"With full endurance and without surrendering our arms, we will solidify the unity of the Mons and hereby declare to struggle with determination, together with the people of other ethnic nationalities, for the restoration of democracy and human rights in the country, in accordance with the programme laid down for our freedom," said the statement issued by the NMSP central committee. "... work beneficial to the party as well as to the general public would be carried out in consultation with Slorc. For the development of Mon areas, in some cases, joint ventures between the [NMSP] party and Slorc would be arranged, while in other cases, it would be done between the party and the private sector," the release said. The NMSP and Slorc began their peace talks in December 1993 but they became deadlocked as Rangoon repeatedly rejected the ethnic group's demands for control over certain areas. An extended lull followed Burmese attacks in July 1994 against Mon refugee camps on the Thai-Burmese border, before both sides agreed to meet in June. Unexpectedly, both sides came to a compromise in their fourth and last round of talks last month at the Mon state capital of Moulmein and agreed to a ceasefire. "With a view to unify the Mon people ... acceptance of dialogue with representatives of Slorc was made. After our forth round of talks an amicable agreement was reached resulting in a ceasefire ceremony on 29 June, 1995," statement said. In the agreement, the NMSP was allowed to keep its army, weapons and 20 of its areas it controls in Mergui, Tavoy, Moulmein and Thaton districts. Civilians and villagers would be able to freely travel in and out of the areas. ===== item ===== TRADERS DEFYING CALL FOR THAI BOYCOTT ARE PUNISHED BY BURMA 100 forced to work for soldiers THe Nation/21.7.95 Reuter SCORES of small traders in northern Burma have been punished for ignoring a call to boycott products from neighbouring Thailand, their Thai counterparts said yesterday. Thai traders in the northern Thai town of Mae Sai, opposite northern Burma's Shan state, said as many as 100 traders from Burma have been punished after returning from Thailand with Thai products. One day last week 60 people were arrested but they were given only light punishment. They were forced to work for the soldiers in their camp for one day," one Thai trader told reuter by telephone. Several days later about 40 traders were arrested as they crossed back into Burma from Thailand. They were given similar punishment and threatened with fines of Bt2,000 if they repeated the offence, the trader said. Burma closed the main border crossing between Mae Sai and the northern Burmese town of Tachilek after Shan guerrillas raided the town in March. Burma's military government accused Thailand of assisting the rebels, which Thailand denies. The Burmese traders arrested last week slipped across a small border river to make their purchases in Thailand. Meanwhile, a Thai diplomat based in Rangoon told traders in another Thai border town affected by the Burmese boycott call that he believed the campaign was initiated at the local level and was not affecting trade between the two nations. Commercial attache Sriwat Suwan told a trade seminar in the Thai border town of Mae Sot on Wednesday that he believed the boycott campaign was not Burmese government policy. "Only a few leaflets [calling for a boycott' were found and I believe they have nothing to do with the central government," Sriwat told the meeting. Last month posters began appearing in southern Burmese towns urging people not to buy Thai products, but to purchase goods from other countries such as China, Singapore and Malaysia instead. ===== item ===== 2,OOO CUT TIES WITH KHUN SA Bangkok Post/21.7.95 ABOUT 2.000 solders of the Muang Tai Army, declaring they have cut ties with their commander Khun Sa, are heading for the north of Shan State, according to a Thailand border official. The source said yesterday the rift was caused by the drug warlord's alleged favouritism toward personnel of Haw origin who control most of the key positions in the army. For this reason, most Tai Yai soldiers held grudges against Khun Sa. The source said the Tai Yai soldier led by Maj-ColKanyod, a commander of Sipor battalion, had moved to northern Shan State to protest against Khun Sa's way of handing army affairs. ===== item ===== TREMOR FROM BURMA QUAKE Bangkok Post/ 21.7.95 CHIANG RAI: Another tremor was felt in this northern border province yesterday when an earth quake measuring 4.0 on the Richter scale rocked Burma around 4.43 am. The quake's epicentre was the province's earth-quake detection centre and about 374 kilometres north of neighbouring Chiang Mai's detection centre. There were no report of damage in the province. ===== item ===== RESIDENTS BELIEVE WORLD HAS FALSE IMPRESSION OF BURMA Don Pathan The Nation/22.7.95 RANGOON _ The tension along the Thai-Burmese border has created a false impression of what Burma is really like on the inside, according to a Rangoon-based banker from Thailand. "The world has a violent view of Burma, but looking at the country from inside I have to say that such a view is misleading and has often been blown out of proportion," said Aroon Buranatanyarat, assistant president of the Siam City Bank. Aroon, the bank's representative in Rangoon, said he saw no real problem in doing business in Burma. In his view, Burma was an "open " country where foreign companies were given equal opportunity to do business. "The Burmese authorities, particularly the finance and commerce ministers, have been making trip abroad to meet potential investors," said Aroon. "They understand very well about the need to attack foreign capital. "Many foreign investors don't understand Myanmar's [Burma] laws and mind-set," said a resident foreign correspondent. "I believe Slorc [the ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council] has been firm and fair in most cases. "I have to admit, the standard of living here is better than a few years back," he said. "Some of the credit has to go Slorc." Aroon acknowledged that in the past some Thai projects may have been forced to stop, but insisted that this was not the fault of the Burmese authorities. "These franchisees [from Thailand], particularly those in the forest industries, had often cheated on their quotas _ such as cutting more trees than they were supposed to, and so on," he said. "The government has to be firm and consistent with their laws because they do not want to make the same mistakes their more- developed neighbour [Thailand] made with regard to natural resources," said Aroon. "However, some of their precautions may appear to outsiders as rigid or too restrictive." The correspondent said the way Rangoon and Bangkok had handle the border problems had been detrimental to the two governments. This could have affected the decision whether to grant economic or business contracts. An advertising campaign was launched here yesterday by Singapore- based Carrie Models to participate in the 15-nation "Traditional Asian Model" contest to be held in Singapore in October. "This is an opportunity for Myanmar [Burma] to present one aspect of its culture to the world," said an official from Burma's Ministry of Information. ===== item ===== KAREN PLEA The Nation/Letters We are two young Karen women refugees living in Bangkok. We both arrived in Bangkok in April this year after Slorc and the DKBA overran the KNU base in Marnerplaw and border refugee camps inside Thailand. It has destroyed our future and almost destroyed our hope. So as not to be considered "illegal immigrants" under Thai law, we applied to the UNHCR for protection, but they refused us. When we found out that many of our friends have been treated the same way, we are decided to make our case public. The responsibility of the UNHCR to protect refugee like us is clear and unambiguous. The UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees (1951) does not say that refugees from some countries (like Somalia), or those who became refugees at certain times (like those who fled Burma in 1988), could be recognized, while those from Burma and the border areas who have fled to escape persecution would be ignored. We appeal for justice and fairness. Name Withheld Bangkok ===== item ===== REFUGEE ON MURDER CHARGE bkk post\22.7.95 CHIANG RAI: A Burmese refugee was charged with murder yesterday after allegedly confessing to police that she hired a gunman to kill her husband. Mrs Moei or Nong Nong Win, 19, told police she had paid 20,000 baht to Sithi Thakamma to kill Aso (surname unknown), 28, also Burmese. She alleged Aso had beaten her almost every day for years. On July 7, Aso was shot in the stomach and wrist allegedly by Sithi, and was admitted to Chaing Rai Prachanukrao Hospital. Yesterday morning, Sithi raided his room on the second floor of one of the buildings and allegedly stabbed Aso to death Police located the suspect in Mae Sai district. ===== item ===== INTERIOR GROUP PROBES BORDER bkk post/22.7.95 MAE SOT: An Interior Ministry working group yesterday checked areas along the Moei River to investigate Burma's allegation that Thailand has encroached on the river. The 15-member group led by interior inspector-general Yont Sarathoonthat was made up of representatives from the Foreign Ministry, departments of Land, Harbour, Thai Survey, Treasury and Town and Country Planning, the Tak deputy governor and Mae Sot's district chief. According to Mr Yont, the group will meet on Tuesday to conclude its findings. ===== item ===== PUNISHMENT FOR BURMA TRADERS bkk post/22.7.95 MAE SOT: Burmese authorities yesterday sentenced 60 people to two months' jail after arresting them at the Burmese border town of Myawaddy for crossing into Mae Sot, according to a Thai border source. The source said yesterday the Burmese government had since July 10 prohibited the transport of goods and frontier crossings and sit up a special task force to patrol the border area. A Burmese trader said that earlier, when a similar ban was enforced, the authorities allowed people living along the border to cross into Thailand for food and necessities. Those found to have broken the regulation were liable to six months' jail and a fine equal to four times the value of the goods bought. Myawaddy residents have reportedly started to store food in anticipation of a food shortage. The source said 200 trucks from the town, which were meant to carry goods from Thailand, were stopped by the authorities at the Kawkareik check point, 65 kilomertres inland from the border, and forced to go back. ===== item ===== MASSACHUSETTS IN BURMA BAN bkk post/22.7 95 THE house of representatives of the US state of Massachusetts has passed a bill effectively barring the state from buying goods or services from firms doing business in Burma. The Burma bill is sponsored by the state representative Byron Rushing , who introduced similar legislation against South Africa during the apartheid era. "When Nelson Mandela was released, it was two years before he called for the lifting of sanctions," Rushing pointed out. "Since her release, Aung San Suu Kyi has asked other countries not to rush to invest in Burma. We will press forward in our campaign until there is an irreversible transfer of power to Burma's legitimate elected representatives," he said. Having passed its third and final reading in the house, the Burma bill now goes to the Massachusetts senate. If passed, it will then go to the state government for approval. Massachusetts, with a population of 6 million, has the tenth largest economy in the US. The state and local budget is over $1.1 billion, including the purchase of billions of dollars of goods and services annually. ===== item ===== KASEM PLEDGES TO FOLLOW SAME POLICY ON BURMA The Nation/23.7.95 THAILAND will continue to pursue a policy of constructive engagement with Burma in an effort to bring "changes" to the country, new Foreign Minister MR Kasem Samosorn Kasemsri said yesterday. Kasem said he would seek to have talks with his Burmese counterpart U Ong Kyaw next week, when they would both be attending the 28th Asean Ministerial Meeting in Brunei. Constructive engagement was initiated by Thailand and later adopted by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean). The policy argues that isolating Burma is not the right way to bring about positive change. "I don't think constructive engagement benefits only a few and destroys other," Kasem told reporters at his first press conference at the Foreign Ministry. Western governments have claiming that it was being used by Thai businessmen to pursue unscrupulous business interests in Burma, thereby strengthening the repressive ruling military regime. "Thai economic growth is not an index for democracy, we have seen from past events that economic progress has led to it," he said. Kasem said the prosperity the Burmese people gained as a result of constructive engagement could eventually lead to "liberalization". Peace and stability in Burma would also mean trade opportunities for Thailand. The minister said that while Thailand welcomed the July 10 release of Burmese national heroine Aung San Suu Kyi and hope for national reconciliation, the government would remain distant from Burma's internal affairs. Relations between the two countries have deteriorated since February, when Rangoon intensified a series of military actions against Karen armed insurgents and later Khun Sa's forces along the Thai-Burmese border, and accused Thailand of aiding them. In June, Burmese authorities suspended the construction of the Thai-Burmese Bridge across the Moei River, accusing Thai villagers of infringing upon their territory. Kasem said Asean members would discuss the issue of Burma's future relations with the organization at the ministerial meeting in Brunei on July 29. Burma approached Asean a few weeks ago, prior to the release of Suu Kyi, indicating it wanted to accede to the Treaty of Amity and Co-operation in Southeast Asia, a step towards becoming an observer country. Burma is the only Southeast Asian Nation with no affiliation to Asean. Vietnam will become a full member next Friday, when Cambodia will become an observer. Laos is already an observer. Kasem outlined Thailand's agenda for the Brunei meeting which will be his first appearance abroad, providing him with the opportunity to meet other foreign ministers and to explain the new government's policies. ===== item ===== SUU KYI'S HUSBAND AND SON ARRIVE IN RANGOON FOR VISIT Reuter The Nation/23.7.95 RANGOON _ Michael Aris, the British husband of freed Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, arrived with their youngest son in Rangoon yesterday, an airline official said. Aris and his son Kim had travelled from their home in Oxford, England. Suu Kyi was set free in July 10, after nearly six years of house arrest for "endangering the state" after military government during 1988 pro-democracy uprising that left thousands killed or in jail. Suu Kyi, who was never charged or tried during those years, was allowed several visits by her two sons and husband during her detention. Aris has visited her 10 times since her detention in 1989. Agence France-Press adds: A senior officer in Burma's military government has said that the country's diverse ethnic groups are enjoying peace and unity for the first time since independence more than 40 years ago, an official newspaper reported yesterday. The government had also negotiated with's "certain political parties" and there is now "relevant cooperation" between them, the English-language New Light of Myanmar quoted Lieutenant General Khin Nyunt as saying. ===== item ===== THE LADY TAKES THE CAKE! SUNDAY POST/PERSPECTIVE/23.7.95 R.STRIDER snoops around Rangoon and comes up with some touching and hilarious tales about the "the Lady" _ now no more in waiting _ and her. At the edge of the crowd, U Kyi Maung looks in munching a banana and sipping tea. Six years ago, he looked years of detention and poor treatment, he looks every one of his 80 years. Like most people in Rangoon however, he is beaming. People who were dispirited just weeks ago now walk like they're all holding a winning lottery ticket. There is no fear also _ that the winning number, so unexpected, could just as quickly blow away. Worse still, they fear the whole thing is a trick. But if only for this afternoon, U Kyi Maung, the journalists, "the Lady," and the rest of Burma are jubilant. While journalists and Aung San Suu Kyi rediscover each other, light rain begins falling. The rain doesn't deter some photographers from asking for a photo opportunity on the lawn, which she first protests and then indulges. After the mass press conference ends, she continues meeting small groups of reporters anxious to get an exclusive before their deadlines. Now there are chairs enough for all journalists who make it past the door, which is a change from the first day. When word of her release was announced, U Kyi Maung, U Tin Oo, U Aung Shwe and U Lwin arrived at her house within hours to meet Suu Kyi. Between the five of them however, there were only four chairs. As the youngest of them, Suu Kyi sat on the floor amidst her "uncles.". During her detention, Suu Kyi refused to accept favours from the Slorc and insisted on paying for her own food. As she ran out of money, she was reduced to selling her furniture until the house was all but bare. Who had been purchasing the furniture was something of a mystery until the evening of her release. A truckload arrived at the compound that evening courtesy of the secret police. Suu Kyi, still refusing favours, declined to accept. After some quick mediation by one of her "uncles," a price was agreed to "repurchase" the furniture. Away from the crowd on the lake-shore side of the house, other residents of the compound are keeping away from the shutter happy journalists wandering about. A half century ago, two of the main rivals for power in Burma were Gen Aung San Thakin Than Tun. Gen Aung San headed the Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League and Than Tun founded the Burma Communist Party. Separated by politics, the two were joined by family; Aung San married Daw Khin Kyi, Than Tun married Daw Khin Khin Kyi. Aung San was assassinated while organizing an independence and democratic Burma and Than Tun led the BCP into armed revolt against that government, setting off Burma's still running civil wars. Now, Khin Khin Kyi, Suu Kyi's aunt and the window of her father's rival, still lives in a small wooden house in hidden from view behind unattended bushed and tall grass. The other residence in the compound in occupied by Ko Soe, the son of another of Daw Suu's aunts. Ko Soe has been Daw Suu's primary companion through the years of detention, sharing meals with her and going out once every two weeks, accompanied by the secret police, to buy her food. It is evident from the perfectly tended rows of flowers behind his house what he has been doing these last six years. Coils of barbed wire still line the lakefront along with guard posts for the secret police. The bushed and grass have grown so thick over the wire in six years that it is relatively to simply walk over it. Although now her "protectors" rather than her warders, they remain publicity shy and decline to be interviewed. "Go away" is the only comment they offer. At the other end of the compound, near the gate, is a brick structure with some of its walls missing. This building was an NLD office when the troops came in to arrest Daw Suu and her followers on the July 20, 1989. Now, one of those arrested that day points it out as the secret police held quarters in the compound. Several men are in the building sitting at the table. On enquiry as to whether they are M.I, one responds with a somewhat surly "no". Perhaps not, but they aren't NLD and the two of them have the journalist sign-in roster laid out in front of them while they are cross-checking it against the business cards they collected earlier _ all of which then gets noted in another list. The Burmese word for secret police is "M.I", as in Military Intelligence. Unfortunately the British, on whom the system is modelled, didn't have a secret police so the more accurate "S.P" was never adopted. Whatever they're called, it's difficult on this day at least, the bear them ill will. She who has far more reason to hate them, does not. And it would be out of keeping with the celebratory mood of the day. During the years of her detention, Aung San Suu Kyi grew to know some of her guards well, which may go part of the way to explaining why she has asked that they be kept on to provide security. In the beginning of her detention, the guards were posted inside the house. With nothing else to do, says a well informed source, Suu Kyi pulled out a blackboard and started teaching them English. In the created a problem because the Burmese use an honorific term in addressing a teacher and it was a bit confusing to have the guard addressing the prisoner with a term of respect. Slorc finally resolved the problem by withdrawing the guards from inside the house. Early in her detention, according to another source, Suu Kyi requested the ingredients to bake a cake. Perhaps with the idea that cooking was a more appropriate activity for a Burmese woman than politics, they provided the ingredients and she baked them a cake. In the icing, she wrote the words "Free the political prisoners." It is again for cake and celebration in Burma. But soon, the euphoria will wear off and given the Slorc's record, it is difficult to imagine them capable of sincere intentions for the capacity to negotiate something like a just solution. But it is her ability to transform even secret police guards into, if not supporters, at least human begins, that allows one to begin to imagine _ at least for a day. ================================================================ <>