Daily News- March 14 - 2003- Friday
  • Burmese dissident worried
  • Work on to resolve Indo-Myanmar border demarcation issue
  • Intrepid: Why we’re back in Burma
  • Thai Deputy PM says Wa drug lord put 2 million on Thaksin's head
  • Shans say sorry they missed the Thai Princess
  • Myanmar general discharged from Singapore hospital


    • Burmese dissident worried

    By Amit Baruah -The Hindu, India

    NEW DELHI March 13. He's now 33 years old. Back in November 1990, Soe Myint and a friend ``hijacked'' a plane using soap cases and brought it from Bangkok to Calcutta, as it was known then.

    Speaking to presspersons at the Indian Women's Press Corps today, Soe Myint, now editor of Mizzima News, a news agency which maintains an active website on Burmese (Myanmar) news and analyses, comes across as articulate and informed.

    For nearly 12 years after the ``non-violent hijacking'' of the Thai Airways aircraft, Soe Myint lived and worked in New Delhi, part of the time being spent at the residence of the Defence Minister, George Fernandes. Since April 2002, when he was re-arrested in the hijacking case, Soe Myint is a worried man.

    The Burmese dissident, who has no qualms in admitting what he did and is ready to face punishment, is looking for reasons about why he has been arrested for an old case. The trial begins in Kolkata on April 3 and there is every possibility that he may be sentenced to life imprisonment for the ``political act'' of bringing attention to the cause of democracy in neighbouring Myanmar (Burma).

    Though arrested after addressing a press conference at the Calcutta airport along with his friend (who now lives abroad and is not named in the chargesheet), Soe Myint believed for many years that the case against him was dead. Released on bail three months after the hijacking, Soe Myint met the then West Bengal Chief Minister, Jyoti Basu, at the Writers' Building. The West Bengal Government called upon the Centre to withdraw the case. So, why has the case suddenly come to life? ``We were desperate to focus international attention on the Burmese cause,'' he stated, adding that the Government of India was ``very active in supporting the pro-democracy movement'' at the time.

    Soe Myint feels that his journalistic activities may have caused the active pursuit of the hijacking case. ``I was arrested a week after the then External Affairs Minister, Jaswant Singh, visited Burma.'' India-Myanmar relations — since the time he landed in India — have been on the upswing and New Delhi does not want to do anything that might jeopardise its relations with the military Government, he points out.

    He stressed that he had interviewed the vice-chairman of the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), Maung Aye, and the Myanmar Foreign Minister, U Win Aung, when they visited the capital. He is clear that Burma has to move towards reconciliation in a spirit of compromise and is optimistic about the prospects of the National League for Democracy (NLD) and the military Government working together. To a barrage of questions from curious presspersons, Soe Myint said unambiguously: ``I am proud of what I did. I did it for a political cause.'' In any case, he claimed it was not a ``hijacking'' but a drama. None of his co-passengers filed a complaint in the case.

    Many of them were sympathetic to their cause. One Japanese passenger on board even explained to some other passengers in Japanese what the hijacking was all about. He's asked what Mr. Fernandes thinks about the Burmese cause today. ``He (the Defence Minister) came to my book release recently,'' Soe Myint said. ``Personally, he still supports the pro-democracy movement.''

    Mr. Fernandes has promised to speak to the Home Minister, L.K. Advani, about the case, but Soe Myint is waiting to see what happens next. Will he be sentenced to life imprisonment for a clearly political act? Or will he be allowed to live with his Burmese wife and carry out journalistic activities in India?

    Soe Myint, who was studying international relations in Yangon and was preparing for a career in the foreign service, speaks almost as if the case involves somebody else and not him. But, still, a withdrawal of the charges against him would be welcome as he prepares to leave for Kolkata for the trial.

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    Work on to resolve Indo-Myanmar border demarcation issue

    Deepika, India

    New Delhi, Mar 13 (UNI) External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha today said that the Indo-Myanmar Joint Boundary Commission was working smoothly to resolve the border demarcation issue in an amicable and peaceful manner.

    Replying to a question in the Rajya Sabha, he said there was no "conflict" between the two countries on the border issue. The Director-level meeting of the Survey departments was held in December at Tanu-Noreh after the joint inspection of the border.

    Work in this regard was progessing smoothly He said the relations between the two countries had vastly improved in recent years. Myanmar had promised that it would not allow its territory to be used for anti-India actvities.

    "Our relations with Myanmar reflect our common desire to cooperate with each other to promote peace and tranquility along the border, achieve sustained economic development and to foster people to people interactions. To this end, our efforts has been to strengthen the friendly relations through high- level dialogue.

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    Intrepid: Why we’re back in Burma

    Travelbiz.com, Australia

    Intrepid Travel claims its decision to return to Burma follows significant changes that will ensure the country's military junta will not benefit financially from its operations.

    The company has also committed to donating all the profits from its trips to Burma to charity until June 30, 2005.

    Hitting back at an attack from London-based The Burma Campaign UK (http:// www.travelbiz.com.au/articles/0f/0c014e0f.asp), Intrepid ceo and founder Darrell Wade said that the vast majority of Burma's tourism services were now privately owned.

    "Intrepid will be only be using these local, privately owned services to ensure that the maximum benefit is derived by those that need it most - the local Burmese people and not the junta," Wade said.

    He claimed many people at Intrepid felt that by not operating in Burma the company was depriving local communities of opportunity - "and so a boycott stance is negating our own responsible travel policy, which is aimed at enhancing local communities and reducing the negative effects tourism can have."

    Wade also rejected claims it was not listening to Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi or the National League for Democracy.

    "In reality, even members of the NLD have differing views on the role that tourism can play in Burma," Wade said, "just as indeed any political party of merit will have differing views on issues at times.

    "Recognising this political reality we have made our own decision. Just as we choose not to support George W Bush's ideas about war in Iraq, we don't support the official tourism policy of the NLD either, even though both are democratically elected governments.

    "This is not to say that we’re not supporters of the NLD or Aung San Suu Kyi - we most certainly are."

    Wade said the pace of economic and political reform was too slow in Burma, and human rights abuses continued to occur.

    "However, I no longer feel that this means Intrepid (or other travellers) are better to stay away.“The changes that have happened encourage me to believe that there is now a net benefit to local people and communities in our returning - just as there is to other destinations in Asia that lack democratic governments and have shocking human rights records."

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    Thai Deputy PM says Wa drug lord put 2 million on Thaksin's head

    Source : AFP

    A powerful ethnic Wa drug lord in Burma has ponied up nearly two million dollars to have Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra killed.

    Deputy Prime Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh said there was "reliable" intelligence that Bao Youxiang, commander of the United Wa State Army (UWSA) aligned with Rangoon, was responsible for putting a bounty on Thaksin's head recently.

    "I have obtained a report which is likely reliable and confirmed," Chavalit told reporters at Government House.

    "Everybody knows these (drug) gangs have influence and money and are ready to spend that money to get rid of anyone who hampers their ways," he said.

    Chavalit was responding to queries about a report in Thai-language newspaper Matichon, which cited a police report as saying the UWSA's Bao Youxiang and Wei Hsueh-kang, a Chinese Wa with Thai citizenship who fled to Burma, issued the death order because of billions of baht in losses from the war on drugs.

    The billionaire premier himself has said drug gang members put the price on his head at 80 million baht (1.87 million dollars) after his administration declared a brutal war on drugs that has seen trafficking slow to a trickle since the campaign was launched February 1.

    The government has dismissed opposition claims that the bounty was fabricated or a diversionary tactic to draw attention away from the alarming toll of nearly 1,500 drug-related deaths since the crackdown began.

    Chavalit, the deputy premier responsible for security, said drug kingpins posted the brazen bounty out of frustration that the drugs war was leading to severe losses in their trade.

    The UWSA, reportedly described by Washington as the world's largest armed narcotics producer, is believed to be the region's largest producer and supplier of methamphetamines.

    The UWSA was particularly suspect because of its wide network of operation along the Burma-Thailand border. Thai narcotics officials blame the outfit for producing hundreds of millions of methamphetamine tablets sold in Thailand last year.

    Thaksin's security detail has been beefed up considerably, with the leader traveling in a bullet-proof van and sniffer dogs searching Government House for explosives.

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    Shans say sorry they missed the Thai Princess

    Source : Shan Herald Agency News (SHAN)

    Shans on the Chinese border regretted they were not able to welcome Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn in person when she arrived there on 11 March, according to sources in northern Shan State.

    "The authorities ordered all the buildings on the road closed", said a businesswoman in Muse (pronounced Moozay), opposite Ruili (Shan name: Moengmao) of Yunnan. "Only a few number of authorities and selected school children went to receive her."

    Still, 5-6 people who lived opposite the town's branch office of Yoma Bank were arrested after they were caught watching the cavalcade from an open window on their top floor. The source however failed to obtain their identities.

    "We know Thais and Shans are kin to each other," said an elderly Shan, "and that they still have their royalty while we have lost ours. All of us naturally were eager to give her a warm welcome. I don't understand why the Burmese authorities should begrudge us this opportunity."

    To which a source from the Thai border in the south explained: "In 1994, the princess was treated to a most enthusiastic reception on her visit to Kengtung by the local populace in eastern Shan State, much to surprise and wrath of the Burmese military.

    H.R.H. Princess Sirindhorn then proceeded to Selan (Zaylarn), 10 miles west of Muse, to visit the old capital of the Mao Empire that flourished in the 14th century. Zao Mawnla, known to the Burmese as Saw Moon Hla, who was wedded to King Anawratha of Pagan (1044 - 1077) had her palace there. So had King Hso Khanfah (1314-1364), who conquered most of present day Burma, Assam in India, southwestern Yunnan, western Laos and northern Thailand.

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    Myanmar general discharged from Singapore hospital

    SINGAPORE, March 14 (Kyodo) Maung Aye, vice senior general and the second highest-ranking officer in Myanmar's junta, has been discharged from a hospital in Singapore where he had been undergoing treatment since last Sunday, a hospital source said Friday.

    Maung Aye, 65, who is vice chairman of the ruling State Peace and Development Council, was discharged from the state-run Singapore General Hospital at about 1 p.m. on Friday. He was in good health condition when discharged and has already flown back to Myanmar, the source said.Sources in Myanmar said he was suffering from prostate problems.

    He had been warded to a hospital in Myanmar for an operation sometime at the end of February for his ailment.

    The junta has ruled the country for decades, refusing to recognize the results of elections more than 10 years ago and to allow new elections, despite considerable pressure both inside and outside the country for a relaxation of control and for free and fair elections.

    The opposition National League for Democracy led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi won the 1990 elections but was never allowed to take up seats in parliament.

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