Daily News-March-15- 2001- Thursday
  • Boat fired on after chase
  • Exiled Burma lawmakers say full Japan aid premature
  • Thailand challenges Burma to tackle drugs trade
  • Surakiart, Win Aung to hold drug talks in Chile
  • Burmese journalist honoured for fight
  • God Army's twins' fate uncertain after tearful reunion with mother
  • Ex-PM says Chavalit's personal approach to Burma let country down

    • Boat fired on after chase

    source : The Nation

    A THAI fishing trawler was chased into Thai waters off Ranong province yesterday by a Burmese navy patrol boat that opened fire at another Thai trawler, slightly injuring two Burmese crewmembers on board, a Thai navy source said.

    The medium-sized Burmese gunboat fired M-40 machine guns at the 15-metre Pornnimitr 1 with its crew of 10 at about 9am yesterday, inflicting minor damage, the source said.

    "We were informed by the crew of Pornnimitr 1 that the scene of the attack was in Thai waters. Our examination of the spot proved that the claim was true," he said. He suspected that the Burmese patrol boat, with the number 441, intruded into Thai waters while in hot pursuit of another Thai trawler that was illegally fishing in its territorial waters.

    "From what I was told, it may be not Pornnimitr 1 that trespassed on Burmese waters. The Burmese gunboat chased a Thai vessel into Thai waters only to face many Thai boats. So it chose the damaged ship as a new target," he said.

    Thai Navy chief of staff Admiral Taweesak Somapa said the incident occurred in a no-man's zone in the Andaman Sea, but declined to say if the confrontation was in retaliation for the Thai premier's strong criticism of Burma as a major source of illicit drugs.

    Another Navy source said the Navy would ask the Foreign Affairs Ministry to send Burma a protest note.
    Exiled Burma lawmakers say full Japan aid premature

    TOKYO March 14 Kyodo - A group of self-exiled Myanmar lawmakers have urged Japan not to resume full aid to Myanmar despite recent signs the junta is willing to negotiate with pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, Japanese Foreign Ministry officials said Wednesday.

    The Myanmar lawmakers, who were elected to parliament in May 1990 but barred from the junta to assume duties, filed the plea in a meeting with Japanese Foreign Ministry officials earlier this month.

    Australia resident Daniel Aung, vice president of the Members of Parliament Union, urged the ministry not to resume full official development assistance (ODA) to Myanmar. It was cut in 1988 after the junta suppressed nationwide pro-democracy uprisings by force.

    The exiles included Ye Htut, head of the National League for Democracy (NLD) in Japan. They submitted a statement saying that since it is unclear whether dialogue between the junta and Suu Kyi has actually reopened and the prospect of democracy in Myanmar is still remote, Japanese ODA is bound to prolong military rule in the country.

    A ministry official told the group Japan is closely examining democratization in Myanmar, adding Tokyo will consider the exiles' views.

    Japanese government officials said earlier this month that ODA resumption would signal a major policy change by Tokyo that could draw protests from Suu Kyi's NLD and Western countries that continue to impose economic sanctions on Myanmar.

    Japan has provided the country with technology aid and humanitarian grants since 1995, but has held off from resuming full ODA, which would include new low-interest yen loans.

    Tokyo had given Myanmar 50 billion yen in ODA up to 1988, according to the officials.

    In contrast, humanitarian grants totaled only 880 million yen in fiscal 1999 and 1.5 billion yen in fiscal 2000, they said, adding that Myanmar has been asking for Japan's help on such projects as construction of dams and roads.
    Thailand challenges Burma to tackle drugs trade

    source : Reuters

    YANGON, March 14 — A war of words between Thailand and neighbouring Myanmar intensified on Wednesday with Bangkok challenging Yangon to tackle what it called ''known locations'' of drugs production within its borders.

    Stung by a Myanmar accusation that it was blaming all its drugs problems on others, the Thai foreign ministry said in a statement it had accelerated efforts aimed at drugs suppression.

    ''Thailand is not looking for a scapegoat for the drug problems in Asia,'' it said.Myanmar, by contrast, had within its borders areas where the Wa ethnic minority, living under the control of the Yangon-backed United Wa State Army (UWSA), were producing narcotics, it said.

    The Thai government has said it suspects the UWSA are the most important producer of metamphetamine stimulants coming into Thailand from the mountainous ''Golden Triangle'' region at the intersection of Thailand, Laos and Myanmar.

    ''It is now in the hands of the government of Myanmar to demonstrate to the international community that it has the will and determination to seriously eradicate drugs manufacturing, perhaps by at least starting from known locations within its territory,'' it said.

    The statement was a response to a rebuke by Myanmar of the Thai government and of a Thai conference on drugs, which heard allegations that Myanmar was the major source of illegal narcotics in the region.

    The spokesman for Myanmar's military government, Lieutenant-Colonel Hla Min, said in a statement on Monday that Thailand should concentrate on dealing with its own drugs industry rather than blaming others for its problems.

    ''ALL THE BLAME ON A NEIGHBOUR''

    ''Putting all the blame on a neighbouring country for everything that goes wrong in Thailand is not the way to solve any problems,'' he said.

    The Thai army says that 700 million metamphetamine pills, which affect the central nervous system, will come into Thailand this year, an increase of 40 percent on last year. Thai politicians at the weekend drugs conference said they had been shocked by photographs of impressive infrastructure in the prosperous and growing Myanmar town of Mong Yawn, which Thai officials believe has been funded by the drugs trade.

    But Myanmar denies this, saying the growing wealth of the Wa comes from successful development projects. ''...The whole narcotic problem Thailand is encountering today seems to be very conveniently thrown on the UWSA,'' the Myanmar government spokesman said.

    Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said this week he was looking for ''sincere'' discussions with the Myanmar government following his election at Thai polls in January.But relations have taken a turn for the worse in recent weeks since fighting between Myanmar troops, backed by their Wa allies, and ethnic Shan rebels spilled over into Thai territory. Thai army sources suggest the fighting is linked to the drugs trade.

    A top Myanmar military official accused the Thai army on Wednesday of treating his country like a ''subordinate state'' after the border skirmish last month, and vowed Myanmar would respond by keeping a key border checkpoint closed.
    Surakiart, Win Aung to hold drug talks in Chile

    source : The Nation
    BY VORAPUN SRIVORANART

    FOREIGN Minister Surakiart Sathirathai said yesterday that he expects to raise the country's drug concerns with his Burmese counterpart, U Win Aung, at a meeting later this month.Surakiart will meet Win Aung at the inaugural ministerial meeting of the East Asia-Latin America Forum in Santiago, Chile, on March 29-30.

    The forum will unite policymakers from 27 countries on both sides of the Pacific, including 10 Asean members, China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand.

    The prospective bilateral discussions will offer Surakiart an opportunity to hear directly from his Burmese counterpart on how Rangoon plans to assist Thailand in its war against drugs.

    Surakiart had stated that narcotics suppression has become the top priority of bilateral relations and hence cooperation from Burma is imperative.He said he was confident that public exposure of the Mong Yawn drug production centre by the Thai government would not jeopardise relations with Burma, which hit their lowest ebb in the wake of border clashes and the ensuing war of words. He said the weekend conference in Chiang Rai was aimed at mobilising a "national force" by increasing Thai people's awareness of the magnitude of the problem.

    During the conference there was no direct finger pointing at Rangoon concerning its alleged complicity with the United Wa State Army. But Thailand's references to Rangoon's knowledge of drug production has prompted heated rebuttals from Burmese authorities, leading to minor forms of retaliation such as closure of the Mae Sai-Tachilek crossing and a ban on many popular Thai products. Surakiart said that despite the tense atmosphere, the process to resolve problems is progressing in a positive direction in view of the opening of the Thai side of the crossing and the upcoming meeting of the Regional Border Committee.

    He said he believes that Burma wants the crossing to be reopened without restrictions since it was the side that came forward first. Daily tit-for-tat aside, Surakiart said, the focus from now on will be on how to reinvigorate existing international frameworks and enlist support for Thailand's war against narcotics.

    As many officials have admitted, fighting a lone war or pinning too much hope on just Burmese cooperation will lead nowhere.Thai authorities already had a strategy in mind as far as the recent drug summit was concerned, and options are now on the table.

    According to an informed source, the choice of options will be largely determined by the outcome of three crucial events: a trip to China by Surakiart next week, his prospective meeting with U Win Aung in Santiago and the Regional Border Committee meeting in Keng Tung, respectively.

    Surakiart said he would definitely raise the issue of narcotics with China but warned that this should not be construed as asking Beijing to exert its influence on Rangoon vis-à-vis drugs.Rather, a trilateral framework between the three nations needed to be worked out, and China, he said, has no objection in principle.

    Last year Thailand inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with China on the drug war and is currently drafting a bilateral MoU with Burma.China and Burma have already signed their own MoU on narcotics.
    Burmese journalist honoured for fight

    source : The Nation
    BY KAVI CHONGKITTAVORN

    U Win Tin, a 70-year-old former newspaper editor, imprisoned in Burma since 1989, has been awarded Unesco's Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize.

    PARIS - Each year at this time, Unesco's 16-member Advisory Group on Press Freedom assembles at its headquarters here to determine the winner of the Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize. This year 12 candidates from nine countries - Burkina Faso, Serbia, France, Burma, Colombia, Congo, Canada, Papua New Guinea and Cyprus - were considered. Five other applications from India, Jordan, Iran and Mexico were invalid.

    This prestigious award, which carries a US$25,000 (Bt1,075,000) prize, is named after a Colombian journalist who was killed while attempting to report on the activities of drug barons in his country. The prize honours a person, organisation or institution that has made a notable contribution to the defence and promotion of press freedom anywhere in the world, especially if this involves risk.

    Since its establishment in 1997, the Cano prize had raised eyebrows all over the world with its annual winner. Last year, the Syrian government was not happy with the naming of Syrian journalist Nizar Nayyouf as the winner. Nayyouf, who has been in jail since 1992, is very sick. Unesco has been trying to secure his release. At first, there was a ray of hope that the new Syrian president, Bashar Assad, would give him amnesty. But after months of rumours, it was later confirmed that there was no such plan.

    The jury was so concerned with Nayyouf's health that it recommended Koichiro Matsuura, the new director general from Japan, continue his discussions with the Syrian authorities so that "a solution can be reached for the release of Nayyouf on humanitarian grounds".

    However, the most controversial of all was the naming of 1998 winner Gao Yu, a female Chinese journalist. The Chinese leaders attacked the choice and criticised the former director general, Federico Mayor, who defended the jury's decision. Beijing viewed the award as an act of interference in its internal affairs.Since 1991, Unesco has been at the forefront to promote media freedom throughout the world, much to the chagrin of member governments. It has helped media development in Indonesia, East Timor, Cambodia and Thailand.

    Matsuura reiterated to the jury on Monday that Unesco would continue to support the free flow of information and promote press freedom around the world. Unesco is planning a huge meeting in Windhoek, Namibia on May 3, World Press Freedom Day, to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Windhoek Declaration, which aims to promote press freedom around the world.

    This year four names were short-listed. Two were from Burma - San San Nweh and U Win Tin. The others were Miroslav Filipovic of Serbia and the Paris-based Reporters Sans Frontiers (Reporters Without Frontiers).

    San San Nweh, 56, is an editor and writer who has been jailed for her political activities since 1994. She is currently suffering from liver disease, arthritis, partial paralysis and eye problems. She may only speak for a total of 15 minutes a day. Burmese prison authorities say she could be set free if she renounces all political activity.

    The other Burmese candidate is U Win Tin, 70, former editor of the daily Hanthawati newspaper, vice-chair of Burma's Writer Association and a founder of the National League of Democracy. He was arrested in July 1989 and three months later, he was accused of being a member of the banned Communist Party of Burma. He was then sentenced by a military tribunal to 14 years in prison and transported to Rangoon's notorious Insein jail.

    In March 1996, he was sentenced to an additional five years in prison for breaking regulations banning the possession of writing materials. He was transferred to the Myingan Jail, where visits from family and friends are banned.

    Miroslav Filipovic broke the Serbian media's silence during the reign of Slobodan Milosevic. His articles contributed to lifting the fear that had stifled Serbian political debate for so long. He has argued that Yugoslavia needs to examine its past and the acts that were committed in its name. Filipovic has sparked public debate relating to his country, without fear or favour, even though his life was at risk.

    For the first time, a free media advocacy organisation was a candidate. Reporters Sans Frontiers (RSF), which was set up in 1985, has been active in fighting for press freedom around the world. In Asia, RSF has closely monitored press conditions and abuses. Recently, RSF condemned the Thaksin government over the firing of 23 iTV journalists and editorial staff as well as Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad for his treatment of the online newspaper, Malaysiakini.com.

    After several rounds of voting, the jury narrowed the choice down to U Win Tin and Filipovic. As it turns out now, U Win Tin is the winner. The award will be given on May 3. It remains to be seen how the Burmese junta leaders will respond to the award.

    During the deliberation, the jury urged non-Western free media advocacy organisations to submit their candidates for consideration. It also recommended that there should be greater publicity for the prize to attract as many candidates as possible from around the world.
    God Army's twins' fate uncertain after tearful reunion with mother

    SUAN PHUNG, Thailand, March 15 (AFP)

    The boy leaders of the God Army's militia, who were captured two months ago on the Burma border, have been reunited with their mother.

    Luther and Johnny Htoo burst into tears when their mother Mah Kae was brought from a refugee camp earlier this week to see her 13-year-old sons, said police who have been holding them in this frontier town.

    However, the pair's fate remains uncertain, according to officials in the western province of Ratchaburi who are considering giving them refugee status that will entitle them to asylum in Thailand.

    "The committee which will decide how they will be classified has until now not begun to meet," said Suan Pheung District Chief Payakphan Phokaew.

    Mah Kae, 48, who posed for photographs Thursday with her elfin-faced sons, said she had been corresponding with them from the refugee camp in far-off Pha Song Yang where she and the twins' father have been living.

    "We knew they had been captured because they sent us a letter to the refugee camp where we are staying, and we sent one back, so we that's how we contacted each other," she said as she nursed the boys' young sister.

    The painfully shy twins, who appear years younger than their age, made halting replies as they were asked what they believed the future held in store for them.

    "It is in the hands of God," they said.

    Payakphan said the pair were in good health, despite their heavy smoking habit, and that they would also be reunited with their father shortly.

    After their capture by Thai troops in January, the Htoo brothers debunked the myths surrounding their militia band and said they dreamed only of returning to Burma and going to school like ordinary children.

    They downplayed their followers' belief that they possessed magical powers that made them and their fighters invincible in battle against Burmese troops, saying the stories that they were impervious to gunfire were not true.

    Their mystical anti-Burma rebel movement, which had gained widespread international publicity, was finally hunted down over a bloody New Year's Eve raid on a village in Ratchaburi province.

    Since then the twins and some dozen supporters, mostly women and children, have been held at this border police headquarters, living together in a small cottage as their future is considered.

    Investigators are trying to determine if the twins were involved in the seizure of a major Ratchaburi hospital last year, carried out by God's Army fighters and rebels from another militia band.

    However, the remainder of the group's members being held here look set to escape punishment over the raid and previous attacks it has staged.
    Ex-PM says Chavalit's personal approach to Burma let country down



    Source : Bangkok Post

    Former prime minister Chuan Leekpai yesterday defended his policy on Burma and said his administration would never disgrace itself by using "personal ties" for its own gains.

    He was responding to remarks on Monday by Defence Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, who blamed the Chuan government for failing to improve ties with Burma.

    "The previous government had a clear-cut policy not to exploit personal ties to secure logging contracts or other concessions. That kind of practice makes Burma look down on us," Mr Chuan said. Relations with Burma would not have sunk this low if the two sides sat down and talked, Gen Chavalit said, citing Rangoon's failure to keep its promise to open its side of the Mae Sai-Tachilek checkpoint.

    The deputy premier criticised Mr Chuan for not visiting Burma after he was invited by prime minister Than Shwe.

    The Democrat-led administration tried to resolve disputes with Burma through proper channels, said Mr Chuan, who insisted there was no need for him to visit Rangoon.

    Mr Chuan also criticised the government for releasing photographs of alleged drug manufacturing activities at the United Wa State Army's Mong Yawn settlement.

    Deputy defence minister Gen Yutthasak Sasiprapa defended the pictures and said the Thai people had the right to know.

    Prime Minister Thaksin Shinwatra denied ill intentions toward Rangoon and said he never implicated any Burmese leader in the drug trade.

    "We talked about the minority groups in Burma, which use the border areas to manufacture narcotics. I said nothing about the Burmese government," he said.

    Gen Yutthasak said the Thaksin administration declared war on drugs, not on any particular country.

    He said high-level talks would be held if discussions at the Regional Border Committee-level did not succeed.

    Third Army commander Lt-Gen Wattanachai Chaimuanwong will lead the Thai delegation in the April 1 talks.