Daily News-December-15-Friday-2000

  • Guam concerned at sudden influx of Burmese refugees
  • Situation in The North Tense Following Mongkoe Massacre
  • Motor Vehicles in Operation in Burma Reach 434,000
  • New HIV-1 intersubtype recombinants identified in Burma
  • Burma's junta sends ethnic army into former base of Khun Sa

    • Guam concerned at sudden influx of Burmese refugees

    Australian Broadcast Corporation News

    A sudden influx of Burmese refugees is reportedly causing concern in the central Pacific territory of Guam.

    The Pacific Daily News quotes American Congressman, Robert Underwood, as saying Burmese citizens are arriving under a special visa waiver program.

    He says the situation in Burma may lead other countries to look at the visa waiver program as a political tool rather than a tourism program.

    Mr Underwood also warned that there were public health concerns after the arrival in the last few months of about 700 people from Burma.
    Situation in The North Tense Following Mongkoe Massacre

    Shan Herald Agency
    December 14, 2000

    A source from the north told S.H.A.N. today that the situation in northern Shan State has been on edge since a month long fighting between two rival factions of a ceasefire group was bloodily put down by Rangoon late last month.

    Following orders in Muse, Shan town opposite Ruili (Mongmao in Shan), that ceasefire grops operating there surrender their arms to the military authorities, Wa and Kokang officers were believed to have taken off from their "liaison offices."

    "There are some Kachin, Palaung and the SSNA (Shan State National Army of Gunyawd) offices still open, but they don't carry arms in town," he said.

    Unfortunately, Maj. Pernmao of the Shan State Army "North" of Loimao, together with Capt. Sway Jawng, Sgt. Sangleun and a civilian were found with some side arms on 6 December and arrested, according to the source.

    Lt-Col Yapi, a staff officer from the SSA "North" high command, was reported to have met Capt. Kyaw Hlaing Oo of MI 23 (Muse) on Monday to solicit for Pernmao's release. "He went back empty-handed," said the source.

    The source, however, was not sure whether action taken on Pernmao together with the brutal crushing of the Mongkoe ceasefire group of Mong Sala could be interpreted as a message to all groups that have been enjoying ceasefire pact with Rangoon since 1989. "While it appeared that the arrest of Pernmao was an individual case that have nothing to do with the SSA "N", reports are coming that Peng Chia-sheng's Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (Kokang) and Sakhong Ting Ring's National Democratic Army (Kachin) had been given "ultimatum" to disband. (Reports from the south, however, indicate that Wa expansion east of the Salween and Pa-O expansion in the west have been moving "at liberty" with official sanction, said Maihoong.)

    "As for Mong Sala, the survivor from the fighting, there are rumors that he might be tried for drug offenses," he said. "Foreign diplomats were flown to Mongkoe yesterday, that might mean that the operation may be trumpeted as an anti-narcotics campaign." Meanwhile, Chinese authorities, at least on the local level in Yunnan, expressed disappointment with the way the operation was carried out. "At least 250 were killed, that included the Burmese (junta), the MDA factions and the civilians caught in the crossfire," he said. "As most of the civilians were of Chinese origin, it's not difficult to see why the Chinese were unhappy about it."

    Mongkoe used to be under Peng Chia-sheng before mutiny broke out in 1990. It fell into Mong Sala's control during the in-fighting. The latest mutiny took place, after Mong Sala was accused of practising favoritism, preferring Kachins over members of other racial origins.
    Motor Vehicles in Operation in Burma Reach 434,000

    Source : XINHUA NEWS AGENCY

    Rangoon(Dec. 15)-- The number of motor vehicles in operation in Burma increased by over 30,000 annually in the last four years, reaching 434,828 as of the end of August this year, according to the latest government-issued Economic Indicators.

    Of the total registered motor vehicles, there included 173,296 passenger cars, 53,856 trucks, 16,641 buses and 173,943 motor cycles.

    These motor vehicles used in Burma are mainly those manufactured in Japan and most of them are second-hand or outdated ones since there are less import of brand- new vehicles.

    Meanwhile, production of motor vehicles domestically is just on the initial stage and the country has to use and assemble most of the imported parts.

    Besides, the authorities are also taking measures against unlicensed motor vehicles smuggled from the country's border areas to the inland ones far up to the capital of Rangoon.

    The authorities have also banned use of cars imported under the transit trade system to a third country since September 1997 and prohibited enterprises doing business in the country from re- selling their motor vehicles imported with tax relief and tax exemption beginning November 1998.
    New HIV-1 intersubtype recombinants identified in Burma

    Source : Reuters Health

    WESTPORT, CT- - New recombinants of HIV-1 have been identified in Burma that appear to have evolved from HIV-1 subtypes B', E, and C, according to a report published in the November 20th issue of AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses.

    Dr Kazushi Motomura of the National Institute of Infectious Diseases in Tokyo, Japan, and colleagues analyzed HIV-1 env and gag subtypes in 25 specimens collected from central Burma.

    On phylogenetic analysis, the authors identified 19 specimens with concordant env and gag subtypes. In this group, 5 specimens were identified as subtype C, 10 as subtype E, and 4 as subtype B'. This is the first time that subtype C has been identified in this population, the researchers note.

    The 6 remaining specimens showed discordance between the env and gag subtypes. Three specimens had a gag subtype B' and an env subtype C. One specimen each had a gag subtype B'/env subtype E, gag subtype C/env subtype B', and gag subtype C/env subtype E combination.

    Further analysis confirmed that in at least 3 specimens the typing was indeed based on intersubtype recombination and not a coinfection.

    The investigators found that these intersubtype recombinants occurred frequently among injection drug users and female commercial sex workers. "Extremely high infection rates would explain the high incidence of coinfection and/or recombination among these particular high-risk populations in Mandalay," Dr Motomura's team suggests.

    Based on reports of intersubtype B'/C recombinants occurring in China, it is "tempting to speculate that there is an interrelationship between the epidemics in central Burma and China," they note. Burma may also have an interrelationship with Thailand, which shows similar subtype infection patterns.

    "More structural information on the HIV-1 strains prevalent in these geographically intertangled regions is critically important to elucidate the dynamics of HIV spread and to formulate vaccine strategies in this particular area in Asia," Dr Motomura's group concludes.
    Burma's junta sends ethnic army into former base of Khun Sa

    Source : Kyodo News

    BANGKOK -- The Burmese military junta is preparing to send a Wa ethnic minority army to take over the small border village Ho Mong, the former base of drug lord Khun Sa, a close aide to Ho Mong village chief Mahacha said Thursday.

    More than 500 fighters of the United Wa State Army (UWSA), equipped with heavy weapons, have been deployed since early this month near the village, located 6 kilometers from the northwestern Thai province of Mae Hong Son, although it is unclear whether the junta will allow the UWSA to take control, according to the aide, A-sang.

    Khun Sa, also known as Chang Shifu, left Ho Mong when his Mong Tai army surrendered to the military junta in 1996. Mahacha, a close friend of Khun Sa, is now authorized to run the village.

    A-sang said that Mahacha went to Rangoon to see Khin Nyunt, the No. 3 man in the military junta as first secretary of the State Peace and Development Council, in a bid to retain control of the village.

    A Thai military officer said the movement of UWSA fighters poses a direct threat to the Shan State Army (SSA), an ethnic minority guerrilla group formerly led by Khun Sa that is based near the village.

    Burma's military wants to completely overrun the SSA, which has intensified its armed struggle against the junta since Khun Sa surrendered.

    The UWSA, also based near the Thai border, is considered by the Thai military a major producer of amphetamines for the Thai market. Formerly a rebel group, it signed a cease-fire agreement with the government in 1989, but continues to hold arms.

    The Burmese army and the UWSA began their annual dry season offensive against the SSA last month, and the next operation is expected very soon, the Thai officer said.