----------------------------------BurmaNet---------------------------- "Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies" --------------------------------------------------------------------------- The BurmaNet News: November 25, 1996 Issue #576 Noted in Passing: "Drug traffickers ...launder their money with impunity in banks controlled by the military," - Robert Gelbard, US narcotics official on Burma (see THE NATION: DRUG FIGHTER AT LOSS OVER BURMA) HEADLINES: ========== BURMANET: HILLARY CLINTON RAISES BURMA IN CHIANG MAI FEER: CAUGHT IN THE NET THE NATION: SUU KYI OVERCOMES ROADBLOCK TT: BURMESE OPPOSITION CONDEMNS ATTACK ON DASSK THE NATION: DRUG FIGHTER AT LOSS OVER BURMA THE NATION: SLORC REJECTS UN RIGHTS REPORT IHT: AN INSIDE VIEW OF THE MILITARY'S CONTROL REUTERS: TOTAL FIGHTS RIGHTS GROUPS, BURMA JUNGLES AP: MOTOROLA & PHILIPS PULLED OUT OF BURMA BKK POST: THREE SHAN GROUPS SET FOR OFFENSIVE ABSDF: STATEMENT ON THE U.S PRESIDENT'S VISIT TO THAILAND THE NATION: TRAVELLER'S TALES ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- BURMANET: HILLARY CLINTON RAISES BURMA IN CHIANG MAI SPEECH November 25, 1996 At noon today, Hillary Clinton gave a half hour address at Chiang Mai University. In her speech, which dealt primarily with issues of health, education, and prostitution, she also mentioned Burma. After thanking Thailand for taking care of almost 100,000 refugees from Burma, she stated that while everyone wants them to be able to go home soon, they cannot go back until there is a genuine political dialogue between the SLORC and Aung San Suu Kyi. *********************************************************** FEER: CAUGHT IN THE NET - US sanctions debate moves to cyberspace By Nigel Holloway in Washington November 28, 1996 Want to find out about Burma without leaving your chair? Easy: Get on the information superhighway and key in "Burma". First stop is a Web site (http:// freeburma.org) provided by the Free Burma Coalition:" A collection of software, hardware, documentation and volunteers, all doing what we're best at to hasten the replacement of the current military government". Welcome to the world of Internet activism. In 1989, it was television that brought Beijing's Tiananmen Square protests to the world's living rooms. Now' the Internet is the messenger. And while the Burma-sanctions lobby is probably the first of its kind to take full advantage of the Net, it surely won't be the last. "Cyberspace spawned the movement to restore human rights to Burma," says Mike Jendrzejczyk, Washington director of Human Rights Watch/Asia. "The proliferation of information has put Burma higher on the U.S. policy agenda than it ever would have been otherwise." It might do the same for other such causes. There are already Web sites protesting Chinese actions in Tibet and Indonesian domination of East Timor. They were encouraged by the success of the Burma lobby in Washington. In September, lawmakers passed a bill that would allow the president to ban new U.S. investment in Burma if he determines that the military junta, known as the State Law and Order Restoration Council, or Slorc, "has committed large-scale acts of repression." To be sure, the law isn't as strong as it might have been. It was watered down in July after a last-minute effort by lobbyists representing U.S. businesses in Burma. But the fact that American firms were forced to launch a rear-guard action illustrates the power of the Internet and of the small number of activists dotted around the country who sent a flood of e-mail to their representatives on Capitol Hill. "This is a new form of communication, so if you start bombarding the Net, Congress will pay attention," says Ronald Palmer, a southeast Asian specialist at George Washington University in the nation's capital. The anti-Slorc campaign shows that, thanks to the Internet, activists don't need lots of money or people to make an impact. Students at more than 100 universities have organised Free Burma groups or something similar, usually with the help of a handful of volunteers in each place. More than 60 universities held a Free Burma Fast in October to protest against Slorc. And students from as far afield as New Delhi, Sydney, London and Tokyo are communicating with each other on the subject of Burma, via the Internet. At the centre of this network is Zarni, a 32-year-old Burmese exile studying for his doctorate at the University of Wisconsin. He spends 15 hours a day at his computer, weaving together his Free Burma Coalition Web site, complete with colourful logo and photographs of conditions inside Burma. The Internet has facilitated a change in anti-Slorc strategy. In the early 1990s, student activists in America focused their efforts on persuading U.S. companies to withdraw from Burma, with partial success. Firms such as Eddie Bauer and Levi Strauss pulled out, and PepsiCo sold its bottling plant in Burma (although it continues to supply syrup to the plant). In 1994, attention turned to Capitol Hill. At that time only a handful of domestic organizations were active on the Burma trail. But they began to lobby their senators and representatives to support legislation co-sponsored by Senators Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Daniel Patrick Moynihan of New York that would have applied sanctions on Burma for human rights abuses. Two things favour the activists. First, few U.S. companies do business in Burma, and those that do are mainly oil and gas concerns such as Unocal. These firms wield clout, but not as much as the hundreds of concerns working in china and lobbying against efforts to tie Beijing's trading status to human rights issues. What's more, the students aren't alone. Also squaring off against U.S. companies over Burma are the American trade-union movement, church groups and one or two wealthy individuals such as billionaire investor George Soros, whose Open Society Institute in New York sponsors a pro-democracy programme on Burma. The second factor working in the activists' favour is that 'most people don't know Burma from schmurma," says Larry Dohrs, Seattle coordinator of the Campaign for a Free Burma. "People don't have preconceived ideas, and the arguments are relatively stark." This can be an advantage in Congress, where a small number of committed lawmakers can wield disproportionate influence among the remainder open to persuasion. Foreign policy is always a backburner issue," says a human-rights lobbyist on Capitol Hill who asked not to be named. "What people don't realize is that 500 letters to a congressman aren't necessary. If members of Congress get 10-15 letters on a specific issue, it's significant." As the debate on the McConnell Moynihan sanctions bill neared, the Burmese government was arresting opposition politicians and issuing thinly veiled threats against the leader of the democratic movement, Aung San Suu Kyi. The chances of getting a tough sanctions measure through Congress had never seemed better. Yet when it came to a Senate vote in July, the measure lost by 54 votes to 45. Instead, senators adopted a weaker measure that leaves it to the president to decide whether to impose sanctions on Slorc. The stronger measure would have imposed sanctions as soon as the bill was passed. In the end, it was the Clinton administration's support for the watered-down version that won the day. That, plus lobbying of the old-fashioned kind by influential people representing the oil firms investing in Burma. Of these, none is more powerful than Tom Korologos, president of the Washington lobbying firm Timmons & Co and an old friend of Bob Dole, the Republican presidential candidate. An assistant for Korologos confirmed that Unocal is a client. In the days before the vote, Korologos was paying personal calls on key senators asking for their support, according to a human-rights activist. But a staffer for one such senator declined to confirm this. "I can't touch it," he says. Now the two sides of the sanctions debate (Burma's government has its own Web site: http:// www. myanmar.com) are lobbying the Clinton administration on whether to implement the sanctions law. And the anti-Slorc group has been busy sending e-mail messages to the White House urging the president to raise the issue of Burma on his Asia trip that was to being on November 19. "The administration will not make a final decision (on sanctions) until after President Clinton comes back" from the region, says a US official. Whatever the outcome, international activism will never be the same. (FEER) *********************************************************** THE NATION: SUU KYI OVERCOMES ROADBLOCK November 24, 1996 (abridged) RANGOON - Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi yesterday defied a government blockade around her house and spoke to pro-democrat supporters on a street about one kilometre away. She addressed a gathering of about 500 supporters for five minutes, departing in her white limousine before four truck loads of riot police arrived on the scene. The Crowds dispersed without incident. "We are not here to create unrest. The reason for our being here is to show unity and solidarity with the people," she told her supporters. "We will continue to do what needs to be done in order to reach our desired goal," said Suu Kyi. "In doing so we shall be guided by compassion and not by anger. We bear no malice towards anyone," she said, before urging the gathering to disperse in a "peaceful and orderly manner". She was accompanied by Aung Shwe, the chairman of her National League for Democracy (NLD), which swept the last general elections to be held in Burma, six years ago, the results of which were never ratified by the ruling military junta. Also present were the co-vice chairmen of the NLD, Kyi Maung and Tin Oo, who was injured by flying glass during the motorcade attack on Nov 9, which the NLD believes to have been executed by a government-sponsored mass organisation. Authorities had resumed the blockade manned by traffic police about 200 metres either side of Aung San Suu Kyi's house on University Avenue early yesterday. Apparently resigned to the obstruction to her weekend addresses, which had been a regular weekend event attended by thousands since her release from house arrest in July, supporters now gather at an intersection to the east of her house. The pro-democracy leader was greeted with applause and shouts of a"Long live Aung San Suu Kyi," as she arrived. "It was quite unexpected but we're she happy came out," said one supporter who requested anonymity. "We've been waiting for many weeks now to hear her speak. Our wish was granted today," he said. ***************************************************************** TT: BURMESE OPPOSITION CONDEMNS ATTACK ON DASSK November 24, 1996 (Thailand Times) RANGOON: Burma's main opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) held a meeting yesterday of some 200 party members to condemn an attack on November 9 on their leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The one-hour meeting at Aung San Suu Kyi's suburban home was chaired by NLD chairman Aung Shwe and included party representatives elected in the abortive 1991 elections, party sources said. Party members used the meeting to condemn the attack on Aung San Suu Kyi, in which men wielding sticks and throwing stones attacked the NLD leader's motorcade as she tried to meet with supporters outside her; home. NLD vice chairman Tin Oo was injured in the assault, which was strongly condemned by foreign governments including the United States. After the meeting, at which Aung San Suu Kyi was conspicuous by her absence, Tin Oo put the blame for the incident on the ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council, as the military junta is officially known. "Though Suu Kyi was not hurt, her car was badly damaged by stones and sticks," he told a small group of reporters. "This attack (was) a conspiracy and premeditated." A resolution passed at the meeting decided that similar gatherings would take place at an unspecified date across the country to condemn the incident. The NLD has already issued an official inquiry into the attacks, which Aung San Suu Kyi has blamed on the Union Solidarity and Development Association, a government sponsored mass movement. ***************************************************************** THE NATION: DRUG FIGHTER AT LOSS OVER BURMA November 24, 1996 Yindee Lertcharoenchok THE United States is in a "great dilemma" on how to deal with the narcotics production in Burma, as its priority concern in the country is the improvement of human rights and democracy. Gen Barry McCaffrey, director of the US Office of National Drug Control Policy, confessed during a press conference here on Friday that he did not know how Washington will cope with the estimated 2,300 metric tonnes of Burmese opium produced per year and the subsequent trafficking of heroin - a derivative of opium to the world market, including the US. With the US commitment to democracy, human rights and rule of law in Burma, Washington is having "great difficulty" dealing with the drug problem there, he said. "It is not clear to me what [the US] will do because for the present, the dominant concern in the US is ... the human rights situation confronting the Burmese people. And I don't know where we will go," said the top US drug policy maker. "We are facing such a dilemma in our commitment to democracy. We simply don't have a way to move ahead as long as democracy and human rights issues remain are in front of us," he added. The retired general, who was appointed to the key anti-drug position in February, said the human rights situation in Burma barred Washington's ability to cooperate more fully with the ruling Burmese junta known as the State Law and Order Restoration Council (Slorc). Despite the Slorc repeated claims of success in the eradication of opium cultivation, McCaffrey remained sceptical that production has decreased. As long as the hill people in Burma continue to base their survival on opium cultivation, international criminal enterprises will continue to buy the illicit crop, he said. Global opium production is about 4,000 metric tonnes a year, and Burma is the world's largest opium and heroin producer. Burmese opium production generates some 230 metric tonnes of heroin about 60 per cent of the world's production of the drug. Roughly 10 kilogrammes of opium produces one kg of heroin. Foreign anti-narcotic aid to Burma, including that of the US, was cut off after the Burmese military coup in September 1988. Although Washington has retained its diplomatic mission in Rangoon, bilateral counter-narcotic cooperation is limited to the presence of a few American law enforcement authorities in Burma. McCaffrey did not rule out the possibility of the US reconsidering the resumptions of its anti-drug assistance programme to Burma. He said such a "policy alternative" was a legitimate point to consider. Prominent Burmese drugs traffickers are gaining legitimacy, the American anti-drug chief pointed out, adding that these criminals launder their ill-gotten cash with impunity through legitimate businesses in Burma and other countries in the region. He said effective "weapons" to deal with these traffickers and other international criminals were the enforcement of compatible conspiracy laws and international legislation against money-laundering, asset forfeit and seizure. "Now what we better do is crack down on their money and seize that. I think we have that capability, [but] we have to build it in accordance with national laws," he said. Robert Gelbard, US assistant secretary of state for international narcotics and law enforcement affairs, pointed out that Burma's most important narcotics traffickers no longer hole up in jungle hideaways. Instead, they are buying real estate in Rangoon and Mandalay, investing in Burma's economy and openly courting military officials, Gelbard said in his article published in the Nov 21 issue of the Far Eastern Economic Review. "The Burmese junta has brazenly exploited drug trafficking more, to finance projects that do little to improve the lot of the Burmese. Drug traffickers and their families are among the leading backers of high-profile infrastructure projects in Burma. They launder their money with impunity in banks controlled by the military," wrote Gelbard. ***************************************************************** THE NATION: SLORC REJECTS UN RIGHTS REPORT November 23, 1996 Yindee Lertcharoenchok THE Burmese junta has strongly rejected the new United Nations special rapporteur's human rights report, saying it is "Flawed" in concluding that "systematic violations of human rights are widespread and condoned by the government". In the Nov 15 statement delivered at the UN General Assembly, in response to an Oct 8 report submitted by Rajsoomer Lallah, Burmese Ambassador to Pakistan U Pe Them Tin said his delegation was "deeply disturbed" by the report's implications. The ruling Burmese State Law and Order Restoration Council (Slorc), he said, had in the past rejected such reports and is doing so with the current one. Lallah, who was appointed UN special human rights envoy on Burma in June, also said on Nov 15 that he had categorically pointed out that various existing Burmese laws, by themselves, violate international norms and charters in the field of civil and political rights. He also elaborated in detail on the continuing "repressive political climate" and violations of human rights in Burma. Ambassador Pe Thein Tin questioned the reliability of the sources of information used by Lallah and rejected the UN envoy's remarks that the Slorc did not cooperate with the UN. Lallah, an Oxford-educated judge from Mauritius and an experienced lawyer in civil and political rights, said in his report and oral statement that since his appointment he had approached Slorc twice for permission to visit Burma to investigate the human rights situation, but the regime has not yet responded to his requests. In a separate report to the annual meeting of the UN General Assembly, UN secretary-general Boutros Boutros-Ghali, who was assigned to assist the democratisation process in Burma, also complained that his representatives were unable to visit Burma. "It has never been the policy of the Myanmar [Burmese] government to systematically repress its own people and to condone human rights abuses. Allegations contained in the report [by Lallahl invariably originate from dissident groups and sources in and outside the country. These allegations should be discarded outright," he said. Apart from Pe Thein Tin's intervention, the Slorc also submitted two other documents to explain its version of the political and human rights situation in Burma. The documents were intended to counter critical reports by Lallah and Boutros Ghali. In both reports, the Burmese junta described its achievements in political, economic and social areas since it came to power after the September 1988 coup d'etat and its continuing efforts to improve conditions in those fields. In the document on human rights questions, Burmese Ambassador to the United Nations U Win Mra said his representative had "rejected all negative elements" in the draft resolution on Burma when it was debated in December last year and also insisted that there existed no grounds for the continued consideration of the Burmese human rights situation "in view of the positive evolving situation in the country". He said the Slorc would not only reject any "intrusive draft resolution" made this year, but "will also respond to it in a manner commensurate with its tone and tenor". Win Mra claimed that the Slorc "has, in fact, never arrested or detained anyone arbitrarily" as charged by the UN and human rights activists and that action is taken against only those who violate existing laws. "The government has been unfairly criticised recently in its efforts to maintain law and order. This criticism is grossly misleading," he said. He denied that over 260 members of the National League for Democracy (NLD) were arrested and detained, claiming that they were only called in "for a brief questioning" to prevent anarchy, and later released. *************************************************************** IHT: AN INSIDE VIEW OF THE MILITARY'S CONTROL November 21, 1996 (International Herald Tribune) General Khin Nyunt Burma: An Inside View of the Military's Control Two decades Burma was shut off from the rest of the world under the military dictatorship of General Ne Win. In 1988, after he announced his retirement, the doors burst open and riots raged throughout the country. Within months, the military quelled the protests by forming the State Law and Order Restoration Council. In 1990, the council, under Lieutenant General Khin Nyunt, allowed elections, resulting in an overwhelming majority for Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy. Six years later, Burma is still under military rule, languishing in poverty and accused of numereous abuses of human rights. In Rangoon, General Khin Nyunt was intereviewed by Barbara Victor, an author and journalist. IHT: After Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's party, the National League for Democracy, won the majority of the vote in the 1990 elections, why did you refuse to relinguish power? SLORC: When we first assumed responsibility in 1988 the situation was unimaginable. The country was on the verge of chaos and anarchy, which was the reason the armed forces assumed responsibility, to prevent the country from slipping into disintegration. Since that time we have been trying our best to build up our country to have a firm foundation of economic development in accordance with our aims. We also look at our situation in terms of geopolitics since our neighbors are two of the most populous nations in the world -- China and India. Our government has spent a lot of money for the development of border areas, trying to dispel mistrust and suspicion by raising the standard of living. We are also taking measures to eradicate opium by crop substitution. While we are implementing the necessary reforms in the political system, we are also introducing a new economic system, and although our country has natural resources, we are lagging behind in capital as well as in technology. IHT: There have been many accusations that your government denies people basic human rights. How do you respond to thos accusations? SLORC: Although our government is in the form of a military government or military junta, we are not suppressing the people. We are trying our best as an interim government to achieve political stability and economic development as well as bring about improvement in the social sphere. IHT: What about specific accusations such as forced labor and forced relocation of people? SLORC: People who have not been to the country before have an impression that we are brutal and cruel, they regard us as oppressive, as if we are ruling the country by force, as if there are no human rights in the country. Why such a perception? This is essentially because the information they get is through the media and also because the information they get is not directly from us, the source is from third partieis and as you know, there are groups in New York, Los Angeles and Washington who are against us and the information theyare providing cannot be positive to us. Another source of wrong information is the armed groups operating along the border with Thailand. IHT: Not only did your government ignore the election results and refuse to allow Daw Aung San Suu Kyi to leade the coutnry, but also put her under house arrest for six years and still continue to arrest memebers of her party. How do you justify your actions? SLORC: She is trying her best to hinder our progress/ If she were to try to make our work successful, it would be best for everybody but unfortunately she is not. She is trying to cause political confusion and instability and unrest when we have peace and tranquility in our country. IHT: What is your most serious criticism of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi? SLORC: Aung Suu Kyi was not here for most of her life, so naturally she cannot understand all our problems. After her father passed away, she went with her mother at the age of 14, when she was appointed ambassador to India, and later she left for London. From that time she drifted apart from our country and didn't regularly come back to our country. She married an Englishman and settled down and became more apart from the country. If she had come back and worked for the country and married a Myanmar citizen, she may have been able to become a national leader. But when she came back in 1988, at our invitation to care for her aililng mother, the Communist Party cells saw her as a great advantage because she is the daughter of a national hero. They beclieved that if they could push her into the front and take advantage of her position it would serve their purposes. ***************************************************************** REUTERS: TOTAL FIGHTS RIGHTS GROUPS, BURMA JUNGLES FOR November 22, 1996 (slightly abridged) By Rajan Moses KANBAUK, Burma, Nov 22 (Reuter) - French oil giant Total SA facing fierce opposition to its involvement in military-ruled Burma, is engaged in a different kind of standoff in the remote jungles of the impoverished Asian country. It is fighting to tame the thick jungles of southeastern Burma to cut a path for a 63-km (39-mile) gas pipeline that will join another from the giant Yadana field in the Andaman Sea to pump gas overland to Thailand in 1998. Total is also trying to win over thousands of poor Mon, Karen and Burmese villagers living in the area who are baffled by a sudden strong foreign presence in their midst and the pipeline that will change their lives forever. This has been one of our most difficult onshore projects. The terrain is so rough we have had to ship all our equipment in from Japan, Malaysia and Singapore,'' said Herve Madeo, general manager of Total Myanmar Exploration and Production (TMEP) during a press tour of the pipeline site. BIG MONEY AHEAD FOR PROJECT OWNERS There is big money for the project owners from mid-1988. Of the $400 million income generated annually in already-contracted gas sales to Thailand for 30 years, Burma's cash-strapped ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) will get 50 percent. Total officials said Burma will start to realise the $200 million annual revenue from the gas, after deductions for expenses from 1998, in the year 2001-2002. The project has been dogged by controversy from the time it was signed in 1992. Human rights groups have accused Total of collaborating with the SLORC to suppress freedom and promote forced labour. The groups say Total is using forced labour recruited by the SLORC in the pipeline area which runs through the forested southeastern Tenasserim district. They say the work is damaging the lush environment there. Burma's democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, has described Total as a strong supporter of the SLORC which has denied her movement the right to hold gatherings and harassed hundreds of her supporters. Total has denied all the accusations. ``We know there is controversy over the project but part of the controversy is because of misinformation from these groups,'' said Joseph Daniel, Total's vice-president for public affairs. Total's new and air-conditioned Kanbauk base camp, carved from the jungle, houses the nerve centre of the onshore pipeline laying operation. Helicopters are on standby for survey work and providing access to remote villagers. Bulldozers, heavy trucks and many thousands of tonnes of gleaming special steel pipes imported from Italy have arrived by barge at Total's busy wharf. Earthworks to lay the pipes are under way as a winding path is sliced through the red earth. ``We will start laying the pipes this month and work will be finished around May next year,'' said Madeo, adding that about $600 million of the billion-dollar project had already been spent. The tough job of laying the offshore pipeline in the depths of the sea from the Yadana platform will begin in mid-1997 and finish by the end of the year, he added. Despite foreign reports of resentment among villagers, an attack on the project by rebels and major environmental problems, Total's 1,700 expatriate and Burmese workers move about freely. Burmese soldiers patrol the fringe areas which once used to be their battlefield against Mon and Karen rebel guerrillas who have been pushed further away. Madeo said the only attack was in March last year when five members of the pipeline team were killed and several wounded. SLORC troops provide security in the outer corridor of the project. Security on the inside is Total's responsibility. Total pays Burmese workers recruited from villages more than 200 kyats ($1.25) a day, a sum which goes a long way in the remote area. Compensation, lavish by rural standards, from a $700,000 budget is being paid to move people living on the pipeline's route. Total is also funding projects aimed at raising local living standards. ***************************************************************** AP: MOTOROLA & PHILIPS PULLED OUT OF BURMA November 23, 1996 NEW YORK (AP) -- In a reprise of the movement that isolated white-ruled South Africa, a growing number of state and local governments now penalize companies that do business in Burma -- and the pressure appears to be working. Motorola and Philips Electronics quietly have joined a corporate pullout from Burma, a Southeast Asian nation where a military junta has crushed dissent. Next week, Massachusetts steps up the public pressure by releasing a list of companies that will be at a disadvantage when bidding for state contracts because of ties to Burma, which calls itself Myanmar. Activists say the recent corporate defections are signs of headway in the budding economic protest against the Burmese government. The Massachusetts law adopted in June is the first such state sanction targeting Burma, but eight cities have approved similar measures -- two of them last month. The movement resembles the attack on businesses dealing with South Africa in the apartheid protests of the 1980s. In the first high-profile case stemming from the latest ``selective contracting'' laws, anti-Burma activists this week were trying to knock Mitsubishi Heavy Industries out of contention for $136 million people-mover project at San Francisco's city-owned airport. Mitsubishi has interests in a Burma pipeline. ``These laws are now hitting companies where it hurts -- in the bottom line -- and they're beginning to respond,'' said Simon Billenness, senior analyst for the Franklin Research and Development Group, a Boston-based firm that manages investments it considers socially responsible. But activists are far from declaring victory. For one thing, many of the businesses that are leaving have little more than a beachhead in Burma. Motorola has a single manager in Rangoon, who is to be transferred by year's end. For another, Burma's economy is relatively small. Its attraction is mostly to oil companies. Burma's imports from the entire world totaled $1.6 billion in 1995; Indonesia, also criticized by human rights groups, bought twice as much that year from the United States alone. Also, some companies -- most notably, PepsiCo -- have been criticized for jettisoning their Burmese holdings but continuing sales in Burma through outside distributors. Philips, the Dutch electronics company, said it stopped limited direct sales in Burma, but will continue to deal with importers serving the country. In addition, it takes time to wage such protests. ``We know from our work on South Africa that this may be something that's in process for 20 years or so,'' said Brenda Bateman, who directs the Burma Project for the Investor Responsibility Research Center in Washington. The IRRC was formed 20 years ago to track corporate affiliations in South Africa. Its latest report lists 234 companies with ties to Burma, 58 of them based in the United States. The IRRC list is a major source for Massachusetts and the cities with Burma laws: Ann Arbor, Mich., Carrboro, N.C., Madison, Wis., Takoma Park, Md., and Berkeley, Oakland, San Francisco and Santa Monica, Calif. Massachusetts has advised companies listed by the IRRC about the law, which assesses a 10 percent penalty on new bids from businesses with Burma links. While companies currently doing business with Massachusetts are on the list, none has a contract bid pending, said Philmore Anderson, the state's purchasing agent. The businesses had until Friday to challenge being on the state's bidding sanctions list, which is due out next week. Companies are taking the law seriously. ``Their actions have not gone unnoticed,'' said an official at a company that had received a letter from the state and spoke on condition of anonymity. ``I think every company on that list is addressing the issue one way or another.'' Schaumburg, Ill.-based Motorola says the Burma pullout is part of a series of cutbacks forecast earlier this month. ``It's not a political decision. It's a cost-cutting decision,'' spokeswoman Margot Brown said. Philips cites the ``difficult situation and general uncertainties'' in Burma as a reason for its move. Companies that already had left Burma include Carlsberg, Heineken, London Fog, Eddie Bauer, Levi Strauss, Petro-Canada, Amoco, Liz Claiborne and Columbia Sportswear, Bateman said. Those resisting pressure include Unocal Corp. and Total SA of France, both oil businesses. Even when a law passes, there's no guarantee it will be carried out as backers wish. In San Francisco, draft regulations appear to exempt construction firms, like Mitsubishi. ``Now the struggle will be not to allow anyone to worm out of it,'' said city Supervisor Tom Ammiano, one of the law's sponsors. ***************************************************************** BKK POST: THREE SHAN GROUPS SET FOR OFFENSIVE November 24, 1996 Subin Khuenkaew Three ethnic Shan groups that split from former drug warlord Khun Sa may launch terrorist attacks if the Burmese government ignores their demand for independence. A source in an ethnic group said yesterday that the Shan United Restoration Army (SURA), the Shan State Army (SSA), and the Shan State National Army (SSNA) signed an agreement on September 23 to set up a new political wing -the Shan State National Organisation (SSNO), The three sides reached the agreement on the new organisation, which will have a combined force of about 10,000 troops, at their new stronghold near Sipor town, northwest of Chiang Tung, near the Burma-China border. Although the SSA and the SSNA had a temporary ceasefire agreement with the ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council (Slorc), the source said neither group had handed over their arms to the junta. Both groups agreed to join forces with the Sura which plans to push for the independence of the Shan state. The groups viewed that the 300 sacks of rice and about 200,000 kyats in cash that the Slorc gave them each month in return for their cooperation would not last long, the source said. Sura deputy secretary-general Zao Oot told the Bangkok Post at a temporary location near Chiang Tung yesterday that his army is pushing for independence because the Slorc treats villagers in Shan state poorly. Sura still has many modern weapons bought by Khun Sa. If the Slorc rejects the ethnic groups' demand for negotiations on independence, our joint force will launch terrorist activities in such major towns as Mandalay and Tachilek, or even in Rangoon itself to undermine Visit Myanmar Year," said Mr Oot. He said his army still disagreed with Khun Sa's decision to surrender to the Slorc. Many villages in Shan state support the independence movement and Sura intends to fight for it, even though it earns less since halting all drug trafficking activities, he said. ***************************************************************** ABSDF: STATEMENT ON THE U.S PRESIDENT'S VISIT TO THAILAND November 24, 1996 We the ABSDF have learned that Mr. Bill Clinton the President of the United States of America will be coming on an official visit to Thailand from 25th-27th November. On behalf of entire people of Burma, the ABSDF would like to express our heartfelt greetings to the President, Mr. Clinton, whose visit, we believe, will bring many positive benefits to the region of Southeast Asia, including Burma. The people of Burma who long for freedom from the repressive military regime that rules our country will be greatly encouraged by the arrival of the leader of the world's foremost democracy, to this region. We the ABSDF would like to urge Mr. Clinton to convince the governments of Burma neighbourings that genuine democracy, peace and development in this region will come about only by protecting human rights and eradicating the production and trafficking of drugs. Similarly, the ABSDF hopes that the President will clarify the policy of the United States towards the Burmese dictatorship and will express his recognition of the struggle of the people of Burma for democracy and human rights under the leadership of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. Central Executive Committee ABSDF