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HEADLINES
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AFP - Nine monks jailed in Myanmar: opposition
Detroit Free Press - 14 more Myanmar activists sentenced to jail
EARTHtimes.org - Myanmar journalist gets two years for covering cyclone protest
IHT - Severe prison sentences for Myanmar protesters expected in coming months
Amnesty International - Harsh sentences for Myanmar dissidents
AsiaNews.it - Burmese regime continues repression against monks and dissidents
Asian Tribune - Burmese junta’s action to sentencing 61 democracy activists deplored
The Canberra Times - Asian giants drawn into energy row
Mizzima News - Spirits undeterred despite harsh punishments: NLD youth
Mizzima News - Palpable tension between Burma-Bangladesh on border
The Irrawaddy - Win Tin, NLD Executive Member, Ill
DVB News - Landslides kill 13 in northeast Burma's Shan-Palaung region

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Nine monks jailed in Myanmar: opposition
Fri Nov 14, 12:22 am ET

YANGON (AFP) – Nine Buddhist monks were jailed for between six and eight years by courts in Myanmar this week for taking part in last year's anti-junta protests, an opposition party spokesman said Friday.

At least 14 members of Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party (NLD) were also given prison sentences of four to 10 years, said party spokesman Nyan Win.

Rights groups say Myanmar has intensified efforts to curb dissent ahead of elections in 2010 with a string of heavy sentences handed down to activists this week over the demonstrations in August and September 2007.

"Four monks were sentenced to eight years imprisonment each" at court hearings on Thursday, Nyan Win told AFP, without giving further details.

Also on Thursday, 11 NLD members from the commercial hub of Yangon were jailed for seven-and-a- half years each and another three were given sentences of four to 10 years, he said.

Nyan Win said five other monks arrested in September last year from Ngwe Kyar Yan monastery in Yangon were sentenced to six-and-a-half years each on Tuesday at the notorious Insein prison on the outskirts of the city.

The Myanmar protests began as small rallies in August 2007 against the rising cost of living, but escalated into huge demonstrations led by Buddhist monks that posed the biggest challenge to junta rule in nearly two decades.

At least 31 people were killed when security forces cracked down on the protesters, according to the United Nations. Hundreds more activists remain in jail, rights groups say.

The latest sentences bring to around 50 the number of activists sentenced to jail by courts in Myanmar this week in a major crackdown, including a prominent blogger and a leading poet, a western diplomat in Yangon said.

The five monks sentenced on Tuesday were included in the numbers earlier announced by relatives and opposition figures, although it was not known until Friday that they were monks.

Many of those jailed this week were former students who led an uprising in 1988 and then took part in the August protests, most of whom received sentences of 65 years each.

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14 more Myanmar activists sentenced to jail
Detroit Free Press - ASSOCIATED PRESS • November 14, 2008

YANGON, Myanmar-- Courts in military-ruled Myanmar sentenced 14 members of the opposition National League for Democracy party to lengthy prison terms today, bringing to more than 50 the number of pro-democracy activists jailed his week.

The United Nations, Western nations and human rights groups expressed concern after sentences of 65 years each were given to 14 activists Tuesday. They included members of the 88 Generation Students group who played prominent roles ahead of mass pro-democracy protests that were violently crushed last year.

"It's no secret that Burma's military rulers show no respect for law, but these last few weeks show a more concentrated crackdown on dissent clearly aimed at intimidating the population," said Elaine Pearson, deputy Asia director at the New York-based group Human Rights Watch. Myanmar is also known by its former name Burma.

"These peaceful activists should not be on trial in the first place, let alone thrown in prison for years after unfair trials," Pearson said in a statement.

At least 14 National League for Democracy members were given prison sentences ranging from 2½ years to 16 years in different courts today, said party spokesman Nyan Win said.

More than 50 people, including 30 NLD party members, were given long sentences on various charges this week, he said. Many were arrested in connection to protests against economic hardship and monk-led pro-democracy demonstrations in August and September 2007.

Nine Buddhist monks were given six to eight year jail terms this week, Nyan Win said.

The army used force last December to quash the demonstrations. According to U.N. estimates, at least 31 people were killed and thousands of protesters detained. Many fled the country or went underground.

The human rights group Amnesty International and other organizations say Myanmar's generals now hold more than 2,100 political prisoners, compared with nearly 1,200 in June 2007 before the pro-democracy demonstrations.

The prisoners include Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, head of the National League of Democracy, who has spent years under house arrest.

Also condemned this week were a prominent blogger, who received more than 20 years in jail for Internet activities, and a poet sentenced to two years for concealing the text of an anti-government slogan in one of his works.

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Myanmar journalist gets two years for covering cyclone protest
Posted : Fri, 14 Nov 2008 12:00:59 GMT
EARTHtimes.org - Author : DPA

Yangon- A young female journalist who attempted to cover a protest by a group of Myanmar's Cyclone Nargis victims was sentenced to two years in prison Friday, legal sources confirmed. Eine Khaing Oo, 21, was arrested on June 10when she tried to cover a rare protest in front of the head office of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Yangon by a group of Nargis-victims from South Dagon Township, a new satellite town for the poor.

Tamwe Township Court found Eine Khaing Oo undermining national security.

She had worked as a junior reporter for Eco Vision magazine for two weeks prior to her detention, media sources said.

Myanmar, which has been under military rule since 1962, is notoriously lacking in a free press.

The ruling regime was harshly criticized by the international community for impeding the inflow of aid to victims of Cyclone Nargis, which smashed in to Myanmar's Irrawaddy delta on May 2-3, leaving about 140,000 dead or missing.

The junta was reluctant to allow a massive inflow of foreign aid workers to the cyclone devastated region because of its long-held dread of outsiders and its cynical goal to push through a national referendum on a pro-military constitution that happened to be scheduled for mid-May.

Authorities refused to postpone the referendum, despite suffering the worst natural catastrophe in recent history.

On Friday, the Tamwe Township Court also sentenced Kyaw Kyaw Thant, the leader of the cyclone protest, to seven years in jail, and Win Myint, who had posted a letter complaining of the junta's poor relief efforts, to two years in jail, lawyers said.

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Severe prison sentences for Myanmar protesters expected in coming months
The International Herald Tribune
Published: November 14, 2008

BANGKOK: The 65-year prison sentences handed down this week to anti-government demonstrators in Myanmar are only the beginning of a series of verdicts expected in the coming months against hundreds more political prisoners, according to exile groups tracking the trials.

Of the 1,037 people arrested for political activities over the past 15 months, three-quarters of them - 788 to be exact - have yet to go before a judge or complete their trial, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a group based in Thailand.

Among those awaiting verdicts are protesters arrested for their involvement in the demonstrations of September 2007 that were led by Buddhist monks, including U Gambira, a monk who faces 50 years in prison. Zarganar, one of the country's best known comedians who supplied the monks with food, water and other supplies, is still in detention as well. He also faces up to 50 years in prison.

In a country where owning an unauthorized mobile phone or distributing a homemade video without government clearance can land you in jail, judges are using a raft of laws to justify harsh sentences.

The government of Myanmar, also known as Burma, is resorting to laws covering the use of personal electronics, because such infractions are easy to prove, said Sean Turnell, an expert on Burmese politics with Macquarie University in Sydney. In the past the government relied more heavily on laws dating to the British colonial days involving such charges as treason or sedition.

Zarganar has been charged with, among other offenses, violation of the Electronic Transactions Law, which carries a maximum 15-year prison sentence for anyone who uses technology like the Internet to distribute information "detrimental to the interest of or that lowers the dignity of any organization or any person."

The government has also charged many protesters with violating the Video Act, which carries a three-year prison sentence for anyone convicted of "copying, distributing, hiring or exhibiting video tape that has no video censor certificate. "

Turnell says the use of these laws against protesters also seems to confirm the degree to which the generals were alarmed when protesters used the Internet and satellite phones, which are banned in the country, to broadcast images of the protest around the globe.

"They were really spooked by the method of protest as much as the protest itself," Turnell said.

The generals see technology as something "that the opposition possesses and that they don't," he said.

With a government as secretive as that of Myanmar - the trials of protesters are being held inside a prison without defense lawyers or family present - it is impossible to know why judges have handed down such unusually long prison sentences.

It is also unclear why the government waited until a few months ago to begin the trials.

Aung Din, a former political prisoner in Myanmar who is now executive director of the U.S. Campaign for Burma in Washington, an advocacy group, said the government was attempting to eliminate all potential opposition before a new Constitution takes effect in 2010.

"This was their message to other activists: We are going to arrest you guys and imprison you for many, many years," Aung Din said.

But the government may also be concerned about more immediate problems.

Revenue from the natural gas that Myanmar sells to Thailand is falling fast, in line with global oil and gas prices.

Turnell estimates that gas revenue has fallen about 25 percent. This year Thailand will pay a projected $3.5 billion for the Myanmar gas, about half of which goes to the generals. But shrinking payments from Thailand will reduce the amount of foreign currency the generals have and hurt their ability to buy military equipment or push ahead with the continuing construction of their new capital, Naypyidaw.

Analysts theorize that these harsh prison sentences may reflect a defensive crouch on the part of the generals in light of these unfavorable economic conditions.

The 14 activists who this week received sentences of 65 years were arrested in August 2007 as they marched in the street protesting high fuel prices, a demonstration that preceded the monk-led protests.

But 65 years is not the final verdict; they are awaiting judgment on a number of additional alleged infractions, including violation of the Video Act and the Printers and Publishers Registration Act, which requires that the government approve all books, films, magazines and songs before publication.

"We think they will receive a total of at least 150 years in prison each," Aung Din said.

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Harsh sentences for Myanmar dissidents
Amnesty International - 13 November 2008

Fourteen dissidents, who took part in the 2007 anti-government demonstrations in Myanmar, were sentenced to 65 years' imprisonment each on Tuesday 11 November. The sentences were handed down at a closed-door hearing in Yangon's Insein prison. On the same day the authorities sentenced another 27 people for their protest activities.

Three of those sentenced are Min Zeya, Kyaw Min Yu (also known as Ko Jimmy), and Ko Jimmy's wife, Nilar Thein. They are prominent 88 Generation Students group leaders - former student activists who spearheaded the pro-democracy uprising in Myanmar 20 years ago.

They were sentenced for their involvement in the 2007 demonstrations, popularly known as the "Saffron Revolution". These protests began on 19 August 2007 as small-scale marches against sudden state-imposed fuel price rises, but quickly grew in size and significance. Later tens of thousands of protesters added calls for the release of all political prisoners and demanded an end to the long-standing political impasse through a process of national reconciliation. The authorities brought the protests to an end with a violent crackdown in late September 2007.

"In the midst of its so-called 'Roadmap to Democracy', the government of Myanmar reveals its true intentions by sentencing these dissidents for nothing more than peacefully expressing their views during last year's demonstrations, " said Benjamin Zawacki, Amnesty International' s Myanmar researcher.

The sentences are a clear example that Myanmar's military government is ignoring calls by the international community to clean up its human rights record. They also belie the government’s claims that its new constitution and plans for elections in 2010 are genuine efforts toward increasing political participation.

The other dissidents sentenced for their involvement in the "Saffron Revolution" are Mie Mie, Zaw Zaw Min, Than Tin (also known as Kyi Than), Zayya (also known as Kalama), Ant Bwe Kyaw, Kyaw Kyaw Htwe (also known as Marky), Pannate Tun, Thet Zaw, Mar Mar Oo, Sandar Min (also known as Shwe), and Thet Thet Aung.

Also sentenced on 11 November was labour activist Su Su Nway, who was sentenced to 12 years and six months’ imprisonment for her role in last year’s demonstrations. The day before, blogger Nay Phone Latt, received a jail term of 20 years and six months for, among other offences, showing disrespect for Senior General Than Shwe in his blog.

More than 2,100 political prisoners are currently behind bars in Myanmar. At least another 23 members of the 88 Generation Students group are on trial in Myanmar, including prominent dissidents Min Ko Naing, Htay Kywe, and Ko Ko Gyi. They are expected to be sentenced soon.

"These sentences and the ongoing trials should disabuse anyone of the notion that the Myanmar government has any intention of honouring its assurances to the United Nations that it would improve its human rights record and increase political participation. It knows only repression," said Benjamin Zawacki.

Min Zeya
A leading activist in the 88 Generation Students group, 40-year-old Min Zeya was arrested along with 12 other activists on 21 August 2007 after organising the first protests against the fuel price increases. Min Zeya was chairperson of the All Burma Students' Union Reconstruction Committee which was founded after the 1988 pro-democracy uprising. He was arrested in August 1989 and later sentenced to eight years' imprisonment after being accused of leading an underground network. After his release in October 1995, he was detained on three other occasions before he was again re-arrested in August 2007.

Kyaw Min Yu
Also known as Ko Jimmy, Kyaw Min Yu was arrested together with Min Zeya on 21 August for his role in the fuel price protests. He had been previously imprisoned between early 1990 and July 2005 for his pro-democracy activities. The 39-year-old served two separate sentences during this time; he was given a second sentence after he was accused of involvement in plans to distribute news from overseas broadcasts within Insein Prison, and to contact the United Nations Human Rights Commission about conditions in the prison. He was tortured during his imprisonment.

Nilar Thein
Along with her husband Kyaw Min Yu, 36-year-old Nilar Thein is a leading activist in the 88 Generation Students group. Nilar Thein had been previously detained for two months in 1991. In December 1996 she was again arrested for participating in student demonstrations in Yangon. She was later sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment.

Mie Mie
A high school student when she took part in the 1988 uprising, 38-year-old Mie Mie was arrested on 13 October 2007 as the authorities searched for the organisers of the major anti-government protests. She was forced into hiding after leading a women's movement march together with Nilar Thein on 22 August 2007, one day after 13 leaders of the 88 Generation Students group were arrested for their role in the protests. Whilst in hiding, she continued to support the protesters through solidarity appeals and interviews with international media.

Mie Mie was detained for four months in 1989 because of her political activities. During the student demonstrations in 1996, she was arrested and sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment. She has not received adequate treatment for her health problems in detention.

Thet Thet Aung
A member of the 88 Generation Students group, 31-year-old Thet Thet Aung was arrested on 19 October 2007. Her mother and mother-in-law were arbitrarily detained by the authorities, seemingly to intimidate and pressure Thet Thet Aung to turn herself in.

Nay Phone Latt
The owner of two internet cafés in Yangon, Nay Phone Latt was arrested in Yangon on 29 January 2008 in possession of a video that was banned by the military government. The 28-year-old also kept a blog (http://www. nayphonelatt. net/) in which he wrote about the difficulties that young Burmese people faced in the aftermath of the September 2007 protests.

Su Su Nway
A member of the youth wing of the main opposition party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), Su Su Nway was arrested on 13 November 2007, during a UN visit to Myanmar to investigate the September 2007 crackdown. The 36-year-old was arrested after attempting to put up leaflets near the hotel where a UN investigator was staying.

Su Su Nway had previously been imprisoned after successfully taking legal action against village authorities over their use of forced labour. The officials concerned received prison terms, following which Su Su Nway was charged with criminal intimidation and sentenced to 18 months in jail in October 2005. She was later released in June 2006. She suffers from a long-term heart condition and has not received adequate treatment for her health problems while in detention.

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Burmese regime continues repression against monks and dissidents
AsiaNews.it - 11/14/2008 10:50
MYANMAR

Nine religious have been condemned to sentences that vary between six to eight years in prison. NLD spokesman confirms charges against 14 members of the opposition and announces fresh arrests. The military crack down aims to “dissuade” criticism of the regime ahead of the 2010 elections.

Yangon (AsiaNews/Agencies) – Nine religious have been condemned to sentences that vary between six to eight years in prison reports Nyan Win, National League for Democracy (NLD) spokesman, explaining that they have been charged with taking part in the September 2007 protests against the military regime.  He has also confirmed that 14 members of Myanmar’s opposition party, led by Noble Aung San Suu Kyi, have been sentenced to between 4 and 10 years in prison.

The sentences passed in recent days, which according to local sources amount to 50 since Monday November 10th, confirm a fresh military crack down by Burma’s ruling junta against dissidents.

According to one diplomatic source based in Myanmar, this new wave of repression aims to “dissuade” all calls for democracy in the nation ahead of the political elections set for 2010.

“Fourteen members of the NLD and four monks – confirms Nyan Win – were condemned yesterday [Thursday 13 November]. The monks have been sentenced to eight years of prison”.  A further five monks from the Ngwe Kyar Yan monastery in Yangon, were instead sentenced to six and a half years in prison.  On the very same day the Insein court prison emitted a sentence of 65 years of prison for a total of 14 dissidents from the “88 generation” – five women among them – because of their battle in favour of democracy during the “saffron revolution” of September 2007.  “There will be further punishment” refers Nyan Win, warning “increate pressures on political militants and heavy threats for the population”.

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Burmese junta’s action to sentencing 61 democracy activists deplored
Fri, 2008-11-14 11:54

Washington, DC, 14 November, (Asiantribune. com): U.S. Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas), Co-Chairs of the Senate Women’s Caucus on Burma, condemned the recent harsh and unjust sentencing of 61 democracy activists by Burma’s ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC). Senators Feinstein and Hutchison also urged the military junta to release all political prisoners, including democratic leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Following is the joint statement issued by Senators Feinstein and Hutchison, deploring the junta’s recent actions:

"As co-chairs of the Senate Women’s Caucus on Burma, we strongly condemn the recent harsh and unjust sentencing of democracy activists by Burma’s military regime.

These sentences set a new standard for repression in Burma.

According to news reports, in the past two weeks alone, the junta has sentenced more than 60 democracy activists in closed, secret trials -- without legal representation -- for their participation in last year’s Saffron Revolution.

The severe and disproportionate sentences range from two years for a poem tinged with political satire to up to 65 years for peaceful protests. And from all indications, it appears that the junta continues to dole out additional sentences by the day.

Among the sentences:

• The popular Burmese blogger, Nay Phone Latt, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for his web postings reporting the September 2007 demonstrations.
• 14 democratic activists, including members of the opposition party, the National League for Democracy, and the‘88 Generation Students’ group, were sentenced to prison terms of 65 years each for nonviolent offenses, including holding foreign currency without permission and lacking permits for various types of ordinary electronic equipment.
• Five Buddhist monks from the Ngwe Kyar Yan Monastery were sentenced to six and a half years in prison each for their participation in the protests;
• A well-known poet, Saw Wai, was sentenced to two years imprisonment for publishing a satirical poem which mocked the junta’s despotic ruler, General Than Shwe;
• A prominent labor activist, Ma Su Su Nway, was sentenced to 12 years and 6 months in prison for peaceful protests;
• Additionally, lawyers for several of the activists were themselves arrested and sentenced last week for contempt of court.

It is estimated by international human rights groups that the military regime now holds more than 2,100 political prisoners. That’s nearly double the level held prior to the ‘Saffron Revolution’ demonstrations.

These latest actions demonstrate not only the military regime’s utmost contempt for justice and democracy, but their steadfast determination to block meaningful democratic change for the people of Burma.

We urge UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to move forward swiftly with his proposed visit to Burma next month to secure the release of all political prisoners in Burma, including Nobel Peace Prize recipient Aung San Suu Kyi. The time for political reconciliation is long overdue in Burma."

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Asian giants drawn into energy row
MATT WADE SOUTH-EAST ASIA CORRESPONDENT
The Canberra Times - 15/11/2008 1:00:01 AM

BANGLADESH and Burma are not renowned for gunboat diplomacy but a bizarre naval stand-off over a potentially rich oil and gas deposit in the Bay of Bengal has soured relations between the impoverished Asian neighbours.

The confrontation, which took place last week, has sparked a flurry of diplomatic exchanges to prevent the dispute escalating.

The foreign affairs ministers of Bangladesh and Burma held urgent talks on the sidelines of a regional summit in the Indian capital, New Delhi, on Wednesday to help calm tensions. The discussion was described as "cordial' but talks have so far been inconclusive.

Meanwhile, there are reports that troops on both sides of the 320-kilometre Bangladesh-Burma border have been put on high alert.

The trouble started when Rangoon dispatched two naval ships to escort oil exploration vessels owned by the South Korean company Daewoo to an area about 50 kilometres south of Bangladesh's Saint Martin Island. Both countries claim the waters as their own.

When the Bangladesh Navy detected the Burmese ships it sent a patrol into the area. No shots were fired but the vessels from the two countries' navies watched one another warily.

Rangoon initially summoned the Bangladesh ambassador to protest and refused to withdraw the exploration equipment. Dhaka then turned to China, which has close links to the military junta in Burma, to help resolve the row. Both countries eventually withdrew their military vessels when Rangoon said it would "pause" exploration in the area.

Bangladesh then sent its top foreign affairs official to Burma to discuss the problem.

Several international maritime boundaries in the Bay of Bengal are contested because of its curved shape. Bangladesh and Burma both insist on different methods to draw their sea boundary and a formal demarcation has never been settled.

The scramble for energy resources has highlighted this problem. Experts think the Bay of Bengal is rich in oil and gas so Bangladesh and Burma - two of Asia's poorest countries - are desperate to gain as much of this potential resource as they can.

Burma exported nearly $US3 billion ($4.6 billion) worth of gas last year, much of it to China, and this revenue has helped insulate the junta from the effects of international sanctions.

The dispute has also focused attention on competition between India and China for influence in the Bay of Bengal.

Bangladesh's decision to seek Chinese help to resolve the dispute emphasised Beijing's clout with the Burmese Government as well as its growing presence in the region. China is also Bangladesh's biggest trading partner.

Jabin Jacob, a research fellow at Delhi's Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies said India's "sphere of influence" in the Bay of Bengal region is being challenged by China.

However, the dispute might also highlight Chinese limitations, he said.

"This might end up playing into India's hands because it will be very difficult for the Chinese to find a solution. There's not that much China can do about it."

Dr Jacob said the preference of both China and India to maintain stability in the region meant the conflict was likely to be contained.

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Spirits undeterred despite harsh punishments: NLD youth
Mizzima News - by Solomon
Friday, 14 November 2008 22:41

New Delhi - Despite the recent sentencing of dissidents to long prison terms, youth members of Burma's main opposition party – National League for Democracy – said they are undeterred in their beliefs and that their commitment to fight for democracy remains undeterred.

Over the last week, Burma's military junta has sentenced numerous detained dissidents – students, activists, monks, writers, journalists and even poets – to lengthy prison terms.

On Monday, a special court in Rangoon's Insein prison handed down verdicts to fourteen "88 Generation Students" of 65 years of imprisonment each, while sentencing several other activists, including members of the NLD, from two years to 20 years.

The Insein court and several other township courts in Rangoon, throughout the week, continued to sentence youth members of the NLD as well as other activists, with at least another 14 sentenced from two to 16 years on Friday.

Ko Pauk, an NLD youth member in Rangoon, said the junta's decision to sentence several of his colleagues to long prison terms is a big blow to the democracy movement, but that it will not deter him and his other colleagues, who are still free, from continuing activities that they believe will help to restore democracy in Burma.

"We have been prepared for this kind of situation, we knew it would happen one day so we have nothing to worry about because it cannot overrun our spirit," Ko Pauk told Mizzima by telephone.

He said that despite the government's continued repression, he and his colleagues are ready to carry on the fight internally, and are prepared to face the consequences that they might have to pay if arrested by the junta.

Following the junta's bloody crackdown on protestors in September 2007, the junta stepped-up its crackdown on activists, arresting hundreds of activists and detaining them over the course of the past year.

Though the junta had previously charged many acitivist under various acts, including an electronic act to the most popular act of inciting people to threaten national security, until recently it had not sentenced most activists.

Ko Pauk said the sentencing of several activists to long prison terms in recent days could be a move to isolate key activists before its planned election in 2010.

The junta previously announced that it is moving forward on its roadmap to democracy and will conduct a general election in 2010. But critics and opposition groups speculate that the junta is determined to win the election by any means possible in an effort to legitimize its rule.

One of the junta's strategies, along such lines, is to determine the results of the election through the elimination of opposition forces, critics say.

"By sentencing activists to long prison terms they [the junta] want to weaken the opposition so that there will be no obstacles for them," said Ko Pauk.

According to the Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners-Burma (AAPP-B), at least 400 members of the NLD are languishing in prisons across the country.

The list of political prisoners drastically increased following the monk-led demonstrations in September 2007, from a previous population of some 1,100 to presently over 2,100.

Myint Myint Aye, secretary of the NLD in Meikthilar in central Burma, said they are praying at the pagodas for the release of political prisoners, fearing for their lives.

"They [the junta] are acting in exact opposition to what they claim about reforming the country," she said.

She said the NLD needs to reconstitute itself as a stronger force to continue its fight for democracy, as the party has a responsibility to bring change to the country.

A one-time political prisoner, she said she knows the difficult situation that she had to go through in the prisons, but, she said, she is ready to go on with the fight and her spirit is stronger than ever.

Another youth member of the NLD said despite the junta's continued repression they are not dismayed and will continue to do whatever actions they can do.

"When we talk about the recent events [sentencing of activists to long prison terms], I can see that none of us feels depressed, but instead all of us are angrier and more determined to continue the fight," a youth from Rangoon, who wished not to be identified, said.

He said, "The government is proving its injustice and people have witnessed it. So, we are not afraid and will continue…come what may."

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Palpable tension between Burma-Bangladesh on border
Mizzima News - by Salai Pi Pi
Friday, 14 November 2008 23:38

New Delhi - Despite the withdrawal of warships from the disputed waters in the Bay of Bengal, both Burma and Bangladesh have beefed up security along its land border, as talks between the two countries to ease tension are yet to yield fruit, sources said. Troop build up on the border by both sides is in evidence.

With South Korean company Daewoo moving out of the disputed territorial waters, where it had been test drilling, Bangladesh withdrew its warships from the region, a Bangladesh naval official told Mizzima.

In a reciprocal gesture Burma also called off two of its naval vessels that were despatched to keep an eye on Daewoo rigs.

"Since both sides are trying to resolve the problem through diplomatic channels, the warships from both sides were withdrawn from the disputed waters," the official, who is based at the Chittagong Naval port of Bangladesh, told Mizzima over telephone.

However, with the talks inconclusive, the two countries have stepped-up security along its land boundary, according to an Editor of the Dhaka based The Daily Star online news service.

"Tension exists… troops are deployed on the land border and the situation is one of aggression," the editor told Mizzima.

Tension between the two countries were triggered off last week, when Burma sent two of its warships to escort and support Daewoo in its work at the AD-7 block in the Bay of Bengal. Bangladesh protested immediately saying the AD-7 falls within its maritime boundary and demanded that all gas exploration activities by Burma be halted.

Bangladesh also sent its foreign secretary to Burma to talk with the military generals in a bid to resolve the issue diplomatically. However, Burma rejected Bangladesh's claim and said the area in which Daewoo and its naval ships had been deployed were in its territorial waters.

Bangladesh's Foreign Adviser Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury and Burmese Foreign Minister Nyan Win also took time off to meet on the sidelines of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Corporation (BIMSTEC) meeting held in New Delhi between November 11 and 13.

Though the talks were described as 'cordial' the two ministers failed to come to an agreement. But both agreed to continue high-level talks on the issue and agreed to resolve it diplomatically.

The tension between the two countries eased somewhat when on November 8, Daewoo removed its rigs from the AD-7 block.

D.S. Kim, an official from Daewoo International Corporation office in Rangoon, told Mizzima that Daewoo on November 8, pulled out of the AD-7, saying it had completed the test drilling at the site and are moving on to another site.

"We have already moved to another site A-3 and have finished drilling in there [AD-7]," Kim said.

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Win Tin, NLD Executive Member, Ill
The Irrawaddy - By SAW YAN NAING
Friday, November 14, 2008

Win Tin, 79, a central executive committee member of the National League for Democracy (NLD), had an asthma attack on Friday morning and is resting at home, according to a close friend in Rangoon.
 
Maung Maung Khin, told The Irrawaddy on Friday, “He was not able to go to the office today. We will ask the doctor to give him a medical check tomorrow.” 

Soon after he was released from Insein Prison in Rangoon on September 23, Win Tin, a veteran journalist who served 19 years in prison, again took up his work at the NLD.

He suffered from heart and prostate problems while in prison, where authorities refused to provide him with proper medical care.

Win Tin, who was a senior adviser to detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, was arrested in 1989 on a series of charges ranging from publishing anti-government propaganda and to instigation of civil disobedience.   

He was actively involved in the 1988 pro-democracy uprising and previously served as editor of the influential newspaper Hanthawaddy and as a vice-chairman of the Bermese Writers’ Union.

In October, U Lwin, 86, secretary of the NLD, suffered a stroke, and the NLD’s chairman, Aung Shwe, 91, contracted a serious case of the flu.  

In October, more than 100 NLD youth members resigned, complaining that they weren’t allowed to participate in decision-making. Some critics have charged that the opposition group’s leadership is aging and falling behind in creating new, innovative strategies to counter the military government’s push for national elections under a newly approved constitution designed to keep the military in control of the country.

The NLD won a landslide victory in multi-party elections in 1990. The current Burmese regime led by Snr-Gen Than Shwe ignored the results of the election and refused to transfer power.

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Landslides kill 13 in northeast Burma's Shan-Palaung region

Nov 14, 2008 (DVB)-Landslides caused by heavy rains in northern Shan State's Palaung tea growing region killed more than 10 people, at the end of October.

Floods caused by continuous rains also destroyed farmlands and tea plantations, according to non-government organizations.

Lwe Nwe Hnaung, information coordinator of Thailand-based Palaung Women Organisation told DVB 13 tea plantation workers from Pan Yaung, Lwe Mon and Taw Nay villages in Mong Ton township were killed while they were asleep during the night.

"The villagers were sleeping in huts when the landslides occurred, so they had no time to escape," said Lwe Nwe Hnaung.

"Some tea plantations and rice farms were also destroyed by floods caused by the landslides."

She added local villagers have been unable to receive help from the government and the NGOs since they live in very remote areas.

Mai Phone Kyaw, a leader of Palaung Youth Network Group, said hundreds of acres of farms and tea plantations could be destroyed.

Reporting by Peter Aung

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