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HEADLINES
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UN News Centre - UN envoy briefs General Assembly President on Myanmar visit
AFP - Myanmar responded well to cyclone victims: WHO
IRIN - MYANMAR: Government cuts currency red tape for donors?
CNA - Recovery efforts improving in Myanmar, says ASEAN Secretary General
Kyodo News - Fuji TV awarded for scoop footage of journalist slain in Myanmar
Taipei Times - ANALYSIS: Burmese see little hope of change
AP - Asian elephant cured in rehab of heroin addiction
Reuters - Thai army disobeys PM's orders -- so what's new?
Kangla News - Myanmar trade delegation in Imphal
Mongabay News - Camera traps capture photos of predators in Myanmar
UCAN - Lay Catholic Social Worker Happy With Interreligious Cyclone Response
Xinhua - All resort hotels to reopen in Myanmar in October
Xinhua - Japanese companies to set up special economic zone in Myanmar
Independent. co.uk - Burmese days: A nation faces up to its future
IFEX - Burma Action Group demands release of journalists
Mizzima News - Ceasefire groups in Shan State face renewed pressure to surrender
Mizzima News - Junta arrests two more activists
The Irrawaddy - AIPMC Appeals to Surin, Ban Ki-moon to Visit Suu Kyi
DVB News - Red paint campaign commemorates protests
DVB News - USDA candidates for 2010 election shortlisted

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UN envoy briefs General Assembly President on Myanmar visit
UN News Centre –

4 September 2008 –United Nations Special Advisor Ibrahim Gambari has briefed the President of the General Assembly on his recent visit to Myanmar, during which he held talks with a range of people on issues such as national reconciliation and how to help the South-East Asian nation tackle its socio-economic challenges.

According to a statement issued after yesterday’s meeting, Assembly President Srgjan Kerim reiterated the 192-member body’s continued engagement “to promote national reconciliation, democracy and respect for human rights in Myanmar as mandated by the resolutions of the General Assembly.”

The President also encouraged the Government of Myanmar “to continue to work closely with the Special Advisor to achieve concrete progress on the suggestions he put forward during his recent visit” – his fourth to the country over the past year.

Mr. Kerim stressed the need for continued engagement and strong commitment from all parties to continue the process of national reconciliation, pointing out that such engagement must be “serious and credible” with the aim of achieving concrete results.

The President reiterated his continuous support for Mr. Gambari’s efforts on behalf of the Secretary-General, and also noted the important role played by neighbouring countries, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Group of Friends of Myanmar.

He “further encourages those countries to remain engaged in the political process,” the statement added.

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Myanmar responded well to cyclone victims: WHO
AFP - Thursday, September 4

GENEVA, Sept 4, 2008 (AFP) - Myanmar's military rulers provided a rapid response to victims of Cyclone Nargis last May despite criticism for shunning foreign aid, the World Health Organisation said Thursday.

"In the first week, the Ministry of Health had already sent around 50 doctors from Yangon General Hospital" to the worst-affected areas, WHO emergency relief coordinator Rudi Coninx told AFP.

"Within the first week they had all the staff necessary... I thought that worked quite well," he said.

Coninx was the only official from WHO's headquarters in Geneva who was immediately able to go to Myanmar straight after the cyclone struck on May 2-3 as he happened to have a current visa.

He said he found "lots of very committed people at the Ministry of Health, who were working day and night," adding this was all the more laudable given that Myanmar only spends around 1.4 percent of its Gross Domestic Product on health.

WHO's deputy regional director for Southeast Asia, Poonam Singh, said that despite media reports, the government was "actually doing quite a lot to meet the health needs of the people.

"Right from the beginning, the WHO representative to Myanmar met every morning with the health ministry and we managed to get around the visa restrictions by recruiting locals," she told the WHO's internal Bulletin newsletter.

The WHO estimates that 84,537 people died in the cyclone with a further 53,836 missing, and that Myanmar needs two billion dollars to rebuild shattered health facilities, some three quarters of which were damaged or destroyed in the storm.

Myanmar's ruling generals drew worldwide condemnation for blocking foreign aid from entering the country in the crucial days after the cyclone pummelled the Irrawaddy delta.

Last month, the United Nations said 1.56 million dollars (about one million euros) of international cyclone aid has been lost due to the military regime's complex foreign currency rules.

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MYANMAR: Government cuts currency red tape for donors?

YANGON, 4 September 2008 (IRIN) - The UN is calling on donors to give more generously to an international appeal for victims of Cyclone Nargis, and a senior official says donors are now getting a fair exchange rate.

On 10 July, the UN re-launched a flash appeal on behalf of 13 UN organisations and 23 NGOs for emergency relief and early recovery efforts through to April 2009 for a total of US$481 million, up from a previous appeal of $201 million. But so far that remains just 41 percent funded. Donor reluctance was blamed by humanitarian officials in part on transaction fees and poor exchange rates for incoming hard currency.

"Now is the time for donors to step up to the plate," Daniel Baker, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator to Myanmar, told IRIN on 3 September in Yangon, the former Burmese capital, reassuring donors that earlier problems over foreign exchange rate differentials had been resolved.

"This issue has been taken fully on board by the government. Donors should feel confident that they are getting the best value for their money.

"The loss in value due to foreign exchange for the Cyclone Nargis international humanitarian aid during the last three months has been about $1.56 million," Baker had said on 13 August, in a joint statement by the UN, Myanmar's government and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

"We are not getting the full value of dollars donated for emergency relief, and donors are extremely worried and keen to see that this issue is resolved," he said at the time. The issue was first raised at the end of July by the UN Under-Secretary- General for Humanitarian Affairs, John Holmes, and stems from Myanmar's restrictions on the use and exchange of foreign currency.

When the UN brings dollars into the country, it received so-called Foreign Exchange Certificates (FEC), which can be used to buy local currency. The FECs can be converted into the kyat, but they were being changed at a rate of about 900 kyats to one, or 20 percent less than the current exchange rate of close to 1,200 kyats for one dollar.

"That rate can be either higher or lower than the current market rate," Baker clarified.

To address this, the government has agreed to allow foreign donors to pay local vendors directly and in dollars, rather than through FECs, an option that had also carried a 10 percent government transaction fee.

The government has since agreed to waive this fee for all international humanitarian agencies providing cyclone assistance, including the UN, bilateral and international NGOs.

The Minister for National Planning and Economic Development U Soe Tha said such issues could always be brought to the government's attention.

"Effective assistance to the Nargis-affected population is our common goal and we certainly have the intention to continue addressing any issues as they arise," he said.

According to the Post-Nargis Joint Assessment (PONJA) report in July, about $1 billion would be needed over three years to help affected communities and households meet food, livelihoods, housing, education, and other needs. The report, compiled by the UN, the Myanmar government and ASEAN is based on detailed surveys of more than 390 affected villages in June.

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Recovery efforts improving in Myanmar, says ASEAN Secretary General
Channel NewsAsia - By Trixia Carungcong, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 04 September 2008 1317 hrs

MYANMAR: Recovery efforts are improving in Myanmar, four months after Cyclone Nargis hit the country, according to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Secretary General Surin Pitsuwan.

The regional group on Thursday marked 100 days since it began coordinating humanitarian efforts in the devastated areas.

More than 80,000 people were killed in Myanmar's Irrawady Delta after Cyclone Nargis hit the region in early May.

Foreign aid was initially barred by the government.

After the United Nations (UN) intervened, ASEAN offered to help facilitate early relief efforts by the international community.

It formed the Tripartite Core Group, along with the Myanmar government and the UN.

Said Surin: "I think we have done quite well. I think we certainly opened that humanitarian space, helped people and brought in a lot of rescue efforts.

“So on the whole, I think we have earned the trust, the mutual trust between the authorities and the people of Myanmar and ASEAN and the international community."

The Secretary General continued to say that while the Myanmar government has its own plan for long-term recovery, getting sufficient funds remains an issue.

"Still, the challenge is to have more in order to do the work,” Surin said.

“People there did not have much to begin with. A lot has been destroyed. It will need a lot more to rehabilitate, to give them a chance to recover, before they can really pick up and move on."

The Tripartite Core Group has been given the mandate to continue its work in Myanmar until July next year.

By helping to improve the level of trust between the international community and Myanmar, it hopes to find more opportunities to encourage the government to move closer towards national reconciliation.

The Myanmar government has continued to rebuff calls to restart political dialogue with the opposition, which was stalled after the cyclone disaster.

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Fuji TV awarded for scoop footage of journalist slain in Myanmar

TOKYO, Sept. 4 KYODO - The Japan Newspaper Publishers and Editors Association said Wednesday it granted a media award to Fuji Television Network for its scoop footage showing the last second of Japanese video journalist Kenji Nagai, who was gunned down by Myanmar security troops last September.

The Mainichi Shimbun and the Niigata Nippo also received this year's media awards for their respective reports on damage and suffering caused by asbestos, and the issue of earthquakes and nuclear plants that drew renewed attention after a strong quake jolted Niigata Prefecture in July 2007.

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ANALYSIS: Burmese see little hope of change
PENNED IN: Myanmar has become the world’s biggest prison camp, with rampant rights abuses, massive poverty and corruption and no way out for its citizens
Taipei Times - THE GUARDIAN, LONDON
Thursday, Sep 04, 2008, Page 5

It is hard to imagine what life must be like for Aung San Suu Kyi, locked up inside her Yangon home, separated from her children, denied visitors, her phone line cut, her mail intercepted. Myanmar’s opposition leader, whose 1990 election victory was annulled by the military, is now in her 13th year of detention. She has been held continually since 2003. In June, she spent her 63rd birthday alone.

Unconfirmed reports suggest Aung San Suu Kyi, who has suffered health problems in the past, is unwell again. Her lawyer, who was allowed to see her last month, quoted her as saying: “I am tired and I need some rest.”

Following her refusal of a food delivery, there is also speculation she has begun a hunger strike. Her lawyer said she weighed less than the 44kg she weighed in 2003.

While uncertainty surrounds Aung San Suu Kyi ‘s plight, there is nothing at all ambiguous about Myanmar’s political, social and human rights situation one year after the junta brutally suppressed the Buddhist-monk- led “saffron revolution.” By almost any measure, it is distinctly worse. May’s Cyclone Nargis disaster played its part. But most of the deterioration is man-made.

Despite last fall’s international condemnation and impassioned calls for action, the junta continues to hold more than 2,000 political prisoners, including leaders of Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) such as U Win Tin, in jail since 1989. UN attempts to foster political reform have got nowhere. And trade sanctions imposed by the US and EU are being undermined by the generals’ energy deals with China, Thailand and India. Oil and gas sales topped US$3.3 billion last year.

Benjamin Zawacki of Amnesty International says 500,000 people are internally displaced. He said the army is continuing “systematic” rights violations against Karen and other ethnic minorities including “extrajudicial killings, torture, enforced disappearances, arbitrary arrests, forced labor, crop destruction [and] restrictions of movement.”

Amid some of the worst poverty, health problems and corruption in the world, many people have only one wish: escape.

Even long-suffering Zimbabweans can flee across a border. But the Burmese are locked in, held down by their rulers and not wanted in India, China or Thailand. With a population of more than 50 million, Myanmar has become the world’s biggest prison camp.

“The UN mission has been a complete failure,” said Mark Farmaner, director of Burma Campaign UK.

Since Ibrahim Gambari was appointed special envoy in May 2006, the number of political prisoners had doubled, ethnic cleansing in the east has intensified and humanitarian aid for Nargis victims was blocked, he said.

“There has been a massive deterioration in the human rights situation. But during Gambari’s last two visits no senior member of the regime bothered to see him,” Farmaner said. “He is seen as biased towards the regime and we think he should resign. He no longer has the respect or confidence of either side.”

Criticism of Gambari was also voiced by the NLD. It said his visits had produced “no positive developments.” The party said the envoy’s offer to help the junta organize elections in 2010 under a new constitution that the opposition rejects had undermined his independence.

For her part, Aung San Suu Kyi twice refused to meet Gambari.

Farmaner said UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon should take personal charge before the country exploded again.

“The UN needs to set timelines and benchmarks which the junta must meet. The first benchmark should be the release of all political prisoners,” he said.

“There is an increasing sense of desperation,” Farmaner said. “People were very depressed after the uprising, very frightened. But there was hope that Gambari would do something. Now that hope has gone.”

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Asian elephant cured in rehab of heroin addiction
AP - Thursday, September 4

BEIJING - An Asian elephant that became addicted to heroin at the hands of illegal traders will return home after a three-year rehab program, state media said Thursday.

Xiguang, a 4-year-old male Asian elephant, became addicted after he was captured by smugglers along the Chinese-Myanmar border in March 2005. The traders fed the elephant bananas laced with heroin as bait and to pacify the creature, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

When Xiguang was found two months later along with six other captured elephants in China's southwest, he was suffering from withdrawal and was sent to a protection center in China's tropical Hainan island.

Xiguang received daily methadone injections in doses five times larger than those given to a human and has now fully recovered, Xinhua said.

He is expected to return to the Yunnan Wild Animal Park in the capital of Yunnan province, Kunming, on Saturday.

The Asian elephant is threatened with extinction, according to the World Wildlife Fund conservation group, with only 25,600 to 32,750 left in the wild of Asia's tropical forests _ fewer than a tenth of the number of wild African elephants.

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Thai army disobeys PM's orders -- so what's new?
By Ed Cropley

BANGKOK, Sept 4 (Reuters) - In July 2006, an 85-year-old Thai general dressed up in full military regalia to address a bunch of graduating young officers. It was no ordinary passing out parade.

The general was Prem Tinsulanonda, chief adviser to King Bhumibol Adulyadej, and his message was clear and aimed straight at elected Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawtra.

"Soldiers are like horses and governments are jockeys but not owners. You belong to the nation and His Majesty the King," Prem, also a former army chief and prime minister, said.

His comments were prophetic -- two months later, the army removed Thaksin in the 18th coup in 74 years of on-off democracy.

They also show how this week army chief Anupong Paochinda could refuse orders from Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej to evict, by force if necessary, the thousands of protesters who have been occupying his official compound calling for his head.

Put simply, Thailand's army has never taken orders from the government.

"The military is not answerable to the executive," historian and Thaksin biographer Chris Baker said. "The elected government comes in every now and then, and they can ride on the horse for a bit but they don't actually own it or control it."

Within hours of Samak declaring emergency rule on Tuesday to get the army to remove the protesters from Government House, Anupong made it clear he would deploy only unarmed troops and only to prevent pro- and anti-government groups clashing.

"If we thought we could use police and soldiers to get them out of with a peaceful conclusion, we would do it. But we think that that would create problems," he said.

"IF I HAD WANTED TO KILL HIM..."

In its most glaring form, the military's disdain for elected government -- which, ironically, started with the overthrow of absolute monarchy in 1932 -- is shown in the frequency with which it has launched a coup: on average, once every four years.

But its control in a country where patronage is still the prevailing social force stretches way beyond merely the periodic seizure of political power.

As well as more than 300,000 men, it has a widespread network of informants, a legacy of anti-communist activities during the Cold War, and is a major conduit for humanitarian projects evolving from the revered royal family.

The army owns TV and radio stations, was able to corner up to 20 percent of the national budget, and has as many as 1,000 generals on its staff, even though most of them are more familiar with golf, rather than rifle, ranges.

Besides minor operations in Vietnam, and the occasional border skirmish with Myanmar, it has fought only one proper war -- a three month affair against neighbouring Laos in 1987-88. Japanese occupation in the Second World War was unopposed.

Attempts to cut the armed forces down to size have invariably gone nowhere.

Only after 1992, when troops opened fire on huge democracy demonstrations, killing dozens, was its public standing so low the government could even contemplate military reform.

The financial crisis of 1997 led to further squeezing of the military share of the budget, which dropped to as little as six percent under Thaksin, whose career started with the police -- the army's bitter internal rivals.

After the putsch against Thaksin, the army-appointed government increased defence spending by 66 percent to $4.5 billion for 2007-08, leading many to question its motives in ousting the prime minister on the pretext of "rampant corruption".

Thaksin even claimed the army tried to assassinate him, sacking General Pallop Pinmanee as deputy director of the shadowy Internal Security Operations Command after a junior officer was found near his home in a car packed with explosives.

Pallop contemptuously dismissed any plot, saying: "If I had wanted to kill him, the prime minister would not have escaped."

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Myanmar trade delegation in Imphal
Kangla News - The Imphal Free Press

IMPHAL, Sep 3: A 17-member delegation of traders from Myanmar arrived in Imphal today and visited various important places in Imphal area as soon as they arrived.

The 17-member team led by U Hla Maung, president, Border Trade Chamber of Commerce, Myanmar will stay till September 6 and will visit various places during their stay in Imphal.

The team crossed the international border at Moreh yesterday and were felicitated by members of the National Identity Protection Committee, NIPCO, Moreh Chamber of Commerce, All Community Welfare Forum, IMBTV, and MAFCI at Moreh.

After a night`s stay there, the team along with members of the NIPCO and others proceeded to Imphal today.

As soon as they arrived in Imphal, they visited Khuman Lampak sports complex, Ema Keithel, Kangla fort and Govindaji Temple at Palace Compound.

The team is scheduled to hold a meeting with traders of Manipur at the state guest house and afterwards visit business centres like the Eastern Motors, Chingmeirong, Manipur Diesel, Mantripukhri, AEGIS Pineapple and Cold Storage Plant, Matai, Mantripukhri.

They are also scheduled to visit M/s Bisla Agro Company Pvt. Lmt., Takyel Industrial Estate, Takyel, Manipur Plastic Industries (mineral water unit) and Lismart Industries (water storage tanks), and CIPET.

On September 5, the visiting team will attend a reception cum interaction function at the Centre for Myanmar Studies, Manipur University.

On the same day, they will also visit the Central Agricultural University, CAU, Iroishemba, and Ramji Prabhu Temple at Wangkhei Ningthempukhri Mapal. There they will enjoy a lunch hosted by Manipur Chamber of Foreign Trade, Commerce and Industry, MAFCI.

On the same day they will also call on the Manipur chief minister, O Ibobi Singh in the evening. They will also enjoy a cultural programme at the JN Manipur Dance Academy in the evening.

On the next day, on September 6, they will leave Imphal by road for Myanmar in the morning.

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Camera traps capture photos of predators in Myanmar
Mongabay News - WCS
September 4, 2008

Myanmar's dense northern wild lands, researchers from the Wildlife Conservation Society have painstakingly gathered a bank of valuable data on the country's populations of tigers and other smaller, lesser known carnivores (see photo attachments) . These findings will help in the formulation of conservation strategies for the country's wildlife.

Using camera traps survey techniques, researchers from WCS’s Myanmar Program have combed the 3,250-square- kilometer core area (approx. 1,250 square miles) of the Hukaung Tiger Reserve, the world’ largest protected area for tigers, for evidence of the big cats and other wildlife. The recently published data were gathered between December 2002 and May 2004.

During that time, the researchers photographed six individual tigers some 21 times in the reserve, and this has allowed the first ever scientific estimate of abundance for these big cats in northern Myanmar.

“We know there are tigers here, but previously we were not able to put some numbers to the population,” said Wildlife Conservation Society researcher, U. Than Myint, co-author for an article in the July edition of the journal Population Ecology which details efforts to measure tiger numbers in Myanmar’s Hukaung Tiger Reserve. “We have collected the first real data needed to determine how many tigers are here. From the analyses of this data, it is estimated that there are at least seven and potentially up to 70 tigers living in the core area. Estimating numbers of prey animals such as gaur and sambar may give an indication of how many tigers can be supported over this vast habitat, but any further ecological monitoring will likely need to be done at the same time as efforts are increased to protect tigers and their key prey species from illegal hunting and trade.”

Researchers have also confirmed the continued existence of 18 smaller carnivores in a variety of habitats across Myanmar, according to another study by WCS’s Myanmar Program that appeared in the April edition of the journal Small Carnivore Conservation. Data on small carnivores gathered from camera-trap surveys in wild areas across the country were supplemented by the examination of animal remains found in villages and markets. The researchers found that some species such as the yellow-throated marten and the common palm civet are common throughout their country range. Red pandas were not photographed but identified as present in Hkakaborazi National Park and other areas. Other species that were not detected at all in the surveys, such as four species of otter, could be in need of protection.

“One of the most important needs for the conservation of these wild places is to get a better understanding of the status of these predators,” said WCS researcher U. Than Zaw, lead author of the small carnivore study. “So far, we’ve determined that otter populations have been decimated, mostly through a combination of hunting for their pelts and for medicines, and through loss and disturbance of their aquatic habitats. Otters require immediate conservation management. As for the other species, continued monitoring is needed to better ascertain the ecological needs of Myanmar’s wildlife.”

Funding for the research efforts were provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Rhino and Tiger Conservation Fund, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s Save the Tiger Fund, and the Liz Claiborne Art Ortenberg Foundation.

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Lay Catholic Social Worker Happy With Interreligious Cyclone Response
MYANMAR UCAN Interview - Union of Catholic Asian News
September 3, 2008 | MY05656.1513 | 1813 words

YANGON (UCAN) -- For Catholic laywoman Rose Mary, seeing Buddhist monks and Catholic priests and nuns working together to help Cyclone Nargis survivors was the silver lining of this major disaster.

As executive secretary of Karuna Myanmar Social Services (KMSS), Mary found herself busy training lay volunteers, clergy and Religious to help the survivors within days of the May 2 cyclone.

Initially she was appointed joint secretary of the Myanmar Disaster Relief Committee (MDRC), which the Church set up to coordinate its cyclone relief efforts. Although childhood polio limited her mobility, she traveled, walking stick in hand, to some of the cyclone-affected areas to encourage and support the survivors.

Mary was born on May 13, 1953, in Loikaw, northeastern Myanmar, to ethnic Kayah parents. She says her father encouraged her to always try to do better than other people in spite of her disability. In 1977, she received a degree in geography from the Arts and Science University in Yangon. Later, in 1993, she earned a diploma in "Rural Social Leadership" from the South East Asia Rural Social Leadership Institute of Xavier University, in Cagayan de Oro City, the Philippines.

The laywoman was instrumental in helping set up KMSS with Bishop Sotero Phamo of Loikaw in his diocese, before it became the national social service organization of the Myanmar Catholic Church. KMSS helps with community development programs including projects to help farmers, raise awareness of HIV and AIDS, and improve child care. Bishop Sotero Phamo still chairs the organization.

In addition to her main duties overseeing KMSS social welfare programs, Mary has offered training and workshops locally for clergy and laypeople, and has participated in training programs, seminars and workshops at home and abroad.

UCA News spoke with Mary on Aug. 21 at the KMSS office in Yangon. The interview follows:

UCA NEWS: What difficulties did you face when helping the cyclone survivors?

ROSE MARY: As the extent of the damage was so large, we faced many difficulties, which are hard to express in words. Through our experiences in the wake of Cyclone Nargis, we came to understand the reality of the people and their generosity and kindness. Looking at it as a Christian, or just from a human point of view, I have seen people working together in collaboration and cooperation, and this gives me satisfaction regarding the relief effort. Of course, compared with the loss of life during Cyclone Nargis, our own difficulties seem so small.

Do you view the aid effort as successful?

What has been unforgettable has been the dialogue and joint relief work carried out by people of various religions and races in the wake of Cyclone Nargis. In Dedaye town in the Irrawaddy delta, in order to carry out relief work, a Buddhist monk arranged a room for Catholic nuns to open a clinic for survivors, and he himself distributed relief goods to the disaster victims. A Catholic priest in charge of the refugee camp in Kanazogone village invited a Buddhist monk, who offered a memorial service for those who died during the cyclone. Through religious activities we had mutual understanding and mutual respect.

In Sanchauk camp, although it was run by the Catholic Church, the priest in charge arranged for a Buddhist shrine on a high shelf in the camp, and this is like a beautiful vision for me. In Aima Parish, a Catholic priest and volunteers worked for the survivors without regard for religion and race. Because of the cyclone we have suffered great loss, but from the experience of relief work carried out by interreligious groups and their collaboration and cooperation, we have had great success.
Were there any failures?

As we had no [relief] experience when Cyclone Nargis devastated our country, we did not know what to do. Because of transportation problems, we were only able to travel to the affected delta on May 6, four days after the cyclone struck. The Bishop of Pathein asked me to give training to the volunteers to do relief work for the survivors. We felt very sad because of the delay in the relief work due to bad communications and transportation, and we deeply regret that due to the delay in our relief effort, many lives were lost.

What are the main priorities now for the Church's continuing relief and rehabilitation effort?

Regarding the relief work, we have done our best for the disaster survivors. Rehabilitation, settlement and return to earning a livelihood are the priorities for the people of the affected areas. The survivors are always thinking of the need to work for their livelihood. Instead of continuing to give them support, it is better to help them help themselves, creating work for them or giving equipment or materials that will be useful for their livelihood. As they have been poor their whole life, reconstruction might not be essential for them. Farms and fishing are the most important work for the villagers in the affected areas. [For example] they encountered so many difficulties trying to operate power tillers they received from relief groups that these seem like a burden to them and they just want to use traditional methods.

How did you decide to take up social work?

I had been working for many years as coordinator of youth activities in Loikaw diocese. Our bishop asked me to give training to the youth and work for the development of the Church. We faced many difficulties and obstacles, and since Loikaw diocese is a remote place, we needed many things in order to work for its development. After I worked for seven years with Bishop Sotero Phamo, he asked me to attend development training in the Philippines for one-and-a-half years. After the training I came back to Loikaw and worked for the development of the diocese. Our bishop is a man of knowledge and wisdom. He gave me good advice, instructed me in the work and shared his good ideas for the development of the Church. Doing social work in four parishes in Loikaw diocese, I encountered difficulties dealing with different kinds of people, and we started from a bad situation. We trained people both physically and spiritually.

Karuna was initially organized by Bishop Sotero Phamo and started in Loikaw in 1993, and I was made secretary of Karuna Loikaw. In 1995, the bishop called a meeting and decided to have a Karuna gathering in the Jubilee year 2000 in Loikaw diocese. During this Jubilee year 2000, we discussed and decided to open a national Karuna office in Yangon. Our new office was blessed on the feast day of St. Vincent de Paul (Sept. 27) in 2001, but it was officially opened in 2002.

What does your normal work with Karuna involve?

My normal work is leading the Lenten animation, peace education and community development programs. For the Lenten program, we have translated the formal letters of the pope and conducted a training with reflection before Lent. After the training the participants go back to their diocese and explain the Lenten program theme. The donations collected during the Lenten season aim to help those in great trouble who really need help. Regarding peace education, we have instructed participants to cultivate inner peace in order to acquire the habit of nonviolence, not to do harm and to bring about reconciliation among friends and colleagues. We intend to release an album [of music] regarding peace. Until now we have given community development training five times, producing more than 200 trainee graduates. After completing two months' training, all of them went back to their own places and shared their knowledge and experience with friends, relatives and neighbors.

Was your 15 years of experience in development work useful in the wake of the cyclone?

The damage of Cyclone Nargis was so widespread that it was difficult to do the relief work. We couldn't do it alone, and the Church couldn't do it by itself. We all needed to unite and cooperate. The aid workers needed to have generosity to help the cyclone survivors. The survivors also needed to welcome and cooperate with the aid workers. It will be difficult to help the disaster victims return to normal life. It will take time, maybe years. We can't say we have solved everything for the survivors, but we need to choose priorities.

How important is your Catholic faith in your work and in your life?

I had paralytic polio when I was a child. Since I couldn't walk well, my father used to carry me on his back, and told me not to get discouraged in my daily life. I will never forget my father's encouraging words, "My daughter must be better than any other child." Keeping in mind the words of my father, I have self-confidence and try my best whatever I do in my daily life. God has given me his abundant graces, and I haven't had any difficulties I could not overcome. I have received more chances than others to go to foreign countries related to social work. By the grace of God, I have made it to 55 without any great suffering.

How do you view the role of laywomen in the Church in Myanmar?

The role of laywomen is very important in the Church in Myanmar. The world is changing, and unlike the old days, women now have rights equal to men. In all the dioceses in Myanmar, women have taken greater roles to help the Church and its mission, such as the Women's Association and Mothers' Association.
What is the most memorable event in your life?

When I was asked by Bishop Sotero Phamo, "Do you want to attend training in the Philippines on development programs?" That question made me tremble. The training was offered to people from Southeast Asia and the Pacific. First, I had no idea what he meant. As I had polio, I couldn't imagine attending the training, because I couldn't walk properly. Although I had no experience, no ability for the training, the bishop chose me as a candidate for it. During the training, six of the 6,000 participants [from various countries] were chosen as outstanding students, and I was one of them. The most memorable event in my life was that event, on my 50th birthday in 2003. I was chosen as an outstanding student among 6,000 students.

What are your plans for the future?

As I have been working with development programs for more than 15 years, I would like to hand over my duty or tasks to the next generation. I want to give way to young and active leaders who will work for the development and progress of the Church. After I hand over my duty to the young leaders, I intend to go back to my diocese and teach and share my knowledge and experiences to youngsters, so that they might broaden their vision and understand the importance of education.

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All resort hotels to reopen in Myanmar in October
www.chinaview. cn 2008-09-04 20:50:34

YANGON, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- All famous resort hotels lying in three beach areas of Myanmar will reopen next month despite drop of tourist arrivals over the past few months impacted by May cyclone, the local weekly 7-Day News reported Thursday.

These beach resorts are Ngapali, Ngwe Saung and Chaungtha which escaped from being affected by the disaster.

Hotel staff are being mobilized to keep ready for serving visitors, while domestic flights to the areas from Yangon are being arranged to operate in time, the report said.

The key motor road between Yangon and Pathein under renovation is being strived for completion before October, it said.

These measures are taken as part of Myanmar's efforts to revive its tourism industry severely affected by the May storm.

Although it has been over three months after the cyclone smashed Myanmar, tourist arrivals during the period fell 90 percent compared with the previous years correspondingly.

The drop of the tourist arrivals has brought about much impact on all tourism-related businesses, the Tourism Entrepreneurs Association (TEA) said, adding that means are being sought to overcome these difficulties and get free from the status.

As part of the remedial measures, the TEA has reshuffled its central executive committee to pave way for improving its tourism undertakings in the next three years.

Also as part of its efforts to restore tourism operation in the aftermath of the cyclone storm, Myanmar is planning to hold a market festival in Inlay, one of the country's famous tourist sites in Shan state, according to local report.

Preparations including upgrading of hotels and restaurants are underway for the two-day market festival scheduled for next February, sources with the Ministry of hotels and Tourism said.

Myanmar has also laid down a tourism restoration plan to strive for maintaining the momentum of tourism industry operation in the coming open season near the end of this year.

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Japanese companies to set up special economic zone in Myanmar
www.chinaview. cn 2008-09-04 07:37:01

YANGON, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- Major Japanese motor companies are planning to establish special economic zone in Myanmar to produce motor vehicle spare parts, the leading local weekly Yangon Times reported Thursday.

The project will be implemented with the cooperation of domestic industrial enterprises probably in the form of joint venture, the report said.

At present, such Japanese motor companies as Suzuki and Isuzu are cooperating with Myanmar companies in producing motor vehicles, while Toyota and Honda are running motor car service industry in the country.

Myanmar is planning to establish six special economic zones ( SEZ) to attract direct foreign investment into the country in a bid to promote its economic development.

The six SEZs are outlined as Thilawa Port in Yangon, Mawlamyine in Mon state, Myawaddy and Hpa-an in Kayin state, Kyaukphyu in Rakhine state and Pyin Oo Lwin in Mandalay division.

Prospective sectors for foreign investment are outlined as production, high-tech, agriculture, livestock breeding, forestry, transport and communications, and banking services.

Foreign investors making direct investment in the SEZs will be categorically exempted from taxation ranging from two to eight years, earlier reports said, adding that investment in high-tech will be exempted from income tax for the first eight years, while that in production for the first five years and that in agriculture, livestock breeding, forestry and banking services for the first two years.

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Burmese days: A nation faces up to its future
A year on from the 'saffron revolution', a nation faces up to its future. Words by Peter Popham
Independent. co.uk - Saturday, 30 August 2008

The world had never seen anything like it. For an entire week last September we were riveted by the sight of hundreds, then thousands, then finally tens of thousands of Burmese monks, walking in bold defiance of the military regime through the streets of their country's towns and cities.

It was quickly dubbed "the saffron revolution" – which was wrong on both counts. Burmese monks' robes are not saffron in colour but maroon or cinnamon. And "revolution" wasn't right either. The monks had no banners, no apparent leaders, made no speeches. Nor were they aiming to seize power. They merely walked through the streets, through the teeming monsoon rain, chanting the Metta Sutta, the Buddhist scripture on unconditional love.

Like previous mass protests, the monks' rising was provoked by the callous stupidity of the regime, which suddenly slashed fuel subsidies without warning in mid-August, sending the price of petrol, kerosene and diesel rocketing by 50 per cent and overnight making life impossible for the impoverished population. People could no longer afford to ride their motorcycles or take the bus to school or to market.

The first protest, four days later, was almost invisible: a silent march through central Rangoon by veterans of the great uprising of August 1988 who had served long jail sentences but were finally free again. The authorities left them in peace and similar silent, low-key demonstrations followed in other cities. Political life in Burma is like an immense game of Grandma's footsteps. Normally, Grandma wastes no time in whisking round and sending everyone off to jail. But if she dozes, before you know it the whole country is on the move.

That's what happened one year ago. Among the other protests that sprang up was one by a group of monks in a sleepy provincial town on the Irrawaddy called Pakkoku, near the tourist centre of Bagan. When nothing bad befell them, they marched again the following day. But now Grandma sprang into life. Despite the fact that, for Burmese Buddhists, assaulting or humiliating a monk is regarded as one of the worst things you can do, police beat them with truncheons, tried to tear off their robes, tied some of them to utility poles and arrested others.

The monks of Pakkoku responded by demanding an apology and giving the authorities two weeks to deliver it. The regime ignored the demand, so when the deadline passed the monks came out on to the streets, not only in Pakkoku but across the country. And now their demonstration took on a broader meaning. As well as an apology they demanded the rescinding of the fuel price rise, the release of political prisoners and the start of a dialogue on political reform.

Within days the movement had become gigantic. On 22 September, three days after it began, hundreds of monks penetrated the razor-wire barriers shrouding the approach to the house where Aung San Suu Kyi is confined, and Burma's democracy leader came out of her front gate to greet them and chant sutras with them. Over the next two days the movement peaked when monks invited the ordinary people to join in. More than 100,000 people filled the biggest boulevard in Rangoon, marching through the pouring rain.

But the walls of Jericho did not fall down. Senior general Than Shwe, the regime's ageing strongman, did not lose his nerve. Unlike in 1988, the junta did not buckle under the pressure. Instead it flooded Rangoon and the other cities and towns with troops, forced them to swallow their inhibitions about attacking men of religion, and ordered them to let rip. In a few days it was all over. Thousands of protesters were thrown into improvised jails, many more were disrobed and forced out of their monasteries and back to their homes, and an unknown number were killed, including the Japanese journalist Nagai Kenji, gunned down on camera in central Rangoon.

It was another dreadful setback for the forces of Burmese democracy. But the crushing of the revolt, which had been widely predicted, could not erase the fact that the regime had been challenged by a new opponent, one with deep roots among the common people: the Buddhist sangha, the community of monks.

Buddhism is at the heart of the Burmese way of life, the way Catholicism was at the heart of the lives of people in rural Spain or Italy a couple of generations ago. One of the side-effects of Burma's long isolation is that this centrality has yet to be challenged as it has in Thailand or Sri Lanka, where consumer capitalism has elbowed religion aside. In Burma it remains massively central.

One can get an idea of this centrality from the ceremonies that unfold in temples all over the country in March, after the rice harvest and before the hot weather and the rains. Boys and girls dolled up to look like princes – like Prince Siddhartha, to be specific – are presented at the temples before symbolically undertaking the Buddha's way of renunciation, having their heads shaved, taking the monastic vows and entering the monastery, where for weeks or months they live as monks and learn to do the things that monks do: to meditate, to chant sutras, to walk

through the towns and villages receiving gifts of food. Practically every Burmese Buddhist boy has this experience deep in his memory, and very many of the girls, too. Many return to the temples as adults for periods of retreat and contemplation.

The power of Buddhism extends to the generals: the late dictator Ne Win, who seized power in a coup d'état in 1962, was a deeply superstitious believer, and took up meditation in later life. His successors continue to respect the forms of the religion: after their humiliation in the election of 1990, the generals went on an orgy of pagoda building, a traditional way for a ruler to acquire merit and establish legitimacy. The junta has tried for decades to stamp its authority on the sangha, which is about as large as the army in terms of manpower. Every year the generals pour contributions into monasteries they regard as well-disposed towards them.

Buddhism is of crucial importance in the politics of Burma because most of the civil institutions of the state have either withered away or been deliberately smashed by the generals: parliament, the judiciary, trade unions, most political parties, the independent media, civil society in all its forms. All that remains is the sangha. The rule of the Buddhist kings, the last rulers regarded as legitimate by devout Burmese, ended only 123 years ago. That is the authority – usurped by the British – to which all hark back.
Much of the love and respect which Aung San Suu Kyi continues to enjoy among ordinary Burmese is due to her own profession of piety and the meditation discipline that has helped to sustain her through the years of enforced solitude.

So while few expected the monks to emerge from their uprising with anything approaching a victory, the dramatic confrontation confirmed their position as the other great power in the land, the one force with which the generals must reckon. And that lesson was reinforced by the next terrible test the country had to face.

The monks' revolt did not bring the junta down but it had several consequences. One was the first formal action ever taken by the United Nations Security Council against Burma, "strongly deploring the use of violence against peaceful demonstrators" ; another was the dispatching of the UN special envoy Ibrahim Gambari, the former Nigerian foreign minister, to Burma (he was back in the country for another visit on 20 August). A third was the decision by the junta to attempt to deflect the world's anger by submitting a new, pseudo-democratic constitution to a referendum, a step on the return to a sort of democracy – though with a large, built-in role for the military. The referendum was scheduled for 10 May.

So it was taken by many Burmese as a very bad omen – karmic payback for their assault on the monks – when, barely a week before the referendum, one of the most destructive tropical cyclones in history came howling in from the Bay of Bengal, with winds of up to 130mph, and ravaged the low-lying, fertile and densely populated Irrawaddy delta. Cyclone Nargis was one of the deadliest cyclones of all time, but we will never know how many people it killed because, when the official figure for the dead reached 130,000, the Burmese military junta (formally known as the State Peace and Development Council, or SPDC) simply stopped giving updates. Some experts think the true toll from the cyclone could be more than 300,000. More than a million people were made homeless.

The regime proved no more reliable in bringing relief to the victims than in giving out statistics. Intensely paranoid about foreign designs on their country, it provoked a storm of international condemnation when it refused to admit the hundreds of foreign aid workers queuing at Burmese embassies all over the world for visas. "The country is not ready to accept foreign aid workers," a regime spokesman said. Journalists who entered the country as tourists then tried to cover the disaster were harassed and expelled.

The delays in admitting aid were, according to the World Food Programme, "unprecedented in modern humanitarian relief efforts". Meanwhile, the generals gritted their teeth and pressed ahead with the referendum – only delaying it for a few weeks in areas where bodies were still hanging from trees.

So in the absence of the stormtroopers of international relief, who could the shocked and desperate Burmese peasants turn to? "While the government has been criticised for obstructing the relief effort," wrote an unnamed correspondent for the New York Times on 31 May, "the Buddhist monastery, the traditional centre of moral authority in most villages here, proved to be the one institution that people could rely on for help. Monasteries in the delta – those still standing after the storm – were clogged with refugees. People went there with donations or as volunteers. Monasteries that served as religious centres, orphanages and homes for the elderly are now also shelters for the homeless."
The International Missionary Centre, run by a senior monk called Sitagu Sayadaw, was one of the main centres of Buddhist relief. "Trucks of rice, beans, onions, clothes, tarpaulins and cooking utensils, donated from all over Burma" arrived at the Centre, wrote one reporter. "Each day, shortly after dawn, a convoy of trucks or a barge on the Rangoon River departs for the delta, loaded with relief supplies and volunteers."

Win Min, an expert on Burmese national security who teaches at a university in northern Thailand, commented, "The monks have played a very significant role, beginning with the opening up of the temples in the delta to offer refuge for the victims ... This has certainly brought the monks and people closer. The monks have won the hearts of the people."

And so the strange shadow war that began one year ago with the army's brutal assault on monks in Pakkoku moves into a new phase. Already the regime is filling the cities with troops in case somebody has the idea of marking the anniversary of the monks' uprising. But even if it goes unmarked, the challenge of the sangha will not go away. The monks cannot and will not take up arms against the junta. As one monk on the Thai-Burmese border said to me last September, "To play a physically violent role would be far from our beliefs." But neither can a regime saturated with traditional religious ideas crush the sangha underfoot as it might wish.

A new message has appeared in Aung San Suu Kyi's garden, inscribed on a large signboard and visible to her neighbours. It appeared last month, on Martyrs' Day. The message was simple but cryptic: "All martyrs must finish their mission." Suu Kyi, in other words, will continue her resistance, and the monks must continue theirs. The struggle goes on.

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BURMA ACTION GROUP DEMANDS RELEASE OF JOURNALISTS
International Freedom of Expression eXchange (IFEX)
 (3 September 2008)

The Burma Action Group, made up of 22 members and partners of the International Freedom of Expression eXchange (IFEX), is appealing to international bodies to pressure for the immediate release of Burmese dissidents being held on "trumped up" charges by the Burmese junta.

Journalist Zaw Thet Htwe and the popular comedian-activist Zarganar were arrested in June, following their involvement in private relief efforts for victims of Cyclone Nargis, which hit Burma in May. On 15 August, both were charged, alongside seven other activists and dissidents, with a range of supposed offences.

"Clearly, the Burmese government is out to silence Zarganar and Zaw Thet Htwe. That is the real reason behind their arrest and trial," said Roby Alampay, executive director of SEAPA, a member of the Burma Action Group.

Both men had spoken out on the strife inside Burma in the wake of the cyclone. They face charges of violating the Unlawful Associations Act and "injuring or defiling place of worship with intent to insult religion". Zarganar is also accused of breaching Burma's Video Act and Sections of the Electronics Act, while Thet Htwe also faces a charge of "inducing crimes against public tranquillity" .

If found guilty Zarganar and Thet Htwe could face up to 15 years in prison.

Zarganar has been arrested five times since 1988. Thet Htwe was first arrested in 2003 for writing about corruption among sports authorities.

"The UN and ASEAN must adopt a harder stance against the Burmese junta, demanding the unconditional release of all political prisoners for starters, and more direct access to Burmese communities, " Alampay told Mizzima News.

"The target of the statement is actually the international community and the neighbours of Burma. The junta has a thick skin, and few have delusions that they can be reasoned with. But the international and regional communities must themselves be shamed into doing more to free the people of Burma," said Alampay.

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Ceasefire groups in Shan State face renewed pressure to surrender
Mizzima News - Solomon
Thursday, 04 September 2008 21:52

New Delhi - The Burmese ruling junta has mounted fresh pressure on ceasefire armed rebel groups in Shan State to surrender arms latest by the end of 2009, an ethnic news agency based in Thailand said.

The Shan Herald Agency for News' editor Khun Sai, citing sources in Shan state, said Brig. Gen Ya Pyae, commander of the eastern military command, during his visit to Ho Mong township in Shan State in August put pressure on ceasefire arm groups to lay down their arms before the 2010 elections.

"Last month, Commander Brig Gen Ya Pyae told ceasefire arm groups in Shan State to surrender before the end of 2009," Khun Sai said.

Besides, Khun Sai said local villagers who have fled to Thailand told him that Maj. Gen Kyaw Phyo, Commander of Kengtung Township has pressurised ceasefire groups from southern Shan State to surrender or join the Shan State Army-South (SSA-S), which has not signed a ceasefire agreement with the junta.

"He [Maj. Gen Kyaw Phyo] told armed groups that by 2009 there will be only two choices – either to surrender or regroup with the SSA-S," said Khun Sai, quoting local villagers.

However, Khun Sai said the armed groups are likely to try and avoid a situation of total surrender or laying down arms.

Meanwhile, the United Wa State Army (UWSA), a major ceasefire armed group, said they have not yet come across fresh pressure to surrender arms.

"So far we have not received any official statement from the Burmese government pressuring us to surrender arms," the UWSA spokesman told Mizzima.

The spokesperson, who requested anonymity, however, said his group has no plans to surrender or to lay down arms until there is visible justice and equality in the country.

"We want to resolve things peacefully, so there is likely to be more discussions between us and the government, but surrendering of arms is not possible," the spokesman said.

Similarly, the Kachin Independent Organization (KIO), one of the strongest Kachin ethnic ceasefire groups, also said they were not aware of any renewed pressure from the government to surrender arms.

Major Gun Maw, spokesperson of the KIO, said, "They [junta] did not tell us anything regarding arms surrender and we are not thinking about this issue right now."

He said there have been no thoughts in the KIO over the issue of changing the group's name or to surrender arms.

"This is not the kind of planning and we are not discussing it," Gun Maw added.

But Mya Maung, a Burmese military analyst based along the Sino-Burma border and having a close relationship with ceasefire groups said, pressuring the ceasefire groups to surrender might indicate the junta's intention to prove to the international community that it is able to bring peace to the country.

"Because the groups that it [the junta] has pressured are not strong enough to resist and the junta wants to use them, but just groups like the UWSA and KIO will be difficult to pressurise," Mya

He said it is unlikely that the junta will be able to pressure big groups such as the KIO or UWSA before 2010 general election, though it might be possible to do so after the election.

"If the junta forcibly orders them to surrender then the groups are likely to break their ceasefire agreements and wage an active armed struggle," Mya Maung said.

Mya Maung said, Burma's political crisis is about democracy as well as problems of nationalities and without solving these problems, the government will continue to face problems, and conflicts will remain.

"Suitable political reforms would mean forming a federal system where ethnic groups are guaranteed their rights. This is the only long-term solution to Burma's political problems," he added.

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Junta arrests two more activists
Mizzima News - Myint Maung
Thursday, 04 September 2008 21:19

New Delhi - In another round of crackdown on dissidence, Burmese military junta authorities in Rangoon on Wednesday arrested two political activists, an eyewitness told Mizzima.

Tin Myo Htut (alias) Kyaw Oo, a member of an underground activists group the Generation Wave, and another unidentified activist, were taken away by plainclothes police at about 7:30 a.m. (local time) on Wednesday, from near a teashop in Kamayut Township, Rangoon, the eyewitness said.

"I saw them being taken away by three plainclothes policemen from near the teashop," the eyewitness added.

Moe Thwin, spokesperson of the Generation Wave said Tin Myo Htut had informed him of his appointment with a friend near 'Amayh Ywa' Teashop.

"And when I called him yesterday, he did not speak but put it on, and I could hear other voices interrogating him over the phone," Moe Thwin said.

According to the eyewitness, the two activists were to meet at the teashop, but the police were lying in wait for them and whisked them away.

The Thailand based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) said though they are aware of the arrest of the Tin Myo Htut, they are still unable to garner details of the arrest.

"We heard of the arrest of Tin Myo Htut, but we are still following up on details about the arrest," said Bo Kyi, Joint Secretary of the AAPP.

On Wednesday, Generation Wave, in a statement called on the government to immediately release their members including Tin Myo Htut and vowed that despite the government's crackdown, it will continue its struggle for a change in Burma.

Tin Myo Htut, according to the Generation Wave, is a political activist who had participated in the 1988 pro-democracy uprising as a high school student and was arrested in 1992 and detained for five years.

However, another activist, who was arrested along with Tin Myo Htut has not been identified as yet.

Generation Wave, mostly known as GW, was formed with students and young activists in October last year following the Saffron Revolution. However, the group remain underground and operated secretly in order to avoid attention by authorities.

Despite of their secret operation and networking, the junta in March arrested four key members including Zeya Thaw (alias) Kyaw Kyaw, who is the lead vocalist of Burma's popular hip-hop band Acid group.

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AIPMC Appeals to Surin, Ban Ki-moon to Visit Suu Kyi
The Irrawaddy - By SAW YAN NAING
Thursday, September 4, 2008

A rights advocacy group within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) has appealed to the heads of both Asean and the UN to visit Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and check on her health.

Roshan Jason, executive director of the group, the Asean Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus (AIPMC), told The Irrawaddy on Thursday that letters had gone to Asean Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon asking them to make a personal assessment of Suu Kyi’s condition—“Not just her physical health but also her emotional [state of mind].”

The letter told Surin and Ban: “We remind you that her continued well-being is vital for a peaceful resolution of the conflict in Burma.”

Suu Kyi’s political party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), says she has been refusing supplies of food to her home since mid-August, but there is no indication that she is on a hunger strike. Her lawyer said after visiting her this week that she has lost weight and is tired but otherwise appears to be in good health.

Suu Kyi has spent more than 13 of the past 19 years under house arrest.

The AIPMC letter reminded Surin that he had described Asean as a “tapestry of hope,” and said that Burma was a part of this tapestry. The AIPMC urged Surin to act to ensure the tapestry did not unravel.

Jason said Asean had acknowledged receipt of the letter, but nothing had been heard yet from the UN. The two bodies appeared to think Suu Kyi was not “relevant in the democracy process,” he said.

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Red paint campaign commemorates protests

Sep 4, 2008 (DVB)–Activists have sprayed red paint on the walls of various public building in Rangoon, reportedly to commemorate last year’s September protests and their violent suppression by the military regime.

Red paint began to appear on 2 September in Lanmadaw and Pabedan townships on the walls of the Sanpya cinema, Thayettaw monastery, and the Theinggyi market overpass but was deleted by armed security personnel within hours, according to an eyewitness.

"They erased them straight away and made it match the original colour,” the witness said.

“Some of them were in civilian clothing and some were wearing the uniforms of the security forces."

Given the timing of the red paint campaign, the witness said it seemed to be intended to coincide with the one-year anniversary of the Saffron Revolution as a reminder to people not to forget the monks.

"It could happen again. I am hearing a lot of different voices; people are not very satisfied,” the witness said.

The witness said that an army truck was parked at city hall and vehicles carrying security forces armed with shields and batons were patrolling the city.

A journalist in Rangoon said the demonstrations and subsequent violent crackdown would be remembered as part of popular history.

"This history will never disappear. People won't forget the Saffron Revolution,” he said.

“People might disappear, but history stays with us – you can't kill it."

Last September’s mass public demonstrations led by monks, students and civilians were brutally suppressed by the Burmese regime.

The former United Nations special rapporteur on human rights in Burma, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, said that at least 31 people were killed, though other estimates put the number much higher.

Thousands more were arrested, many of whom remain in detention or are awaiting trial.

Reporting by Htet Yarzar

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USDA candidates for 2010 election shortlisted

Sep 4, 2008 (DVB)–A list of three candidates for the 2010 election from Yezagyo township, Magwe division, has been sent to the Union Solidarity and Development Association headquarters, according to sources close to the association.

The discussion of prospective candidates comes at a time when pro-democracy groups are continuing to protest against the proposed 2010 election.

Yezagyo township Peace and Development Council chairman U Mya Ngwe and his team held consultations in early August and selected five possible candidates and then narrowed it down to the final three.

The three selected are Kan Pwint incense business owner U Aung Than, Aung Theiddit incense business owner U Aung San and National Convention farmers’ representative U Tin Maung Kyaw.

District USDA working member U Lu Min and Mahethi rice mill owner U Myint Thein, the two other potential candidates, were rejected by the committee.

USDA secretary U Kyaw Swe reportedly also wanted to be considered as a candidate was but was not included on the shortlist.

The relationship between Mya Ngwe and Kyaw Swe is said by locals to be strained, and his exclusion is likely to exacerbate tensions between the local PDC and the USDA.

Relations between the two took a recent downturn when brigadier-general Thein Zaw, minister for post and telecommunications, came to Yezagyo after the constitutional referendum in May, and allocated 400 phones for distribution.

Kyaw Swe requested 100 phones for his USDA members, but his request was refused by Mya Ngwe.

Mya Ngwe also used his clout and the help of 19 of the town’s power holders to push for his preferred candidates.

Businessman U Aung Than, one of the nominees, raised 4 million kyat, 2.5 million of which he contributed from his own pocket, and went to the capital Naypyidaw to lobby for the procurement of phones.

When the deputy post and telecommunications minister came to Yezagyo, he inspected the prospect of phone installation and allocated 20 phones for his home town, Myaing.

He also awarded one of the phones to U Htay Hlaing, the owner of Tawtharlay jaggery factory, and another to the son of a businessman called U Tin, who had looked after him when he was a schoolboy.

Reporting by Aye Nai

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