11 a.m. On Friday.
He said that Chinese authorities would only allow Kokang-based Chinese nationals to cross into China and that some refugees were stopped at the border crossing.
The Burmese army seized Laogai on Monday night without a single bullet being fired.
However, on Thursday morning a Burmese police patrol was ambushed by the Kokang army, and several clashes were later reported in and around Laogai between the Burmese army and an alliance of ethnic ceasefire groups: the Kokang militia, known as the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), and its allies the United Wa State Army (UWSA) and the National Democratic Alliance Army—Eastern Shan State (NDAA).
The three insurgent groups are among 17 ethnic armies that have reportedly signed ceasefire agreements with the Burmese junta over the past 20 years.
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| Fighting Stops as Kokang Surrender Arms to Chinese |
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Fighting near the Sino-Burmese border came to an abrupt halt today after about 700 Kokang troops handed over their weapons to Chinese officials following days of clashes that sent thousands fleeing across the border.
Aung Kyaw Zaw, a Burmese military analyst who is close to the Kokang, told The Irrawaddy on Saturday that at least 700 soldiers from the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), an ethnic-Kokang militia, crossed the border into China today and surrendered their arms to local officials.
He added that troops from the United Wa State Army (UWSA), a much larger force allied to the Kokang, have been repositioned to Wa-controlled territory.
The Irrawaddy was unable to verify this information with other independent sources.
The sudden end to the fighting came a day after Kokang and UWSA troops ambushed a convoy of Burmese army vehicles in Kokang territory. According to unconfirmed reports, more than a dozen Burmese soldiers were killed in the attack.
On Thursday, a 20-year ceasefire between the Burmese army and the armed ethnic groups broke down after government forces moved to occupy Kokang territory. Since then, the Burmese army has sent reinforcements into the area from Light Infantry Divisions 33 and 99.
The crisis began on Monday, when tens of thousands of refugees, including Chinese businessmen, started flooding across the border into China from Laogai, a town in Kokang territory. Cross-border trade in Laogai has since come to a standstill and trading at other border checkpoints has decreased, say sources in the area.
The rapidly deteriorating situation caused consternation in Beijing, which has long had close relations with both sides in the conflict. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Jiang Yu said China hoped the Burmese junta would deal with the situation properly and ensure stability along the border and protect Chinese citizens in Burma.
“China is following the situation closely and has expressed concern to Myanmar [Burma],” said Jiang.
Some observers said that junta head Snr-Gen Than Shwe’s decision to send troops into Kokang territory despite China’s concerns showed his determination to demonstrate that he will not be constrained by Beijing.
“The Burmese junta doesn’t care what anybody thinks, so I don’t think the generals are thinking about China’s response,” said Chan Tun, a former Burmese ambassador to China.
But while Naypyidaw showed little concern about the consequences of renewed fighting in the area, Beijing couldn’t ignore the worsening situation, as Chinese living near the border expressed outrage at the Burmese military’s actions.
“I feel upset with the Burmese government. The Kokang people have Chinese blood. And in China, many people are so angry that they are urging the Chinese government to send troops to help the Kokang,” said a Chinese journalist who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Although Beijing appears to have defused the potentially explosive situation for the time being, it remains to be seen if fighting will resume between the Burmese and the Wa, who command a much larger military force than the Kokang.
The current conflict stems from the refusal of ethnic ceasefire groups, including Kokang, Wa, Kachin and Shan militias, to transform themselves into border security forces under Burmese military command.
The 20,000-strong UWSA presents the greatest obstacle to Burmese ambitions to pacify the country’s borders after six decades of civil conflict. Although they were among the first ethnic groups to sign a ceasefire agreement with the current regime in 1989, they have also been the most resistant to any effort to weaken their hold over their territory.
In Rangoon, news of the clashes in the country’s north has revived memories of the insurgencies that wracked the region for decades.
“People here are talking about it at teashops. They are saying that this is the return of civil war,” said an editor of a private weekly journal in Rangoon.
Meanwhile, Burma’s main opposition party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), called for a peaceful resolution of the ongoing conflict in northern Burma.
“We want the junta to resolve the issue in a peaceful way with ethnic groups,” NLD spokesman Han Thar Myint told The Irrawaddy on Saturday. “The cause of the conflict is the Burmese regime’s failure to resolve problems in the country politically.”
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| Suu Kyi visitor tells of 'sorrow' |
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The man who swam to the lakeside home of Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has spoken of his sorrow that his action led to her arrest and trial.
John Yettaw told the BBC that he had a dream that Ms Suu Kyi was going to be murdered, and swam to her home wearing home-made flippers to warn her.
Mr Yettaw was sentenced to seven years in prison but is now back home after US Senator Jim Webb intervened.
Ms Suu Kyi was sentenced to 18 months' further house arrest.
Mr Yettaw, a devout Mormon from Falcon, Missouri, told the BBC's Newshour programme that he had had many strong visions or dreams which he called "impressions" or "camcorder moments".
In one he says he foresaw an official plot to murder Ms Suu Kyi and this prompted him to swim twice to her home to warn her of the danger.
On the first occasion he says he left some Mormon scriptures for her but did not enter her home.
As he left he was challenged by an armed guard. He says he shook hands with the guard who then walked away and he took a taxi away from the scene.
Another dream
But he again swam to her house in May after another dream.
"I had been researching Myanmar (Burma) and researching about the internally displaced families and about the numbers of people who had been murdered and then about the numbers of people through the Cyclone (Nargis) and then about Aung San Suu Kyi's release date and I went to sleep that night and I had a dream that when she was released she was going to be murdered and I saw a plot," he said.
He said that he believed the inevitable publicity surrounding his trips would make it impossible for the Burmese military authorities to carry out their alleged plan to assassinate her.
"When I was in the water the first time... I had seen myself returning to the house and being in her house two days. When I had the dream of the assassination I thought: OK, I'll go back and I will share with her this message.
"I shared with many people that I had this overwhelming feeling that I was going to be imprisoned and become a political prisoner. The theme was that the eyes of the world would be on Aung San Suu Kyi and that this would spare her life, that the junta (Burma's military government) would not dare try to assassinate her."
Mr Yettaw, 53, said that when he arrived at Ms Suu Kyi's home for the second time she was "shocked" to see him.
"When I got in to talk to Aung San Suu Kyi I said there's a plot to assassinate you," he said. "She said: 'If I die I die.' I said no way, Burma needs you."
Both Mr Yettaw and Ms Suu Kyi were arrested and the pro-democracy leader was charged with breaking the terms of her house arrest by sheltering Mr Yettaw.
Mr Yettaw, who suffered ill health during his detention, spoke of his sorrow that his actions had led to Ms Su Kyi's arrest.
"I was sorrowful that she was arrested," he said. "I had impressions that I would be on trial and that Aung San Suu Kyi would either testify for or against me but not that she would be placed on trial because I think that if I had seen that I wouldn't have done it."
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| Nursing mother shot in the neck and mouth by the Burma Army, she and her two month old baby at risk of death |
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On August 26th 2009, Burma Army troops and soldiers of the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) shot and severely wounded Ma Kin Kyi, 34, a woman from Htee Pa Doh village in Thaton District, west central Karen State. According to our local FBR relief team, the troops, from Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) 214 and DKBA 333 Brigade surrounded the house in which Ma Kin Kyi was staying and fired into it, severely injuring her in the neck, jaw and mouth. According to the team, Ma Kin Kyi, who has a 2 month old baby, is not likely to survive this injury because she is unable to drink or eat. The team reported that the troops entered the village and suspected that the house in which Ma Kin Kyi was staying contained soldiers from the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA). The FBR team is now in the area, giving Ma Kin Kyi emergency medical treatment and trying to help her survive as best as they can and will continue to report on the situation.
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| Three Children Die from Dengue Fever in Arakan |
| Friday, 28 August 2009 |
Sittwe: Three children died with dengue fever in Arakan State within the first week of August, according to a report of the journal Weekly Eleven.
Among the victims are two children from Sittwe, the capital of Arakan, and another child from Kyaukpru, the second largest city in the state.
The number of dengue fever infections in Arakan State was up to 329 within the first week of August, the government health department is quoted as saying.
The towns of Sittwe and Kyaukpru have been most affected by dengue, but other areas in Arakan State have also seen the number of people falling ill with dengue twice what it was last year.
According to a local source, the medical facilities for dengue fever patients are very poor in Arakan State. At the same time, many hospitals are facing a shortage of medicine to treat the illness.
The condition of affected children in rural areas of the state is most serious due to lack of treatment and medicine. In addition to a lack of medicine, patients have not been receiving treatment from hospitals systematically.
A medical doctor from Sittwe said the number of dengue fever patients in Arakan State may be higher than the reported figure of 329 because in some rural areas it is difficult to get an accurate count due to lack of communications.
Many poor families in Arakan State can not send their dengue affected children to the hospitals because the fees for medical treatment in Arakan is more than they can afford.
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| Kokang capital falls: “Not shoot first” policy under fire |
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Laogai, the capital of Kokang, just 5 months after celebrating the 20th anniversary of peace with the country’s military rulers, is under Burma Army control since Monday night, 24 August, according to sources.
“I haven’t seen any Kokang fighters all day,” said one of the few remaining residents told SHAN yesterday. “Everywhere it’s the Burmese the soldiers.”
Another source
Peng Jiasheng
said he had gone past what was until yesterday the mansion of Peng Jiasheng, the Kokang supreme leader and saw only Burmese policemen both inside and outside the wall.
Peng and three others, which included his younger brother Jiafu and two sons, were said to have escaped to the north with his troops.
According to the latest information, Peng and troops loyal to him are still holding positions northeast of Laogai and at Qingsuihe (Chinshwehaw) aka Nampha on the southern border with Wa.
As the new base at Kunghsa is just 4km from Laogai, the Burma Army could have mounted an attack if it chose to. “But they have yet to do it, probably because it is too uncomfortably near the Chinese border,” said a source from the border. “The Burma Army has instead brought in other Kokang rivals of Peng to deal with him. Apart from Bai Souqian (his former deputy), there are now Kokang militias loyal to the Burma Army from Kunlong, Hopang and even his archenemy Yang Mouliang. If there is going to be any shooting, the Burma Army can now tell the Chinese it’s a fight among the Kokangs, the Burma Army has nothing to do with it.”
On the other side of the border, China has set up a temporary holding center for the refugees from Burma, according to the same source. “They are giving them a blanket and a mat each, besides food,” he said.
Meanwhile, the United Wa State Army (UWSA) is reportedly holding an emergency meeting with its Kokang ally this morning at Namteuk, south of Qingshihe.
The two towns
are separated by the Namting and connected by a bridge over it. “The fall of Qingsuihe,” admitted a Wa source, “could greatly threaten the safety of Namteuk and restrict our movements.”
Namteuk is the headquarters of the UWSA’s 318th Division, commanded by Bao Ai Roong, the Wa supreme leader’s nephew.
The fall of Laogai without a shot being fired has brought into question the practicality of the “Not Shooting First” policy of the Peace and Democracy Front (PDF), whose members include Kokang, Wa and Mongla. “We should also have spelled out what movements by the Burma Army would be deemed as hostile acts,” said a Shan ceasefire officer. “Now, because we have said that we won’t shoot first, the Burma Army is being allowed to beef up its forces around us.”
The Kokang debacle could be repeated elsewhere, he warned, if the alliance continued to hold on the policy.
Kokang, since 1989, had been under the control of Peng Jiasheng. The Burmese authorities, now that an arrest warrant for him has been issued, is reportedly encouraging Peng’s rival groups to set up a new leadership.
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| Kokangs victim of junta’s old tactics: observers |
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New Delhi (Mizzima) - Burma’s military rulers have yet again resorted to a divide and rule policy to break up the Kokang ceasefire armed group, which refused to toe the junta’s line of transforming its army to a border guard force, observers said.
On Wednesday, Peng Jiasheng, the Supreme Commander of the Kokang Army lost his capital Lao Kai and was forced along with his troops out of the town, as his deputy Bai Souqian and other Kokang militias took over the Myanmar Nationalities Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), also known as the Kokang Army, reports said.
According to the Thailand based Shan Herald Agency for News (SHAN), the former Kokang Army led by Peng were not to be seen in Lao Kai, which is swarming with Burmese soldiers and the police as well as Kokang militias backed by the Burmese Army.
But sources said, Peng and his troops are headed for the north of Loa Kai and tension between the troops is high and a shoot-out could be eminent.
Aung Kyaw Zaw, a Sino-Burma border based military analyst, said, “it is a case of letting the Kokangs fight each other. The junta had applied this tactic a long time back and is now using it again to break the Kokang.”
He said the Burmese Army has sided with Peng’s former deputy Bai Souqian, who is now leading the Kokang militias in Lao Kai. According to reports, he has also reportedly been joined by other Kokang militias including Peng’s arch-rival Yang Mouliang.
Aung Naing Oo, a Burmese analyst based in Thailand said, the junta’s tactics are becoming obsolete and predictable, but sadly, groups are still finding themselves falling into the pit.
“We have seen the junta’s tactics at work with other rebels. The Kokang’s case is similar. The junta knows that by eliminating the Kokang, they can weaken other groups including the United Wa State Army (UWSA),” Aung Naing Oo said.
The MNDAA, the UWSA, the Kachin Independence Organization and the Maila or National Democratic Alliance Army (NDAA), the four groups that have turned down the junta’s proposal to transform their armies, have recently entered into an alliance called the Myanmar Peace and Democracy Front.
The junta, in April, had proposed to all ceasefire armed groups to transform their army into the Border Guard Force, a force to be controlled and administered by the Burmese Army. But many groups including the four alliances have rejected the proposal.
Aung Naing Oo said it is crucial for the junta to persuade the ceasefire groups to transform their armies, as it is crucial for the junta to conduct elections in areas controlled by the ceasefire groups.
“If the ceasefire groups are rejecting their plan, the credibility of the elections in 2010 will have a severe impact, though it will not be able to stop the junta from conducting it,” he added.
In a bid to eliminate Peng Jiasheng, the Burmese Army has ordered raids at his residence under the pretext of drug eradication. The police in Lashio had also ordered Peng and three others to appear before the court.
But when Peng refused to appear, the authorities issued an arrest warrant for him and three others including his younger brother, Aung Kyaw Zaw said.
“I don’t think they can catch Peng just like that. It will require a fight. But if there is any clash the Burmese Army can say it is between the Kokangs,” he added.
Meanwhile, Aung Naing Oo cautioned that the junta’s tactics of infiltrating into the Kokan leadership should be a step to watch for other ceasefire groups including the UWSA and the KIO.
“We have seen the split of the Karen National Union and how the junta has played its role. Now, it is very likely that they will further move on with their plans for other groups,” he added. |
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| 10,000 acres of farmland destroyed |
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(DVB)–Around 10,000 acres of rice paddy fields located alongside one of Burma’s major rivers have been destroyed after weeks of heavy rainfall caused extensive flooding in central Burma.
A local living near to the Sittaung river in Bago division told DVB that the river’s water level started swelling on 7 August, flooding farmlands in four townships.
“The paddy plants rotted after being underwater for about 10 days. About 10,000 acres of farmlands were affected by the flood,” he said.
“It’ll take farmers around one month to start growing the crops all over again.”
He said that farm owners, who took agricultural loans from the government to grow crops, now had no money to investment in new crops.
“The farmers receive only 8000 kyat ($US8) per an acre of farmland from the agricultural bank and they cannot get a loan for more than 10 acres,” he said.
“They were already in huge debt from the previous [failed] crop and it is impossible for them to find more money to invest.”
Rice is one of Burma’s major exports, but the sector was hit hard and production dropped following cyclone Nargis in May last week, which was reported to have destroyed up to one million acres of farmland.
The ruling junta came under criticism after it continued to export rice at the same quantity despite the massive drop in production.
The local said it was likely that there would be low rice production this year in the area affected by he flooding.
“An acre of paddy farm produces about 60 tins [2688 litres] of rice, so the amount damaged by the flooding would be around 60,000 cups [2,688,000],” he said.
The state-run newspaper Myanma Ahlin reported yesterday that the Sittaung water level has begun subsiding in some areas.
It also warned, however, that it could go up to an emergency level of 600 centimeters within 24 hours, starting from yesterday morning.
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| Dam forces relocation of 60 villages |
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Aug 26, 2009 (DVB)–Over 60 villages in northern Burma have been ordered by the government to relocate to make way for a new dam on the country’s major river, the Irrawaddy.
Local sources allege that the township council in Kachin state’s capital, Myitkyina, on August 5 summoned authorities from over 60 villages north of the town and told them to move their villages.
The combined population of this area, at the confluence of the Irrawaddy and the N'mai Hka rivers, is estimated at 10,000.
“They didn’t say exactly when we are to move but assured that we would definitely have to move,” said a villager who attended the meeting with the township officials.
“They are now collecting statistics of the villages for the relocation plan.”
He added that there are about 2000 acres of farmland in the area about to be destroyed when the building of the Myitsone dam starts.
Authorities are said to be making a list of those to pay compensation to, although villagers have complained that no compensation has yet been received.
According to advocacy group International Rivers, the dam would create a reservoir the size of New York City, submerging historical sites such as churches and temples.
The dam project is being jointly run through an alliance dominated by Chinese firms, including China Power Investment Corporation, China Southern Power Grid Co. Ltd, and the Yunan Machinery Export Import Company.
Also involved in the project is Asia World Co. Ltd, which is owned by Lo Hsing Han, a Burmese business tycoon and former drug trafficker.
Most electrical power generated from the dam’s hydropower plant will go to China, despite campaigning groups complaining of regular electricity shortages in many of Burma’s major cities.
Reporting by Thiri Htet San |
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| Teenager accused of stealing sent to army |
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(DVB)–A 15-year-old boy accused of stealing from a house where he worked as a servant in southern Burma was handed over to the military by his employer, said an opposition party member.
Aung Kyaw Zin, who lived in Irrawaddy division, was hired by a neurologist in Mon state capital Moulmein for six months last year to work as a servant.
After failing to return home once the six months was up, his mother, Htay Yee, contacted the neurologist, who said he been handed to the army.
“The mother and I went to Moulmein and met with Khin Ko Ko [who] told her she handed him to the army for stealing some gold from her house,” said National League for Democracy (NLD) member Maung Maung Gyi.
“I told her she should’ve handed him to the police and that she didn’t have permission to send him to the army.”
The teenager was reportedly handed to a sergeant in the Light Infantry Battalion 545, when he visited the neurologists house.
Khin Ko Ko’s older sister has claimed that the neurologist only “gave the boy a chance” to join the army to help him escape legal punishment for stealing.
“He said he wanted to join the army instead and my sister, who didn’t want to see him sent to a prison, let him,” said Khin Ko Ko’s sister.
“Joining the army is a good thing, so we let him even though he is not 18-years-old yet.”
Maung Maung Gyi said the case was reported to the International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) liaison office in Rangoon but no progress has been heard since. The ILO in Rangoon was unavailable for comment.
Reporting by Naw Say Phaw |
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| ‘Than Shwe Should Be the First to Blink’: Diplomat |
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As Burma’s state-run media continues to call on Washington to lift sanctions following the highly publicized visit of pro-engagement US Senator Jim Webb, a Western diplomat close to US officials says it is now up to the Burmese regime to make the next move.
“I don’t think the US will be the first to blink. [Junta leader Snr-Gen] Than Shwe should be the one to blink now,” said the Bangkok-based diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity.
He said that Than Shwe needs to demonstrate that he is genuinely interested in political dialogue by releasing Burma’s 2,100 political prisoners and allowing international monitors to ensure that next year’s election is credible.
So far, however, the regime in Burma hasn’t done anything to suggest that it wants to make political progress in the country, he said.
“Tangible and meaningful actions are needed, not just words,” he told The Irrawaddy.
During his visit to Burma last weekend, Webb—who is also the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on East Asia and Pacific Affairs—met with both Than Shwe and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
He also secured the release of American John William Yettaw, who had just been sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment for swimming to Suu Kyi’s lakeside home.
Suu Kyi, who had been put on trial for allowing Yettaw to stay overnight to recover from muscle cramps, received a three-year prison sentence that was immediately reduced to 18 months under house arrest.
“If they are serious about the new relationship with the US, they should commute Suu Kyi’s sentence completely and free her immediately,” said the Western diplomat.
After Webb’s visit, dissidents both inside and outside of Burma began to speculate about whether the US was going to shift its policy. However, given the ongoing political stalemate, Washington is not likely to make any major changes in its Burma policy, the diplomat said.
Indeed, the Obama administration has been careful to reiterate its position that encouraging national reconciliation in Burma, and not engagement with the regime, remains it top priority.
“We continue to look for signs that the Burmese government is prepared to embark on a meaningful dialogue with Aung Sun Suu Kyi, along with the rest of the democratic opposition,” the Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs, P J Crowley, told reporters at a daily State Department press briefing shortly after Webb’s visit.
In a statement thanking the regime for Yettaw’s release, the White House called on the junta to go further and free all political prisoners. “We urge the Burmese leadership in this spirit to release all the political prisoners it is holding in detention or in house arrest, including Aung San Suu Kyi,” the statement said.
It seems unlikely, then, that Washington will relax its sanctions on the Burmese junta as long as it continues to persecute its political opponents.
“How can the US lift its sanctions without action in Burma?” asked the Western diplomat, adding that Than Shwe has “done nothing to loosen his grip.”
During his meeting with Webb, Than Shwe reportedly told the senator that he could not allow UN chief Ban Ki-moon to meet Suu Kyi during his visit to Burma in June because she was on trial at the time. However, it is widely believed that his determination to isolate the pro-democracy leader stems from his strong personal animosity toward her.
Webb was the first senior US official to meet with Suu Kyi in more than a decade. In 1994, Congressman Bill Richardson spoke with the Nobel Peace Prize laureate for five hours at her house, accompanied by a reporter from The New York Times.
By contrast, Webb’s meeting with Suu Kyi took place at a government guest house and lasted less than one hour.
A Burmese source in Rangoon confirmed that the regime imposed a strict time limit on the meeting, effectively preventing Webb and Suu Kyi from discussing the issues of sanctions and engagement in any depth.
This may account for the confusion over what Suu Kyi said to Webb about her stance on engagement.
Although Webb said at a press conference following his trip to Burma that Suu Kyi seemed open to the idea of more “interaction” between the regime and the West, she actually said that there was a greater need for domestic dialogue, according to her lawyer.
Webb, who is known for his strong criticism of US sanctions on Burma, will brief US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on his visit when he returns to Washington.
During a recent visit to Southeast Asia, Clinton hinted that the Obama administration might be prepared to “open up doors for investment and for other exchanges that would help the people of Burma,” but made this conditional on Suu Kyi’s release.
Since then, the regime has given no indication that it is interested in meeting this precondition for engagement, meaning that for the time being, at least, efforts to improve relations between Washington and Naypyidaw are at a standstill.
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| Yettaw Says Guards Let Him Enter Suu Kyi Compound |
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John Yettaw, the American man who made international headlines after he swam to the lakeside home of detained Burmese democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi in May, said in an interview published on Friday that guards did nothing to prevent him from entering her compound.
“I don’t know why they [security guards] didn’t stop me,” Yettaw said in a telephone interview with Newsweek magazine. “The man with the AK-47 shook my hand and let me in.”
In his first public statement on the circumstances of his visit to Suu Kyi’s home since leaving Burma, Yettaw appeared to lend credence to suspicions that the incident was part of an effort by the Burmese junta to extend Suu Kyi’s detention, which was due to end just weeks after Yettaw’s sudden appearance on the scene.
Although Yettaw declined to explain why he decided to return to Suu Kyi’s home after an earlier intrusion last November, during which her live-in aides told him to leave, the Newsweek report cites a Western diplomatic source who said that he may have been lured back by agents posing as members of her political party.
The source, citing intelligence reports, said that around a week before Yettaw’s second swim, two men claiming to be members of Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy allegedly approached him in the Thai border town of Mae Sot and told him that Suu Kyi was ready to meet him.
According to the source, the intelligence reports also showed that senior Burmese officials had been instructed to find a pretext to keep Suu Kyi incarcerated as her May 27 release date approached.
On August 11, she was found guilty of violating the terms of her house arrest for allowing Yettaw to stay at her home overnight. She was sentenced to a further 18 months under house arrest—long enough to prevent her participating in elections slated for next year.
Despite evidence to suggest that the junta may have had a hand in orchestrating the incident, Yettaw dismissed suggestions that he was working on behalf of the regime or anybody else. “I’ve been accused of being CIA, of being on the books of the junta. The idea is just ridiculous,” he told Newsweek.
“I want to free Myanmar [Burma]. I want to stop the suffering there. I am anti-junta. I will never be at peace, emotionally or psychologically, until that woman is free, until that nation is free,” he said.
Yettaw was released by Burmese authorities and left Burma on August 16 after US Senator Jim Webb negotiated with the junta for his release during a high-profile visit.
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| Suu Kyi Asks for Return of Family Doctor |
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Burma’s pro-democracy leader is seeking to have her regular physician, Tin Myo Win, reinstated as her primary doctor, following her return to her home after being sentenced to 18-months of house arrest.
Nyan Win, one of Suu Kyi’s lawyer, told The Irrawaddy on Monday that since she returned home on August 11, the authorities sent another doctor to check on her health.
“She told officials that she wanted her family physician, Dr Tin Myo Win, to take care of her health,” Nyan Win said. “So far, I don’t think Dr Tin Myo Win has been able to visit her.”
Tin Myo Win was a leading pro-democracy activist during the 1988 uprising that toppled the 26-year rule of the late dictator Ne Win.
After the military coup in September 1988, Tin Myo Win became a member of Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD). In the following year, he was jailed.
He was the only regular visitor to see Suu Kyi during 2003-09, when he performed monthly check ups.
His is regular visits were suspended when he was arrested and questioned after the American intruder John Yettaw entered Suu Kyi’s lakeside house in Rangoon in early May.
Nyan Win said Suu Kyi’s lawyers have asked the authorities to allow a meeting with their client to talk about an appeal of her conviction.
Last week, Suu Kyi asked clarification from authorities about one of eight conditions of her house arrest concerning visitors.
Suu Kyi was sentenced to 3-year imprisonment for violating the terms of her house arrest. Yettaw received a 7-year sentence. Her sentence was reduced to18-months under house arrest.
Yettaw was granted amnesty after US Sen Jim Webb met with Snr-Gen Than Shwe.
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| Burmese IT Contest to Aid Junta? |
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Burmese IT technicians and bloggers suspect a Burmese search engine contest was designed by the Burmese military junta in order to increase its internet restriction technology and ability to control websites and blogs.
The Myanmar Computer Professional Association (MCPA) invited individuals and groups to compete for the title of MCPA Challenge Winner 2009 in the Myanmar Engine Contest, sources within the MCPA said last week.
The research-based contest is being held with the aim of “encouraging the development of the country’s information and communication technology (ICT), expanding the use of the Myanmar (Burmese) language in the ICT sector and enhancing the youth’s interest in the creation and ICT research,” according to an MCPA statement.
“Building such a search engine is like creating a small version of Google,” said a Rangoon-based IT expert speaking to The Irrawaddy. “It would take at least six months to create an engine that would be useful to governmental departments searching through data. Such an engine could help Burmese authorities find relevant information very quickly.”
Contestants must register by Aug 30 and will be given six months to develop the engine after they have submitted an initial application. The winner will be announced in June 2010 and will be awarded US $3,000.
Speaking to The Irrawaddy on Monday, Rangoon-based activist Blogger Kamikaze said: “I am rather doubtful about this search engine contest. We need to carefully consider whether to compete in this contest because the military junta can use it to exploit IT technicians and control IT technology. They already block blogs and Web sites like Yahoo and Youtube, but most IT technicians and bloggers can overcome these obstacles.”
The regime has been constructing a “Silicon Valley” called Yadanabon Cyber City near Maymyo in Mandalay Division, since June 2006. According to state-run newspapers, the facility is intended to serve as the sole nationwide internet service provider (ISP) in Burma.
Currently, Burma has three ISPs: the state-run Myanmar Posts and Telecommunications (MPT), which operates Myanmar Info Tech; the semi-government-owned Myanmar Teleport Company Ltd (formerly Bagan Net); and Hanthawaddy National Gateway.
In 2005 the Burmese military junta became more sophisticated in censoring online material after the introduction of a new firewall supplied by the US-based company Fortinet.
According to the Norway-based Pandia Search Engine News, the new search engine contest could have two purposes.
One could be to identify young Burmese with computer skills and prevent them from developing technology that threatens the regime.
“We know of activists that have managed to get around the walls of the censors,” Pandia said, “The opposition often use proxy servers and special software to get access to information.
“Another [purpose] could be to get the winners of the competition to serve the regime by developing a search engine that can be used to block any kind of unwanted information.
“It seems like the competition is open for non-Burmese as well, which means that they could hope to enlist politically naive computer experts in their fight against democracy. There is only one possible conclusion in our mind: a total boycott of this competition,” Pandia said.
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| Monk Leaders Call for Third Sangha Boycott |
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Several exiled Buddhist monk leaders have told The Irrawaddy that Burmese monks across Burma are preparing to launch another boycott of military personnel and their families due to ongoing abuses against Buddhist doctrine and clergy by the ruling military junta.
Known as a “pattanikkujjana” in Pali, a Buddhist monks’ boycott involves refusing morning alms from those said to have violated religious principles.
Burmese monks have declared a pattanikkujjana against the military regime and their cronies twice in recent history: the first time in 1990 following the suppression of Aung San Suu Kyi and her opposition party, the National League for Democracy, after they had won a national election by a landslide; and again in 2007, the so-called “Saffron Revolution,” when monks led demonstrations against price hikes in Rangoon that turned into a national uprising against the government.
Burma’s monasteries, some housing as many as 1,000 practicing monks, have been largely silent since the junta ordered a crackdown on the monk-led protests in August and September 2007. But several sources say that the simmering resentment could come to a head again in the lead-up to the regime’s election planned for 2010.
A monk in Rangoon who asked to remain anonymous told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday: “The local authorities are closely watching the monks and their monasteries. Moreover, there are plainclothes security forces keeping an eye on them.”
The military authorities closed and sealed Maggin monastery in Rangoon's Thingankyun Township in November 2007 after its abbot, Sayadaw U Indaka, was arrested for his involvement in the demonstrations. The monks and novices were evicted along with several HIV/ AIDS patients who were receiving treatment in the monastery at the time.
Speaking to The Irrawaddy, Ashin Issariya, one of the leaders of the exiled All Burma Monks’ Alliance (ABMA), said, “I want to call on all people and organizations to take part in a third monks’ boycott for the sake of peace and the welfare of all Burmese people.
“The Lord Buddha said that the sangha (Buddhist monkhood) had to carry out their religious duties by sacrificing their lives.
“Therefore, all members of the sangha must act to protect the Buddhist religion and the welfare of our people,” he said.
Currently, Burma’s Ministry of Religious Affairs is effectively controlling and curtailing the nations’ Buddhist monks under an order by the Sangha Maha Nayaka Committee (the state- sponsored Buddhist monks’ organization), which has restricted monks’ travel and gatherings.
Ashin Issariya said that the junta’s troops and loyalists had committed many religious crimes, such as killing and arresting monks and nuns, raiding and destroying monasteries, and defiling Buddha images.
He added that there is no freedom of religion under the military junta and that all religions are affected.
“Therefore, if the military authorities do not apologize for their abuses and crimes, it is the responsibility of all monks, nuns and laypersons to boycott the junta,” he said.
Some activists in Burma told The Irrawaddy that currently many monks’ organizations and monasteries are trying to organize themselves and set up cooperation and communication with monks’ groups in other parts of the country.
Ashin Thavara, a secretary of the India-based All Burma Monks’ Representative Committee (ABMRC), told The Irrawaddy: “Nowadays, the ABMRC is cooperating with the ABMA to not only carry out our religious duties, but to help the people and achieve peace in Burma and throughout the world.
“It is high time that all the people of Burma and around the world take action and boycott Burma’s military dictators,” he said.
Ashin Thavara claimed that during the September uprising, the junta’s soldiers and loyalist thugs raided and destroyed more than 60 monasteries, and beat, arrested and killed several hundred monks and nuns. He said that there are currently more than 250 monks and more than 20 nuns in prison in Burma for their political activities.
“Some of them were sentenced to hard labor,” he added.
“Others were sent with military battalions to work as porters at the front lines of the battlefields.”
During the 2007 Saffron Revolution, monks enacted a boycott of military families and their cronies by overturning their alms bowls to refuse alms, an act of defiance that marked the uprising.
According to official data, there are more than 400,000 monks in Burma, and its community, the sangha, is considered one of the strongest and most revered institutions in the country. It has always played an important role in Burma’s social and political affairs, often in opposition to oppressive regimes.
Ashin Candobhasacara, one of the leaders of the US-based International Burmese Monks’ Organization, told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday: “Our organization issued an announcement on Monday to mark the second anniversary of the Saffron Movement, and we plan to demonstrate against the Burmese junta by reciting the “Metta Sutta” (the Buddha’s words of loving-kindness) in front of the G20 Summit in Pittsburgh and in Union Square in New York on September 24 to 26.
“Now, all people and all organizations need to cooperate and condemn Burma’s military dictators,” he said. “We will encourage and support all the brave monks and demonstrators because they are sacrificing their lives and property for religion and peace in Burma and throughout the world.”
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| Junta Warns Buddhist Monks Online |
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A military government Web site, “kyaymon” [meaning “the mirror”], which operates as an online daily newspaper in Burmese, on Wednesday criticized two well-known Buddhist monks’ organizations and warned that the Burmese military authorities will take action against them.
The Burmese-language kyaymon Web site claimed that the International Burmese Monks’ Organization [commonly known as “Sasana Moli”] and the Sangha League (Myanmar) are trying to launch another monks’ boycott in Burma similar to the 2007 Saffron Revolution when Buddhist monks were instrumental in leading anti-government protests.
The Web site claimed that U Nayaka and U Candobhasacara from Sasana Moli, and U Jotika, U Paramikhanti and Shwe Zin Tun from Sangha League (Myanmar) are playing leading roles in the movement and that the Burmese public would not approve of it.
It went on to say that the Burmese government would not tolerate this type of movement and would take “severe action” against those involved in it. The Web site urged the public “not to become the monks’ victims.”
The warning comes the day after The Irrawaddy reported that several exiled monk leaders had said that Buddhist monks across the country were preparing to stage a third boycott of military personnel and their families.
A monk from Sangha League (Myanmar) told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday: “It is clear that the Burmese military junta is afraid of the movements of Buddhist monks. It also raises the possibility of the authorities planting fake monks in monasteries and committing violations against our religion.
“Several saffron robe dealers near the Shwedagon Pagoda told our monks that the military authorities had come and bought about 500 saffron robes from them on September 21, 2007. They used those robes as disguises to infiltrate the protests,” he added.
Sangha League (Myanmar) issued a statement on August 22 saying that it was cooperating with 14 other political groups to confront the Burmese military junta.
The US-based International Burmese Monks’ Organization was founded in October 2007 by two revered monks, the late U Kovida and the Malaysian-born Venerable Pannya Vamsa. It says on its Web site that it aims to “give voice to the brave people and monks who have been silenced,” and is “dedicated to peace and freedom in Burma.”
Speaking to The Irrawaddy on Wednesday, one of its leaders, Ashin Sopaka, said, “This [attack] shows that the Burmese dictators will counterattack the media with their own media weapons. They always do wrong and they are constantly breaking the codes of human rights.
“Our monks will surely boycott them if they persist with their religious abuses. All our monks need to boycott this Burmese dictatorship for the sake of our religion and in the interest of peace for all people,” he said.
Burmese monks have boycotted the military regime and their cronies twice in recent history: the first time in 1990 following the suppression of Aung San Suu Kyi and her opposition party, the National League for Democracy, after they had won the last general election by a landslide; and again in 2007, the so-called “Saffron Revolution,” when monk-led demonstrations against price hikes in Rangoon turned into a national uprising.
Ashin Candobhasacara, a secretary of the Sasana Moli, told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday: “Our International Burmese Monks’ Organization and the international community have called on the Burmese junta to release all political prisoners, including monks and nuns.
“Buddha told us that monks have to boycott those who violate religious principles. There is no doubt that the Burmese dictators have killed and arrested many monks and nuns, and have raided and destroyed monasteries.
“So, if they do not apologize to the monks for their religious abuses, we must boycott them according to Buddhist doctrine.
We are ready to sacrifice our lives for Buddhism and peace for all,” he said.
The International Burmese Monks’ Organization issued an announcement on Monday to mark the second anniversary of the Saffron Movement, saying it will demonstrate against the Burmese junta by reciting the “Metta Sutta” (the Buddha’s words of loving-kindness) in front of the G20 Summit in Pittsburgh and in Union Square in New York on September 24 - 26.
According to official data, there are more than 400,000 monks in Burma, and its community, the sangha, is considered one of the strongest and most revered institutions in the country. It has always played an important role in Burma’s social and political affairs, often in opposition to oppressive regimes.
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| Junta Tries to Discredit Kokang Leaders Linked to Drugs |
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The recent tension between government troops and the Kokang ceasefire group in northern Shan State is seen by observers as a tactic to pressure the Kokang into joining the junta’s border guard force.
After junta troops entered the Kokang-controlled area on Tuesday, Lt-Gen Ye Myint, chief of the military affairs security unit, arrived in Lao Kai and met with newly appointed Kokang leaders, said Aung Kyaw Zaw, an analyst on the Sino-Burma.
Nyo Ohn Myint, a Burmese politician in exile, said the regime is trying to show that the Kokang and the Wa ceasefire groups are heavily involved in drug production and sales, in an effort to discredit current leaders and to replace them with leaders who may be willing to cooperate with the regime.
“I think the regime is using a clever mechanism to handle the crisis with the ceasefire groups,” he said.
He noted that the United Wa State Army (UWSA) has been identified by the United States as an organization deeply involved in the drug trade.
Observers said the junta sees the Kokang as one of the weakest ceasefire groups, and one it may be able to convince to transition into a border guard force.
“The scenario for the Kokang is not good,” said Aung Kyaw Zaw. “They may end up complying with the junta.”
Burma watcher David Scott Mathieson noted that the regime wants all ethnic ceasefire groups to join the border guard force by October.
Tension mounted last week when junta troops raided the home of a Kokang leader, Peng Jiasheng, in a search for drugs. He is said to have left the area and be in a UWSA-controlled area.
Meanwhile, the state-run newspaper, The New Light of Myanmar, reported that a large amount of illegal drugs was seized on Monday in Tachileik, located opposite Mai Sai, Thailand.
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| Thousands Flee Burma into China after Standoff |
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BEIJING — Thousands of people have fled from northeastern Burma into China this month after tensions flared between government troops and ethnic minority groups, according to witnesses, an activist group and state media Wednesday.
Several thousand people a day have been streaming over the border into the town of Nansan in southern Yunnan province since Monday, one resident said. Some 10,000 have fled the Kokang area in Burma's northeastern Shan state between August 7 and 12 following a military confrontation, The Chongqing Evening Post reported Wednesday.
The US Campaign for Burma, a Washington, DC-based advocacy group, issued a statement saying the problems began when hundreds of Burmese troops were deployed in Kokang, a mostly ethnic Chinese region. Burma is also known as Myanmar.
The ruling military junta has been pressuring ethnic rebel groups to transfer their fighters to the government's control—something they are reluctant to do—as part of "border guard forces" before general elections next year, according to a statement by the rebels, who are part of an alliance of four ethnic groups called the Myanmar Peace and Democracy Front.
"Tensions between the junta and these cease-fire groups are extremely high and military confrontations between them are appearing frequently," said the statement, which the advocacy group released on the rebels' behalf.
The rebel statement said the standoff was triggered after Burma troops tried to raid the home of a rebel leader, where illegal drugs were allegedly being produced.
In China, a staffer from the Zhenkang County Public Security Bureau surnamed Li confirmed that large groups of people from Burma came to Nansan, though she gave no details.
A local business owner who only gave his name as Liu said the refugees have arrived in distinct waves. The first came between August 8 and 12. Many returned home after a few days, he said.
However, since Monday, several thousand people a day have returned to Nansan because of fears over the spreading conflict between armed groups, he said. Liu said some of his Burmese business partners and friends have sold off their jewelry, mobile phones and other valuables to flee.
"Businesses have been badly affected," Liu said. "Many people from Burma usually cross the border to buy clothes and other things. ... Not many people are coming to shop now."
Liu said the local government has set up refugee camps, while some people have been moving further into China.
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| Expert Doubts Napyidaw’s Nuclear Program |
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A well-known expert on Burma’s military affairs is skeptical about recent reports on nuclear cooperation between the Burmese regime and North Korea.
In a paper published on the Australian Strategic Policy Institute’s Web site on Monday, Andrew Selth, an expert on Burmese military affairs and author of “Burma’s Armed Forces: Power without Glory,” expressed doubts about Burma’s nuclear capability.
Selth said that Burma’s recent arms and materiel purchases from various countries including North Korea “do not necessarily mean that the junta is engaged in a secret program to develop weapons of mass destruction (WMD).”
“Some generals—possibly including regime leader Snr-Gen Than Shwe—are clearly attracted to the idea of acquiring a nuclear weapon, in the belief that possession of WMD would give Burma the same stature and bargaining power that they believe is now enjoyed by North Korea,” Selth said.
“The key question, however, is whether this is just wishful thinking, or if there has been a serious attempt by the regime to pursue a nuclear weapons program,” he said.
In early August, based on interviews with defectors conducted over two years by Professor Desmond Ball of the Australia National University's Defense Study Center and Thailand-based journalist Phil Thornton, The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Bangkok Post published stories saying that the junta could develop a nuclear bomb by 2014.
Selth said US officials knew about the Burmese defectors more than two years ago. “Yet, even when armed with the apparent revelations of all these defectors, the Bush administration remained conspicuously silent about Burma’s nuclear status,” he said.
Selth also said that the tunnels pictured in recent news reports were “quite modest” and would be vulnerable to attack by “a modern air force equipped with latest weapons.”
“Many of these underground facilities are probably for military purposes, such as command bunkers, air raid shelters and protective tunnels for vehicles and weapons systems,” Selth said, noting that the Burmese generals have feared an air attack ever since the Gulf War.
“Some are more likely to be related to civil engineering projects. None of the photos support claims of a secret nuclear reactor, or nuclear weapons project,” he said.
Facing an arms embargo since 1988, the Burmese junta sought to reduce its dependency on foreign arms suppliers, Selth said, suggesting that recent purchases could be part of a program for the country’s large defense industrial complex to produce more sophisticated weapons, rather than WMD.
Selth said that it is certain that North Korea is “selling Burma conventional arms, sharing its military expertise and experience, and helping it upgrade its defense infrastructure.”
However, Selth does not totally deny reports of Naypyidaw’s nuclear ambitions, saying that Burmese natural gas sales have given the regime untapped foreign exchange reserves that could be used to fund a nuclear program.
“Russia is providing technical training for a large number of Burmese servicemen and officials, including in the nuclear field,” he said. “Some sophisticated equipment has been imported, and it is possible that sensitive nuclear technologies have been provided to Burma by North Korea.”
Speaking in an interview on National Public Radio, Bertil Lintner, a Thailand-based expert on the Burmese junta, said that the Burmese are “certainly interested” in acquiring a nuclear weapon.
“[The Burmese are] seeing how the North Koreans have been able to stand up against the Americans and the rest of the world because they are nuclear-armed. And they would like to have the same kind of negotiating position,” he said.
According to Lintner, Beijing is “well aware of Burma’s nuclear ambitions,” and “there’s definitely Chinese complicity in this new cooperation between North Korea and Burma.”
However, Lintner said the Chinese can conveniently deny any role by saying that it is the North Koreans who are cooperating with Burma, and that China cannot control them.
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| Fighting Breaks Out in Kokang Area |
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Several skirmishes broke out between the Burmese army and the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) on Thursday near the Kokang capital, Laogai, in northeast Shan State, as tension between Naypyidaw and the ethnic Kokang ceasefire group boiled over.
The MNDAA, led by Chairman Peng Jiasheng, was reportedly joined in a counteroffensive against the Burmese army by its military allies, National Democratic Alliance Army, also known as the Mong La group, and the United Wa State Army (UWSA).
According to sources on the Sino-Burmese border, gunfire was exchanged between the Burmese army and the ethnic ceasefire groups at three different bases near the Kokang stronghold of Laogai for several hours on Thursday.
The sources said the Kokang troops and their allies took back one base from the Burmese army. No casualties were reported.
“The clashes occurred between the Burmese troops and the Kokang Battalion 7 near Laogai,” said Aung Kyaw Zaw, a Burmese military analyst based on the Sino-Burmese border.
“As far as I know, the Kokang have taken back one of their bases,” he added.
Also on Thursday, gunfire broke out briefly in Yanlon, a town near Laogai, when a unit of MNDAA soldiers encircled a group of Burmese policemen who exchanged fire before escaping to the Chinese side of the border, according to sources on the Sino-Burmese border.
Aung Kyaw Zaw told The Irrawaddy that the Burmese police officers inadvertently shot at each other as they fled over the border.
Another source said that at least one Burmese police officer had died during the clash.
“At least seven policemen fled into China. They were later sent back to the Burmese side by Chinese police,” he said.
The skirmish came after about 1,000 soldiers of the Burmese armed forces, or Tatmadaw, seized the Kokang stronghold of Laogai without a shot being fired on Monday night.
Recent tensions had escalated leading up to the fall of Laogai with a drugs raid on the house of Peng Jiasheng, and a military build-up by the Burmese army in the area.
In recent weeks, an estimated 10,000 Kokang civilians have fled to the Chinese side of the border where they are being temporarily sheltered by Chinese authorities.
MNDAA Chairman Peng Jiasheng, who abandoned his house in Laogai before the Burmese army entered the town, reportedly fled with his troops to the base of his closest ally, the UWSA, from where he released a statement on Thursday urging the Burmese regime to withdraw all its troops from Laogai and seek a peaceful solution to the conflict, said Aung Kyaw Zaw.
But tensions still remain high between the Burmese junta and the ethnic ceasefire groups in northeastern Burma as the Tatmadaw steps up its military maneuvers in the region, he said.
Analysts have said that after if they successfully oust the MNDAA from its stronghold, the Burmese regional military commanders will likely turn their focus to the other ceasefire groups.
“After the Burmese regime has control of the Kokang situation, it will make a move on the Mong La group,” said Saeng Juen, one of the editors of the Thailand-based Shan Herald Agency for News.
Instead of armed attacks though, the Burmese regime will likely explore alternative methods to break down the ceasefire groups, including the strongest insurgent army, the UWSA, said Saeng Juen.
About 700 Chinese troops have been deployed along the Sino-Burmese border for security reasons, he added.
After the fall of Laogai, several defecting MNDAA leaders were appointed by the Burmese regime as the new Kokang leaders.
However, in his statement, Peng Jiasheng rejected the formation of a new Kokang leadership, saying the new leaders did not represent the Kokang people, said Aung Kyaw Zaw.
Meanwhile, the Burmese authorities have released an arrest warrant for Peng Jiasheng and the commanders loyal to him.
The MNDAA signed a ceasefire agreement with the Burmese military government in 1989.
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| Detention Now 'Worse' for Suu Kyi |
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RANGOON — The conditions of Burmese democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's detention have gotten "worse" since her conviction this month for violating terms of her previous house arrest, her lawyer said Tuesday.
Burmar's military government has not responded to Suu Kyi's request for a visit by her personal physician, said Nyan Win, her lawyer and spokesman for her National League for Democracy party.
Nyan Win also said he and his colleagues have not yet been given permission to meet the Nobel Peace Prize laureate since they last met to consult on filing an appeal about a week after her August 11 conviction.
"The present regulations imposed on Daw Aung San Suu Kyi are worse than the previous rules," he said. "Daw" is a term of respect.
A Burmese court found Suu Kyi, 64, guilty of sheltering an uninvited American visitor. Her sentence of three years in prison with hard labor was reduced to 18 months of house arrest by order of military junta leader Snr-Gen Than Shwe.
Suu Kyi was returned to her tightly guarded home the day she was convicted. She has been detained for about 14 of the past 20 years for her nonviolent political activities, but this year was the first time she faced criminal charges.
The court stipulated eight rules for her new term of house arrest, which were generally seen as slightly more liberal than her previous detention, which kept her in almost complete isolation.
Now Suu Kyi and two female companions can receive visitors with prior permission from the authorities, have the right to medical treatment by doctors and nurses, and are allowed to read state-controlled newspapers and magazines and watch state-run television.
But Nyan Win said authorities still had not agreed on Suu Kyi's request to allow her personal doctor to visit instead of one provided by the government.
He said Suu Kyi wanted her personal doctor "as the doctor knows her medical history well."
Suu Kyi earlier told her lawyers she needed clarification from the authorities regarding the terms of her house arrest regarding matters such as visitation rights and medical coverage.
Nyan Win said it is not clear if she will be permitted to meet people she wants to see, or if people who want to visit her can request permission.
Nyan Win said it is now more difficult to send Suu Kyi books than when she was in Insein Prison during her trial because every book has to pass through scrutiny, taking days.
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| Thein Htay: Burma’s Terminator? |
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To win respect and rapid promotion in the Burmese military you have to play hardball. Maj-Gen Thein Htay, who is deputy-chief of Defense Industry l, is one of the toughest players on the field.
Military insiders say that Thein Htay has played a key role in the modernization of the armed forces, and he is one of the prime promoters of the idea of purchasing missiles.
If reports are true that Burma is trying to acquire nuclear weapons, then he is likely to be a key player in that effort.
Last year, he accompanied Gen Thura Shwe Mann, the regime’s No 3 general, on his clandestine trip to North Korea. During the visit, he and Shwe Mann visited several arms factories and a military hardware deal with the Communist regime was signed.
Known to be an extreme nationalist, Thein Htay didn’t serve long at the infantry battalion level, and he was quickly given an important position at the military industry ministry because of his extensive knowledge of the weapons industry.
Thein Htay received special attention when he advised junta leader Snr-Gen Than Shwe on how to upgrade the Burmese armed forces. He received a “jump” promotion when Than Shwe grew more serious about buying missiles and missile technology after a series of border skirmishes with Thai forces in 2001-2002.
In 1998, Thein Htay was a lieutenant-colonel on the general staff. In 2006, he was promoted to major general, followed by deputy-chief of Defense Industry 1—a sign that he had the trust of Than Shwe.
Sources say that the junta leader sometimes comes to weapons tests when Thein Htay demonstrates newly bought missiles or other weapons.
Defense Industry 1, one of Burma’s main military industrial complexes, operates 22 manufacturing or procurement facilities, many located on the west bank of the Irrawaddy River west of the Pegu mountain range. Several weapon testing grounds are located near Pegu and Pyi.
Military sources said that Thein Htay has been involved in the upgrading and creation of military facilities, including tunnels for missiles, aircraft and even naval ships. He has also expanded technological assistance of Russia, China, North Korea and Singapore.
Under Thein Htay’s command, military factories manufacture conventional weapons, including automatic rifles, light machine guns and landmines. Sources said that at least two military facilities are believed to be involved in refining uranium.
In earlier decades, the Defense Ministry purchased most of its arms and ammunition under contract with the Federal Republic of Germany’s state-owned Fritz Werner, according to defense analysts.
Burma has procured small arms, jet fighters and naval ships from the West particularly the US and EU countries. However, after the 1988 democracy uprising, Western countries imposed arms embargo and stopped selling arms to Burma.
Thein Htay often travels abroad to look for new sources of weapons and ammunition, upgrade missiles, defensive rockets, anti-aircraft radar and command and control technology.
Should Burma be trying to acquire a nuclear capability, Thein Htay and the Defense Ministry will be key players in that effort.
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| Campaigners call for commission of inquiry into junta crimes |
| Friday, 21 August 2009 |
New Delhi (Mizzima) - Campaigners say now is the time for the international community, particularly the United Nations, to call on the Security Council to establish a commission of inquiry into crimes against humanity and war crimes committed by Burma’s military rulers.
With the recent sentencing of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, and the continued cleansing of minorities in remote areas of the country, Burma’s military rulers have clearly demonstrated their ruthlessness and stubbornness in ignoring calls for reform, three campaign group said on Wednesday.
Debbie Stothard, coordinator for the Alternative Asean Network on Burma (Altsean Burma), one of the three groups that has called on the Security Council to establish a commission of inquiry, said the international community, while offering condemnation through rhetoric, has done little practical to push the junta to implement changes in Burma.
“It is high time that the international community stop accepting the junta’s actions and stand up,” Stothard told Mizzima on Thursday.
Altsean Burma, International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the Burma Lawyers Council (BLC) in their statement on Wednesday called on the European Union, which tightened economic sanctions on the junta in the wake of the sentencing of Aung San Suu Kyi, to support their call in setting up a commission of inquiry.
The statement said the new sanctions imposed by the EU are totally inadequate in the face of the worsening human rights situation and ongoing atrocities against ethnic nationalities in Burma.
“These sanctions reflect the political unwillingness of the EU to take a firm stance on this issue and increase dangerously the risk that the regime will consider this as a green light to continue committing international crimes,” said Souhayr Belhassen, President of FIDH, in the statement.
On August 11, a special court in Rangoon’s Insein Prison announced the verdict of the over two-month trial of Aung San Suu Kyi, finding her guilty and sentencing her to three years of prison with hard labor.
But the country’s military Supremo, Senior General Than Shwe, intervened the court session via a special order and commuted the sentence by half, contingent upon good moral behavior, while also allowing her to serve her time at her lakeside home.
Following the sentencing several countries have issued statements condemning the junta, though a few have hailed the junta for its apparent leniency in commuting Aung San Suu Kyi’s sentence.
“The EU must not be fooled by the SPDC’s [Burma’s military government] phony attempt to show leniency on Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. The SPDC has fulfilled its strategy to keep Daw Aung San Suu Kyi out of the picture while, at the same time, the SPDC tells the world that Burma is on the path to democracy. How can the SPDC’s planned elections be given any credence when war still rages in Eastern Burma?” Stothard questioned.
Stothard said several thousand ethnic citizens in eastern Burma are currently being displaced as a result of fresh atrocities committed by the junta’s soldiers.
“If the junta is sincere in their plans and want to implement changes, the junta must stop killing the ethnics. Burma’s politics is not just about Aung San Suu Kyi and the regime but it is also the issue of ethnic nationalities,” Stothard emphasized.
Stothard added that the international community, particularly the United Nations, has not been taking effective measures to force the junta to cease their behavior.
“The UN has very little or no pressure at all on the SPDC. And the SPDC knows that they can continue playing around with international politics,” she said, referring to the junta’s official name of State Peace and Development Council (SPDC).
Meanwhile, the US-based Global Justice Centre (GJC), in a press statement, denounced UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon for his reaction over the Burmese junta’s sentencing of Aung San Suu Kyi, the only detained Nobel Peace Laureate.
The GJC said Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s remarks on the sentencing of Aung San Suu Kyi are totally at odds with his mandate under the UN Charter.
“As a Representative of the UN, and given these circumstances, international law requires Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to call for an end to impunity, not convey his ‘disappointment’ and call for ‘reconciliation’,” argued the GJC in their statement.
The GJC said instead of calling the verdict “disappointing” and “deplorable”, Ban should refer the situation in Burma to the International Criminal Court, concluding that Ban’s remarks “undermine the rule of law.” |
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| ‘Humanitarian Junta,’ Says State Press |
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The Burmese military regime has shown itself as an advocate of human rights by releasing the American intruder, John W Yettaw, and is promoting bilateral relations with the US by hosting Senator Jim Webb, Burma’s leading state-run newspaper said on Wednesday.
In an editorial titled “Constructive attitude in the area of international relations,” the English-language The New Light of Myanmar said that in granting amnesty for Yettaw, the regime has shown respect for “the rule of law, as well as humanitarianism and human rights.”
The editorial also noted that US Sen Webb’s trip to Burma had ended successfully.
“We hope that his visit will help promote constructive views on bilateral relations and hold discussions based on mutual understanding between the US and Myanmar [Burma] in the future,” the editorial said.
It also added that the Burmese regime is working with the international community by being “willing to fully cooperate with neighboring countries, regional countries and all other countries with a constructive attitude.”
The comment is most likely linked to a reported conversation between Sen Webb and pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Saturday when, in response to Webb’s statement that Burma needs to have interaction with the international community, Suu Kyi said that first the regime must interact “inside the country.”
Commenting on the New Light of Myanmar’s editorial, Bo Kyi, the joint-secretary of the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), a Burmese human rights group based in Thailand, said that if the regime really wants to show respect for the rule of law and human rights it must first release Suu Kyi and all political prisoners, and stop human rights violations in ethnic areas.
“It is clear that the junta released Yettaw after they had used him to keep Daw Aung San Suu Kyi continually under arrest during the elections in 2010,” Bo Kyi said. “After sentencing her to 18 months house arrest, they do not need Mr Yettaw anymore.”
According to AAPP and other human rights groups, Burma holds more than 2,100 dissidents in prison across the country and hundreds of thousands are internally displaced in eastern Burma.
Meanwhile, many private weekly journals in Burma are reporting good sales this week with the news of the verdict on Suu Kyi being the main attraction.
“Almost every journal can publish the news about The Lady [Suu Kyi] this week,” a reporter in Rangoon who spoke on condition of anonymity told The Irrawaddy. “The censorship board is allowing journals to broadcast the news. Consequently, they have sold out quickly.”
Another editor said she thought it was a good thing that news about Burma’s most famous prisoner should appear in Burmese journals.
Although the news about Suu Kyi’s trial is in popular demand among Burmese readers, the news of Sen Webb’s trip has not been reported in private journals to date.
“Webb is already quite infamous among ordinary Burmese,” said the Rangoon-based reporter.
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| Yettaw Says No Regrets |
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CHICAGO — American John Yettaw said Wednesday he has no regrets about taking a secret swim to the home of Burma's detained democracy leader—a decision that landed them both in prison—and indicated that he still believes his bizarre visit somehow saved her from being assassinated.
"If I had to do it again, I would do it a hundred times, a hundred times, to save her life," an exhausted-looking Yettaw said of Aung San Suu Kyi in an interview with The Associated Press after arriving in the US on Wednesday.
He added, "That they locked her up, it just breaks my heart."
Yettaw, 53, has testified that he swam to the Nobel Laureate's house in May to warn her that he had a "vision" that she would be assassinated. Though Yettaw was released, Suu Kyi and her two live-in aides remain in detention because of Yettaw's visit, and Yettaw has been called a fool and a madman by some of her supporters.
Yettaw was wearing a blue surgical mask and clutching a green Harrods bag as he was pushed in a wheelchair through Chicago's O'Hare International Airport after his arrival. Yettaw, who has been ill since his arrest in Burma, wore the mask to guard against infection.
The American is from the tiny south-central Missouri town of Falcon, but he generated global headlines after he was arrested and sentenced to hard labor for visiting the home of Suu Kyi. Yettaw was deported Sunday from Burma after the intervention of Democratic US Sen. Jim Webb.
As he waited in Chicago to board a flight to Springfield, Missouri—his last destination after a nearly 24-hour journey from Bangkok—Yettaw sat with his head in his hands, his eyes bloodshot.
His companion, who did not identify herself, said he was "very tired." He flashed the sign language symbol for "I love you" and nodded and smiled when asked whether he was happy to be home.
When asked later if he would comment further, Yettaw said "I wish I could talk more. I can't" and made a zipper motion across his mouth. When he arrived in Springfield on Wednesday night, he was greeted by a police officer after collecting his luggage. He did not speak to media on the flight.
Yettaw had flown with Webb to neighboring Thailand on a US government plane Sunday and underwent two days of medical tests at a private Bangkok hospital.
Webb said Yettaw had suffered a "medical incident" just before leaving Burma as authorities there read him his deportation order. While in custody in a Rangoon jail during his trial, he had a seizure and was hospitalized for a week. He also reportedly suffers from diabetes and asthma.
Yettaw, a Mormon who lives on a military pension from serving in the Army for about a year in 1973, traveled to Burma in early May and donned homemade flippers for a nighttime swim to Suu Kyi's lakeside home. The incident led to a trial that sparked global condemnation in which Suu Kyi was sentenced to an additional 18 months of detention for breaching the terms of her house arrest. She has already spent 14 of the past 20 years in detention.
Suu Kyi's lawyers have described Yettaw's release was a "very ugly" turn.
Yettaw testified that he was on a divine mission to save the democracy leader, saying he had a "vision" she was going to be assassinated and wanted to warn her. Suu Kyi testified that she repeatedly asked Yettaw to leave but relented because he complained of exhaustion and she was concerned for his safety.
ap/irrawaddy |
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04:03 |
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| Junta Conscripts Ethnic Youths |
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About 70 Chin teenagers in Matupi Township in Chin State in western Burma have been forced into military training, according to Chin sources.
Local sources said soldiers from Infantry Battalion No.304, which is based in Matupi Township, ordered nine villages to select at least eight youths over 18-years-old per village for military training.
“People have to work in the fields to grow paddy at this time of year [the rainy season]. We are short of food and no one wants to go for military training,” said a Chin resident in Matupi.
Matupi is one of seven townships in Chin State facing food shortages due to plagues of rats destroying crops.
The World Food Program (WFP) in Rangoon has reported that about 85 percent of the population in Chin State is in debt after borrowing money to buy food.
Similar conscription took place in the northern part of Ye Township in Mon State in southern Burma in July, when Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) No. 343 ordered 200 youths to go for military training, according to Lawi Oung, a resident in Ye Township.
“The participants were taught how to beat people, how to handle riots and how to hold guns,” he said. “The training took one month, but the participants were only given fake bamboo guns during training.”
The families of those who refused to join had to pay 6,000 kyat [US $5.50] for exemption, according to Lawi Oung.
The villages where conscription took place are in a “black area,” which is close to a Mon rebel-controlled area, according to Thailand-based the Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM).
Analysts said that the junta is training militias to prevent any uprising in the planned 2010 election, but they may also be preparing them for use as frontline troops when they attack Mon rebels.
Junta troops have conducted similar military training in several townships in Shan Sate in Northern Burma in recent months, according to the Chiang Mai-based Shan Herald Agency for News.
About 100 youths in Muse Township near the Chinese border in northern Shan State were forced to undergo military training.
Speaking to The Irrawaddy on Thursday, Saengjuen, an editor for the Shan Herald Agency for News, said: “an estimated 1000 people have been forced into training. Many are former members of forces loyal to the drug lord Khun Sa [who died in Rangoon in 2007].
“More people have been conscripted this year for basic military training, and to be taught how to collect news, organize campaigns and prepare military operations,” he said.
Saengjuen believes such militia troops will be used to attack armed ethnic ceasefire groups in Shan State, such as those in the Wa, Kokang, and Mong La areas, if tension keeps mounting.
Meanwhile, about 500 private mercenaries from Tang Yan Township in eastern Shan State were forced to join junta troops in preparation for a possible attack on the United Wa State Army (UWSA).
Tension between junta troops and ethnic ceasefire groups has been mounting after the latter refused to transform their troops into border guard forces in Shan State in July.
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