------------------------ BurmaNet ------------------------ "Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies" ---------------------------------------------------------- The BurmaNet News: January 3, 1997 Issue #603 HEADLINES: ========== BURMANET: 1997 AP: SUU KYI'S COMPOUND OFF LIMIT TO JOURNALISTS BKK POST: SUU KYI CALLS FOR MORE PRESSURE AP: SUU KYI DEFIES SLORC KYODO: NATIONAL LEAGUE FOR DEMOCRACY RESPONSIBLE AP: SLORC BLAMES SUU KYI FOR THE BOMB ATTACK AP: SUU KYI'S MOVEMENT UNDER CONTROL THAILAND TIMES: ETHNIC SHANS FACE HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES NATION: BURMESE UNREST SEEN AS FUELLING TRADE IN HEROIN BUSINESS TIMES: UNOCAL HAS REASON TO WORRY REUTERS: CHRONOLOGY OF RECENT UNREST IN BURMA THAILAND TIMES: BURMESE INTERNAL AFFAIRS AFFECT LOGGING JIJI: MARUBENI COMMITS TO WORK FOR BURMESE MILITARY -------------------------------------------------------------------- BURMANET: 1997 BurmaNet would like to wish all readers of the BurmaNet News best wishes for 1997. Key astrologers in Burma are predicting political change in early 1997. BurmaNet sincerely hopes that if change occurs, it will be in a positive direction. BurmaNet would also like to thank all those subscribers who have forwarded articles and reports to BurmaNet. Our policy is to include senders' e-mail addresses for independent reports and announcements but not for news stories from newspapers and wire services. Nevertheless, we are grateful for all news stories and reports that are sent to us for posting in BurmaNet. BurmaNet now has approximately 750 subscribers from around the world, and many others pick up the BurmaNet News through newsgroups and on the web. We would like to encourage readers to continue to send stories and reports to strider@igc.apc.org We would also like to ask all subscribers to keep a copy of the instructions for subscribing and unsubscribing to BurmaNet. If you change e-mail accounts or wish to unsubscribe, we would like to ask you to do this through our automated service (majordomo) rather than by sending a message to the strider account. To unsubscribe: send a message to majordomo@igc.apc.org in the message, write: unsubscribe burmanet-l or: unsubscribe burmanews-l (all lower case letters, last letter is a lower case "L" for list) Wishing you all the best in 1997, BurmaNet **************************************************************** AP: SUU KYI'S COMPOUND OFF LIMIT TO JOURNALISTS January 2, 1997 RANGOON, Burma (AP) -- The military regime declared the home of Aung San Suu Kyi off-limits to journalists Thursday, confirming that the relative freedom the pro-democracy leader enjoyed after her release from house arrest has ended. Diplomats and members of her party will be allowed to enter Suu Kyi's lakeside compound, which is sealed off by roadblocks, provided they obtain prior permission from the government, officials said. ``Journalists can meet her at other places,'' Col. Thein Swe said at the government's monthly news conference. Asked when the roadblocks would be removed, he said that ``depends on the situation.'' Suu Kyi, winner of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize for her non-violent promotion of democracy, has met only rarely with journalists since November, and only at the homes of friends or at social functions. Since blocking her from holding a party congress in May, the military government has steadily increased pressure on Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy party, detaining and releasing hundreds of members and sentencing scores to prison. Suu Kyi's only opportunity to meet ordinary Burmese -- weekend rallies before thousands outside her home -- ended in late September when the regime put up the roadblocks. The restrictions culminated last month when authorities told her not to leave her home for her own safety -- and blocked her at one point with riot police -- amid demonstrations by hundreds of students demanding an independent union and greater freedoms. She has been able to leave with greater ease over the past week. The December protests marked the biggest street unrest in Burma since the pro-democracy uprising of 1988, which was crushed when the army gunned down thousands of demonstrators. The recent protests were broken up more gently, with riot police and water cannon. The demonstrations fizzled out after university classes were suspended and thousands of students were sent home. At Thursday's briefing, a government spokesman said some universities would be reopened as scheduled Monday after the normal winter break, ``but universities which had problems in December will not be reopened yet.'' The military junta has accused accused Suu Kyi's party and ethnic rebels of fomenting the unrest. It also accuses the two groups of involvement in a Christmas Day bombing of a Rangoon pagoda compound that killed five people and injured 17. Suu Kyi has denied the allegations, and the rebels claimed separately that the government staged the bombing to create a pretext for a crackdown. The government said Thursday that peace talks with the rebels will not be affected by the bombing. ``We are prepared to resume talks ... whenever they are ready,'' said Col. Kyaw Win, a senior military intelligence official. Kyaw Win said the rebels had contacted the government Wednesday, but did not elaborate. ***************************** BKK POST: SUU KYI CALLS FOR MORE PRESSURE January 2, 1996 Rangoon, AP A defiant Aung San Suu Kyi marked New Year's Eve by urging the world to apply more pressure on Burma's military government in 1997 to allow democracy. In her first meeting with reporters after nearly a month of being largely confined to her home, Suu Kyi spurned accusations by the regime that her party played a role in recent student unrest and a Christmas Day bombing that killed five people. Suu Kyi, winner of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize for her non-violent promotion of democracy, greeted journalists and about 40 members of her National League for Democracy at a New Year's Eve party at the home of a senior party leader, Kyi Maung. They watched a television news report featuring Lt Gen Khin Nyunt, one of the four chief generals of the ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council, or Slorc, blaming recent unrest on Suu Kyi's party and diehard Communists. Reporters afterward asked Suu Kyi to make a prediction for the new year and send a message to the world. "The coming new year I hope will bring progress in the direction of democracy, but it won't come without effort," she said. "I would exert the maximum pressure possible on Slorc." Street protests by hundreds of university students in early December marked the most important unrest since the 1988 pro-democracy uprising which was bloodily suppressed when troops gunned down thousands people. Khin Nyunt, head of the omnipresent military intelligence apparatus said in a two-hour news conference earlier Tuesday that 56 people remain in custody from the recent demonstrations. Hundreds more were arrested and released. Those still in custody included 13 members of Suu Kyi's party, 34 remnant members of the defunct Communist Party, and nine people who threw rocks at security forces during the demonstrations. Suu Kyi said that she believed that more than 13 of her party's members were in custody and said that Khin Nyunt had failed to provide "hard evidence" any were involved in the protests. "The only proof is that the students agree with everything we said about the education system," Suu Kyi said. "That doesn't mean that we were inciting the students. It just means that the students think the same way we do." Khin Nyunt blamed a bombing December 25 that killed five people at a Rangoon pagoda compound on Karen ethnic insurgents and a rebel group formed by exiled students after the 1988 uprising. ***************************************************************** AP: SUU KYI DEFIES SLORC January 1, 1997 RANGOON, Burma (AP) -- A temple compound closed for a week after a deadly bombing reopened Wednesday, and thousands of Burmese endured delays caused by tight security to see a sacred Buddhist relic inside. In a defiant New Year's Eve news conference, meanwhile, pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi predicted progress toward democracy in 1997 and urged foreign countries to step up pressure on Burma's military government. ``In politics, it's very difficult to say when something is going to happen,'' she said. ``Who would have thought that in 1989, the political map of eastern Europe would change so quickly?'' The Kaba Aye pagoda compound had been closed since Dec. 25, when a pair of explosions killed five people and injured 17. Many senior officials had visited the relic earlier in the day, but none were hurt. At the site Wednesday, soldiers made visitors leave their belongings 15 feet from the entrance to the compound. The line to get into the compound stretched for 200 yards. People wanted to pay respects to a 2,500-year-old tooth believed to have belonged to the Buddha. The tooth has been on loan since Dec. 6 from China, the government's biggest ally and arms supplier. The government has blamed ethnic Karen and student rebel groups based along the Thai border for the bombing. Those groups, in turn, have accused the government of staging the blast to create a pretext for a crackdown. The explosion and a series of student protests earlier in December marked the most important unrest since a pro-democracy uprising in 1988, and have deepened enmity between the hard-line regime and groups seeking multiparty democracy. Lt. Gen. Khin Nyunt, the powerful chief of military intelligence, on Tuesday accused Suu Kyi's party and Communists of fomenting the unrest. The general said 56 people are in custody in connection with the protests. Hundreds of others have been arrested and released. Suu Kyi, winner of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize for her non-violent promotion of democracy, denied the allegations Tuesday when she met reporters at the home of a senior aide. It was her first news conference since being largely confined to her own house in early December. Suu Kyi, who stared down armed soldiers in 1988 at the head of pro-democracy marches, was asked why she had not joined the student demonstrations this time. ``I do not believe in arousing the masses just to create a situation that will be favorable for our organization,'' she said. ``We want the kind of change that comes because people understand the need for a change and are committed to make it.'' *********************************************************** KYODO: NATIONAL LEAGUE FOR DEMOCRACY RESPONSIBLE FOR THE BOMB EXPLOSION December 31, 1996 YANGON, Dec. 31 (Kyodo) -- Myanmar's ruling junta claimed Tuesday that the National League for Democracy (NLD) led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and underground communists were involved in recent student unrest in the country. The allegation was made by Lt. Gen. Khin Nyunt, one of the top military rulers and secretary of the junta, known officially as the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC). Citing seized documents, Khin Nyunt also alleged at a special press conference that the student rebel group and Kayin National Union rebels were responsible for the recent bombing at the Kaba-aye Pagoda, which left five persons dead and wounded 17 others. Resident foreign correspondents, the local press, members of a national convention-convening commission and a multi-party election commission, and the rectors of universities were invited to the press conference held at the Defense Ministry. A number of government ministers were also present. In a two-hour speech at the gathering, Khin Nyunt said that of 596 people detained in connection with the Dec. 3 demonstration, 13 NLD members and 34 ''communist underground elements,'' including Burma Communist Party (BCP) leader Nyein Myint, are still under interrogation. Documents, pamphlets, letters and books seized from the arrested persons were displayed at the conference hall to back up the allegations of NLD and communist involvement. ''Taking adavantage of the student unrest in protest against police beating of three students of the Yangon Institute of Technology (YIT) in October, both the NLD and BCP underground launched their activities to destabilize the country,'' Khin Nyunt said. **************************************************************** AP: SLORC BLAMES SUU KYI FOR THE BOMB ATTACK December 31, 1996 (abridged) RANGOON, Burma (AP) -- The military government today blamed Aung San Suu Kyi's pro-democracy party and Communists for the biggest protests to sweep Burma in years and said 56 people were being held in connection with the unrest. Speaking at a press conference, Lt. Gen. Khin Nyunt also claimed that an ethnic insurgency group and exiled students had set off a bomb Christmas Day at a Rangoon pagoda which killed five persons. The general also criticized the United States for alleged interference in Burma's internal affairs. The student demonstrations, which erupted in early December, and the bomb explosion have further heightened enmity between Burma's hard-line military and pro-democracy groups. Khin Nyunt blamed the bombing on the Karen National Union, Burma's last major insurgency group still fighting the central government for greater autonomy, and the All-Burma Students Democratic Front. Both groups have denied any role in the bombing and accuse the regime of staging the explosion so it can crack down on pro-democracy opponents. Khin Nyunt, head of military intelligence, also blamed unnamed ``above-ground destructionists'' for the bombing, a term that usually refers to Suu Kyi's party. He also blamed ethnic Karenni rebels for setting off a land mine Dec. 21 near a passenger train. It was not clear where the mine was set off, and he did not say there were any injuries. ************************************************************** AP: SUU KYI'S MOVEMENT UNDER CONTROL December 29, 1996 RANGOON, Burma (AP) -- Aung San Suu Kyi attended a wedding celebration and visited a museum Sunday, but Burmese authorities signaled the pro-democracy leader would still need permission for any trip she makes outside her home. Suu Kyi, confined to her closely guarded compound since a series of student demonstrations earlier this month, could leave her house ``on a case-by-case basis'' -- after a security review of her request to go out, officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Government security cars will accompany her. Suu Kyi failed for the fifth straight weekend to appear at an intersection near her home where she has addressed supporters in the past. About 120 people turned up, waited an hour, then left. Winner of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts to bring democracy to military-ruled Burma, Suu Kyi spent six years under house arrest. The military regime freed her in 1995, but is steadily increasing restrictions on her movements again. Suu Kyi left her home for the first time in three weeks Friday to visit the grave of her mother. Until then, she had either not been able to leave her lakeside compound -- being blocked at one point by riot police -- or refused on principle to seek official permission. Sources in Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy confirmed that she attended a religious wedding celebration at a downtown monastery. Afterward, on her way home, she stopped by the former house of her father, Burma's independence hero, Aung San. The home was turned into a museum after he was assassinated July 19, 1947. Aung San's legacy is claimed by both Suu Kyi, who was 2 years old when he was gunned down during a Cabinet meeting, and the military he founded to fight British colonial rule. The army has been in power since 1962. Suu Kyi, 51, was thrust into prominence during the pro-democracy uprising of 1988. The army crushed the uprising by gunning down thousands of protesters. Suu Kyi's supporters won elections in 1990, but the regime never allowed parliament to convene. ************************************************************ THAILAND TIMES: ETHNIC SHANS FACE HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES, DESPITE MTA CEASEFIRE December 31, 1996 by Assawin Pinitwong MAE HONG SON ; Ethnic Shans in Burma's Shan state who surrendered to the .Burmese government early this year are still victims of economic and military oppression, according to Thai military sources in this northern border province. Despite the surrender of the Mon Tai Army (MTA), led by drug warlord Khun Sa, the military junta are continuing to favor ethnic Burmans in the state, whose population comprises both ethnic Shans and Chinese Haw. Under a deal brokered the junta, who have provided him with a house in Rangoon, Khun Sa continues to control the MTA' s stronghold at Homong under the supervision of the government. His former MTA troops act as a volunteer army. The Burmese government has recently evacuated more than 5,000 poor Burmans from Rangoon to Homong and have allegedly accorded the new- comers greater privileges than local Shan villagers. The Burmans have been issued ID cards, thus becoming first-class citizens, while Shans, promised ID cards by the military regime when the MTA surrendered, were refused them. The State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) is said to have put a limit on the amount of trade Shans may engage in each day, while no such restrictions have been placed on the ethnic Burmans. The government's action has prevented Shans from engaging in border trade, while expanding that of the ethnic Burmese. The SLORC has also dealt a blow to the political role of Shan people in the Homong' s affairs by increasing the number of Burmans in the committee set up to develop town. In addition, say the sources, Burmans have been appointed as Homong police officers. According to Shan villagers, the Burmese regime has of yet made no serious attempts to eradicate opium plantations in the Shan state. While they destroyed roadside plantations, they left others untouched, hoping to deceive the world into thinking that the region' s drug problem had been solved. The military junta is said to keep those opium plantations either for its own financial benefit or to keep Shans addicted to the drug, in order to reduce the likelihood of a concerted rebellion. In another development, several ethnic minority groups including parts of the Kayah, Mon, and Wah, have begun to gather their troops to wage an onslaught against the Slorc. Although they earlier signed a ceasefire agreement with the Slorc, the junta betrayed them, Burmese troops attacking several of their villages. About 500 Mon soldiers reportedly clashed with Burmese troops four or five times at the border area opposite the Thai province of Kanchanaburi last week. The Karen National Union (KNU), led by Gen Bo Mya, is also preparing to fight the Burmese troops. The group refuses to surrender unless the Slorc steps down and lets the National League for Democracy (NLD run the country. Although the NLD won a landslide victory in 1989's general election, the Slorc refused to acknowledge the result. A reliable source from the KNU said that the group is not afraid of the military junta. The KNU's stronghold was a mobile one, he said, which makes it difficult for the Burmese troops to launch an attack. The KNU's greater familiarity with the jungle area gave them an additional advantage over the Burmese army. The latest meeting of the KNU resolved to employ both military measures, including guerrilla attacks, and negotiation, the source said. ***************************************************************** NATION: BURMESE UNREST SEEN AS FUELLING TRADE IN HEROIN December 31, 1996 Parith Iampongpaiboon DRASTIC increase in heroin production due to an insurence by Burma's ethnic groups and their trafficking activities through newly-created networks will hurt Thailand in the coming years, top Thai anti-narcotics officers said. Although some 15 armed ethnic groups have already reached ceasefire agreements with the Burmese junta, known as the State Law and Order Restoration Council (Slorc), both sides remain highly suspicious of one another. Slorc, said the officers, will not be able to eliminate all the ethnic insurgencies over the next two to three years and there may e a tendency for some of the groups, which are unhappy with the truce to resume their armed struggle. Several groups in Burma's northeastern Shan state - particularly opium warlord Khun Sa's Mong Tai Army (MTA), its arch rival Wa group, as well as ex-MTA forces that have defected and formed their own movement - will continue to rely on heroin production and trafficking as their main source of income. The officers, who asked not to be identified, said that Slorc has made secret deals with the ceasefire groups in Shan state, particularly the MTA, that allows them to continue producing drugs for three years because the government does not have sufficient funds to feed them. With that scenario, Burma's production of narcotics both opium and heroin] is likely to increase. Moreover, the Burmese government will mobilise all its resources to resolve the country's first priority national security," one officer said. Khun Sa's surrender to Slorc last December had an impact on Thailand as MTA defectors are now establishing their own source of income to fight Slorc. "Thus, the main trafficking network in Burma will break up into many new ones," the officer said. Moreover, Khun Sa's surrender has made the United Wa State Army a new major drug trafficking player, as it manages to maintain its controlled territory in addition to its trafficking network in heroin. (BurmaNet Editor's Note: The UWSA has long been a major player but has prefered to be less public than Khun Sa about its activities.) "The breakup of Khun Sa's group was a golden opportunity for the Wa to expand and strengthen its net- works to replace those of Khun Sa." he said. The officer added that after Khun Sa's surrender, some MTA forces fled across the border into Laos where they later established new strong holds. This faction has already started sending drug shipments to world markets using Thailand's Phayao, Nan and Uttaradit provinces as their major routes. According to the officers, the price rise for heroin in May was a key factor in the increase in opium cultivation this year by hilltribes in Thailand. Apart from personal consumption, the highland tribes also grew more poppies to take advantage of the price increase. Because of conducive domestic and external factors, it is highly likely that some independent groups will establish more heroin refineries in Thailand, exploiting sufficient raw material supplies from both Thailand and Burma, they added. The high price has also attracted hilltribes in remote villages to start illegal heroin production, a scenario which used to take place in years past. The rugged mountainous terrains in Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai and Mae Hong Son provinces are identified as the most probable areas for the setting up of small mobile heroin refineries. The officers said that heroin traffickers in northern Thailand are forming net works to re lace those used by Khun Sa, with the Wa group standing out as the most prominent. Apart from heroin, the traffickers are also dealing in amphetamines. >From the changing situation in the Golden Triangle, Thailand will see new forms of heroin smuggled into the country. Apart from heroin, Thailand will also in the next few years suffer badly from amphetamine use. The officers said the number of amphetamine abusers will increase. While truck drivers and factory workers remain the prime user of the pill, the drug has quickly found new customers from other walks of life, such as farmers and students. Over the next few years amphetamine producers will be scattered across some 40 provinces in Thailand, a drastic change from the past when production was mainly located in Bangkok and its, neighboring provinces. Drug-trafficking bosses and government; officials involved in the illicit trade have three months to turn over a new leaf or "drastic action", Interior Minister Snoh Thienthong said yesterday. Snoh said that he wants the bosses and government officials to stop drug trafficking as a New Year's gift to the people. "I'll keep a close watch on them during the first three months the year," Snoh said "I have their names here, including senior; government officials and political officials who have become rich selling drugs. Let me be straight - there are a lot of them. I ask them to stop now. If not, I'm sorry to say that I will not tolerate their crimes and will deal with them severely." ************************************************ BUSINESS TIMES: UNOCAL HAS REASON TO WORRY January 1, 1997 IF I were Unocal, the Los Angeles-based giant that is a partner in the controversial gas pipeline project in Burma (officially known as Myanmar), I'd be worried sick. The Clinton administration, sullied by the sordid picture of a stream of exceptionally generous Asian businessmen sauntering by the White House for little policy chats, may soon have to take a high-minded moral stand somewhere in Asia. China is obviously too important to mess with, so Burma may just fit the bill. I think it'll be a bumpy road at best for any US company still doing business there. Almost no one outside Asia can abide Slorc, the odd acronym for the State Law and Order Restoration Council, the ruling junta's official name. Pointedly, US Secretary of State-designate Madeleine Albright heaps public praise on Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, the internationally acclaimed internal opponent of SLORC. Protests are popping up on US college campuses, and some localities have already voted to spurn contracts with US businesses involved with Burma. Major US newspapers, including Los Angeles Times and The New York Times, have published editorials critical of Unocal. The pressure mounts on the world's 12th largest oil company to head gracefully for the exit, as have companies like Apple Computers and Levi Strauss. It's easy to envision US economic sanctions, or at least selective boycotts, in Burma's star-crossed future. ******************************************************** REUTERS: CHRONOLOGY OF RECENT UNREST IN BURMA December 31, 1996 RANGOON, Dec 31 (Reuter) - Burma's military government on Tuesday said it had arrested 47 members of the outlawed Communist Party and the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) party for their involvement in recent unrest. Here is a chronology of the unrest and other key events that have taken place in Burma since the NLD's leader, Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, was released from house arrest in July 1995. July 10, 1995 - Government releases Suu Kyi after six years of house arrest. July 11, 1995 - Suu Kyi says still dedicated to restoration of democracy in Burma and calls for dialogue on political reform with ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC). She also urges foreigners not to invest in Burma until democracy is restored. Nov 28, 1995 - Suu Kyi withdraws NLD from National Convention which is drafting guidelines for a new constitution, saying the exercise does not represent will of the people. May 20, 1996 - SLORC launches sweeping arrests against NLD members planning to attend party congress at Suu Kyi's house coinciding with sixth anniversary of NLD's May 27, 1990 election victory. May 26, 1996 - NLD three-day party congress begins despite arrests of at least 258 NLD members who had planned to attend. SLORC says it only detained the NLD members to prevent anarchy. May 28, 1996 - Party meeting ends with NLD passing series of resolutions including controversial one giving NLD leadership power to draft version of a constitution. May 28, 1996 - Government begins series of mass rallies condemning Suu Kyi and the NLD as destructive elements aimed at destabilising the country. June 7, 1996 - SLORC passes new law effectively muzzling NLD from saying or doing anything contrary to planned constitution. Law says violators face up to 20 years in prison. June 22, 1996 - James Leander Nichols, honorary consul to several European nations and close friend of Suu Kyi, dies in Rangoon jail. He had been arrested for operating telephones and fax machines without permission. July 3, 1996 - Bomb explodes at the base of a propaganda billboard opposite U.S. embassy in Rangoon, no one injured. Sept 27, 1996 - Heavily armed riot police man checkpoints barring access to road leading to Suu Kyi's house to prevent NLD congress from taking place. Oct 1, 1996 - SLORC officials say they temporarily detained 559 activists since Sept 27, and will keep roadblocks in place to prevent unrest. Suu Kyi says up to 800 were arrested. Oct 23, 1996 - About 500 Burmese university students hold rare demonstration against SLORC's handling of scuffle between students and restaurant owner. Oct 23, 1996 - Kyi Maung, top aide to Suu Kyi, detained for five days for questioning on involvement in student protest. Nov 3, 1996 - Police detain at least a dozen people forced away from blockades preventing them from attending Suu Kyi speech. Nov 9, 1996 - Club-wielding, stone-throwing crowd attacks Suu Kyi's car and others in a motorcade as Suu Kyi heads to meet supporters standing outside barricades. Suu Kyi accuses SLORC of orchestrating attack, SLORC says it was investigating incident. Dec 2, 1996 - Up to 2,000 students stage rare street protest late into the night against police brutality and demanding political freedom and rights. Dec 3, 1996 - Students stage new protest and march through streets. Police briefly arrest about 600 protesters. Dec 4, 1996 - SLORC restricts Suu Kyi's movements, requiring her to obtain approval before she can leave her house. Dec 7, 1996 - Soldiers and riot police round up 263 students and sympathisers after using water cannons and batons to end 11-hour street protest early in the morning. Dec 9, 1996 - Burma accuses NLD and underground communist activists and student exiles of instigating protests. The NLD and Thai-based exiles deny involvement. Dec 26, 1996 - Two bombs explode at Buddhist religious site on outskirts of Rangoon, killing five and wounding 17. SLORC blames exiles and rebel Karen guerrillas for blasts. They deny accusations. Dec 31, 1996 - Burma says arrests 34 members of the Burma Communist Party (BCP) and 13 NLD members for involvement in recent unrest. ************************************************************** THAILAND TIMES: BURMESE INTERNAL AFFAIRS AFFECT LOGGING BUSINESS December 30, 1996 by Assawin Pinitwong TAK: Recent protests against the Burmese government in Rangoon have adversely affected the logging business along the Thai- Burmese border, according to Thai businessmen in the border area. The demonstrations have prompted the State Law and Order Restoration Council (Slorc) to suspend the export of logs, particularly from the Kayah and Karen states. More than 10,000 teak logs due to be exported still remain on the Burmese side, the businessmen said. The junta were afraid that the protests could spark off anti-SLORC offensives led by ethnic minority groups in the border areas, which in turn could provide an opportunity for the groups to benefit from the lucrative logging trade. The Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP), whose stronghold is at the border area opposite the Thai province of Mae Hong Son, has reportedly issued a statement calling for assistance from democratic countries. The statement, made by the group led by Kayah Prime Minister Gen Aung Than Lay, also indicated that they will support any moves against the SLORC. The KNPP condemned the SLORC, which it considers to be an unlawful government, and its use of military force against pro-democracy campaigners. The latest student protests started early this month when a large number of students took to the streets in Rangoon. Hundreds of protesters were reportedly detained by the junta, although some of them have since been released. A meeting among eight anti-SLORC ethnic minority groups (Karen National Union (KNU), KNPP, Mon. Pao, Arakan, Wah, and Chin) will be held next month. Representatives from the Shan minority, some of whom defected from drug warlord Khun Sa, will observe the gathering as well. Khun Sa, leader of the Mong Tai Army, surrendered to the military regime in January. However, many of MTA soldiers fled the troops before the surrender in order to continue the struggle for independence. ***************************************************************** JIJI: MARUBENI COMMITS TO WORK FOR BURMESE MILITARY REGIME December 25, 1996 Tokyo, Dec. 25 (Jiji Press)--Marubeni Corp. has agreed with the Myanmar government to jointly produce rice for livestock feed in the country, company officials said Wednesday. The major trading firm, together with Myanmar's Ministry of Agriculture and Forests, will set up a joint venture there in the spring of 1997 to propel the project. Marubeni will put up the majority of the new company's capital, which is expected to total around 1.5 million dollars. Using the seeds and technical skills developed by an Indian company which is in a business tie-up with Marubeni, the joint venture will aim to produce 3 million tons of livestock feed rice annually in the future, according to company officials. Marubeni's move came in response to growing demand for livestock grain in line with a rise in meat consumption, the officials said. The company will export the products to Asian countries from the year 2000, and plans an annual output of 150,000 tons in the year 2004, they said.