Subject: B-NET NEWS JAN 23, 1996 (correct version) Date: Fri, 24 Jan 1997 00:39:01 -0800 (PST) From: strider@igc.apc.org Reply-To: Conference "reg.burma" To: Recipients of burmanet-l Subject: B-NET NEWS JAN 23, 1996 (correct version) ------------------------ BurmaNet ------------------------ "Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies" ---------------------------------------------------------- The BurmaNet News: January 23, 1997 Issue #618 HEADLINES: ========== ABSDF (WB): INSIDE REPORT-FARMER'S PROTEST KNU: SITUATION REPORT, PA-AN DISTRICT, KAREN STATE AP: 4 HURT IN SHOOTING IN BURMA BKK POST: WA REBELS FINGERED FOR RAID ON TRUCKS THAILAND TIMES: KNU BLOCKS DKBA LOGGING DEALS WITH THAIS THAILAND TIMES: ARMY CHIEF BLAMES KNU AND RANGOON SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST: JUNTA DEFIES U.S. DAP (MALAYSIA): STATEMENT BY LIM KIT SIANG PARLIAMENTARY NATION: JUNTA'S RULE NOT SEEN AS OBSTACLE TO BURMA TRADE CHICAGO TRIBUNE: CONGRESSIONAL JUNKET TO BURMA BKK POST: RANGOON BUSINESS BAN CALLED UNFAIR AFP: RADIO FREE ASIA SET TO BROADCAST TO BURMA, VIETNAM NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR: CLIMBING UP THE PANDAL POLE ANNOUNCEMENT: RE: JANUARY 19 BURMESE PROGRAM ANNOUNCEMENT: TRANSLATORS NEEDED TO VOLUNTEER ANNOUNCEMENT: FORCED LABOR PICTURES ON THE WEB ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ABSDF (WB): INSIDE REPORT-FARMER'S PROTEST January 22, 1997 brian@giasdl01.vsnl.net.in Regarding the farmers' protest in Dipeyin township of Shwe Bo district Saggaing division had been already broadcasted briefly on Democratic Voice of Burma radio (Norway) evening program on 19th Jan. 1997. It was happened due to dissatisfaction of the farmers who were forced to sell their paddy to State Law and Order Restoration Council at the rate of 14,000.00 Kyats per 100 baskets where the market price is 35,000.00 Kyats. The protest started by the farmers from Inpin village of Dipeyin township and they went on street and marched to Dipeyin town. More than 3,000 farmers from Ohndabin, Pauktaw, Khada and Methae villages located along the car road to Dipeyin joined the protest. While the farmers were marching on the way to Dipeyin, the university students joined hand in hand with them and guide them to be systematic and peaceful demonstration. They shouted their demands while on the way to Dipeyin. Their demands are as follow; 1. Stop unjust repression upon peasants. 2. Reduce the heavy taxation upon farmers. 3. Stop force-buying of crops by inappropriate price. 4. Allow to form independent peasants union. Despite the threat of gunpoint by the armed forces led by the Township Law and Order Restoration Council, chairman U Tin Htoo and police (O.C) U Than Oo, the peasants rally advanced to Dipeyin. After half an hour of the arrival of the rally at Dipeyin, the Divisional SLORC chairman and commander of North West Command Maj. Gen. Hla Myint Swe asked the peasants for a negotiation. When the peasants rally entered the Saya San Hall at Dipeyin, the SLORC people used video cameras to film each and every one, who participated in the rally. When the farmers discussed with Maj. Gen. Hla Myint Swe, they demanded to stop forced buying of paddy and crops by unsuitable price and demanded to sell fertilizer to those farmers who sell paddy to the S.L.O.R.C. Besides that they complained regarding the false statistics and data forwarded to higher concerns by the Township S.L.O.R.C.in which they have shown less acreage of paddy growing fields. They also complained against the corruption of irrigation department where it has been a usual practice to take money from the farmers while irrigating their fields. Maj. Gen. Hla Myint Swe responded as follows; 1. Farmers demands will be forwarded to the higher SLORC authorities. 2. If there is any problem for peasants they can represent those things step by and systematically. 3. This act of demonstration of farmers is an act which provoke instability of the state law order and also against the present rules and regulations. 4. Those we can forgive the recent peasants' protest but we can't bear any such repeated activities in future. 5. Such actions will be drastically responded. Soon after the above mentioned discussion, the farmers were sent back to their respective villages by buses arranged by authorities. On that very night military forces entered the concerned villages and arrested those who actively participated in the rally. Among the persons arrested up to now, Ma Moe Moe a Mandalay university student is also included. Family members of anyone is not allowed to meet those arrested and nobody knows the venue of their detention. The chairman of the Dipeyin Township Law and Order Restoration Council summoned one person from each household to attend the independence day meeting at Min Swe village without fail.There he told that the chairman of Divisional Law and Order Restoration Council and the Divisional Commanding Officer is very much angry with the recent demonstration of farmers and he warned that this kind of farmers' action will be strictly responded in the future. ******************************************************** KNU: SITUATION REPORT, PA-AN DISTRICT, KAREN STATE January 21, 1997 From: So_Nou@sala.icn.net (So Nou) Due to the failure of talks between the Karen National Union (KNU) and the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC), the situation at the front line resistance area has deteriorated. Skirmishes have increased in number between the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) and the Slorc troops. In early January, Slorc troops of Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) 549 and the Democratic Kayin Buddhist Army (DKBA) fined Thee Wah Pu villagers, Paan District, 250,000 kyats because a small battle broke out in the village resulting in one killed and one wounded on the Slorc side. Every day about thirty ox carts were ordered to clear mines along the Ta Nay Cha-Kaw Kareik road. All the villages in the Ta Nay Cha township have to volunteer to work for the Slorc troops five days a week. A statement issued by the LIB 549 was as follows: 1.Anybody who has any contact with resistance forces will be severely dealt with. 2. If there is any explosion or shots fired in the vicinity of any village, that village will be relocated immediately and a heavy fine paid. Karen National Union Information Center **************************************************************** AP: 4 HURT IN SHOOTING IN BURMA January 21, 1997 RANGOON, Burma (AP) -- Ethnic insurgents sprayed gunfire at two cars carrying pilgrims to a Buddhist temple in eastern Burma, wounding four people, the military government reported Tuesday. Sunday's attack by the Karen National Union wounded three men and an elderly woman, the government said in a statement. The report comes five days after the Karens and 15 other insurgent groups urged the ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council to open talks with them and pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, winner of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize. The government has accused the KNU and student insurgents of bombing a Rangoon pagoda compound Christmas Day, killing five people and wounding 17. The group says the government staged the bombing to justify a crackdown on dissent. ****************************************** BKK POST: WA REBELS FINGERED FOR RAID ON TRUCKS January 22, 1997 The United Wa State Army is suspected of being responsible for Monday's attack on three passenger trucks along the Thai-Burmese border. A Thai girl on board one truck was killed and three others were seriously wounded in the attack. It happened at 1 p.m. in the UWSA-controlled area inside Burma, about 8 kilometres from Ban Arunothai, Chiang Dao. According to eyewitnesses, an unknown number of men armed with M-16s and AK-47s emerged from a nearby jungle and set up a roadblock to force the three trucks loaded with Thais and Burmese to stop. After the drivers stopped the engine, the gang sprayed bullets at the trucks and left the scene without taking valuables or money eyewitnesses said. The incident prompted police to investigate the scene and found the body of the 14-year-old girl, Noi Jongsaeng. Three others who were seriously wounded were rushed to Chiang Dao hospital. Pol Maj-Gen Bovorn Songsiri, commissioner of the 3rd Region- Border Patrol Police, said the attack took place in the UWSA-controlled area. According to sources, there are 3,000 Wa tribespeople living along the border. Burmese authorities wanted these rebels to withdraw from the area, but they declined. It is thought the attack might be the work of the UWSA, which wanted to use the area as a base for the production of illicit drugs for export. (BP) *********************************************************** THAILAND TIMES: FOUR BURMESE GOVT SOLDIERS DEFECT TO KNU January 20, 1997 by Assawin Pinitwong TAK: Four young Burmese soldiers on the point of starvation surrendered to the Karen National Union (KNU), according to a KNU source yesterday. The source said the men had turned to the KNU in desperation, fearing repatriation to Burma should they surrender to Thai authorities. The KNU did not believe tho men had been sent to spy on them, the source added. Over the past two months several seriously ill and malnourished Burmese troops had given themselves up to Thai authorities in order to be fed and cured, the source said. The four soldiers, some of thom gtill in their teens, were idofltified as Than Kyaw, 23, Than Win, 19, Aung Ko Ko, 21, and Win Thein, 16. According to the source the men, who had served under the 1 2th Special Division and the 549th Infantry Battalion, had given up their arms to the KNU. The KNU officials said they would not harm the prisoners and promised to provide them with food and shelter. The Burmese army usually recruits young boys to serve in its forces, where starvation and disease are endemic. ***************************************************************** THAILAND TIMES: KNU BLOCKS DKBA LOGGING DEALS WITH THAIS January 22, 1997 Assawin Pinitwong TAK: The Karen National Union (KNU) has blocked the export of logs from Burma to the Thai border district of Tha Song Yang in an attempt to prevent its rivál, the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) from doing business with Thai timber traders, according to an informed KNU source. The source said the order came from the KNU's 7th Division headquarters located opposite Tha Song Yang district and was aimed at preventing` the DKBA from financing their military actions, particularly the purchase of weapons and ammunition. The DKBA, which is supported by the Burmese government, is reportedly receiving less supplies from Burmese troops, the source said. The group broke up with the Christian-dominant KNU due to a split in the ranks in 1994, which had later led to the fall of KNU headquarters on the Thai-Burmese border to the government troops. The DKBA was instrumental in leading Rangoon troops to the former colleagues' jungle strongholds. Both groups, which levy tax on Thai logging traders, have been fighting each other for the control of logging areas inside Burma. The traders also have to pay off to the government troops for their goods' safe passage across the border. ***************************************************************** THAILAND TIMES: ARMY CHIEF BLAMES KNU AND RANGOON FOR FAILURE OF TALKS January 22, 1997 BANGKOK: It would be near impossible for the Burmese government and members of the Karen minority group to reach cease fire agreement if both parties insist on their own demands, army chief Chettha Thanajaro said yesterday. He said that peace talks between the two groups have been held four times but still they could not come to an agreement. Each side continues to press for their own demands and would not agree to sacrifice any condition in the peace talks, Gen Chetta added. The Burmese government has demanded the Karen National Union (KNU) to lay down its arms and surrender to the Rangoon government in previous peace talks. The KNU has rejected Rangoon's demand as a condition. ***************************************************************** SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST: JUNTA DEFIES US AS 'GLOVES COME OFF' January 22, 1997 Greg Torode The military junta has vowed to stand firm in the face of possible sanctions from Washington over its treatment of democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Foreign Minister U Ohn Gyaw said Washington was "listening to the wrong people and applying all the wrong sort of pressure". "We would never yield to any pressure like this," Mr Gyaw told the Sout China Morning Post. "People should know we can stand alone . . . we are a big country with so many natural resources, we can easily feed our own mouths. The US has been listening to the wrong people and putting around a lot of misinformation. They cannot scare us." Friction is mounting between Washington and the ruling junta, the State Council for the Restoration of Law and Order. It is bracing itself for a tough few months ahead following the appointment of Madeleine Albright, a long-time critic of the regime, as President Bill Clinton's Secretary of State. And a new batch of diplomats at the US embassy in Rangoon is trying to boost already strong ties between Ms Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy and Washington. "They are pushing things as far they can" given that they recognise the junta as the Government, a diplomatic source said. "US interests are running parallel to Aung San Suu Kyi's and the lines of communication are getting stronger all the time. The gloves are coming off." Laws passed late last year force Mr Clinton to ban all new US investment in Burma if Ms Aung San Suu Kyi is "harmed, exiled or re-arrested". Both Western and Asian diplomats in Rangoon say any sanctions would have little immediate impact but could force many other countries into a harder line, putting considerable pressure on Japan in particular. US oil firms are tied up in a US$1 billion (HK$7.73 billion) gas pipeline that accounts for a third of all foreign investment committed to Burma. (SCMP) ************************************************* DAP (MALAYSIA): STATEMENT BY LIM KIT SIANG PARLIAMENTARY OPPOSITION LEADER, DEMOCRATIC ACTION PARTY January 19, 1997 From: teresa@pc.jaring.my (teresa) ASEAN should not admit Burma as a member so long as SLORC is not prepared to remove its "pariah" status in the international community ======================================================== Two reports in the last two days show that the military junta in Burma, the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC), is not prepared to remove its "pariah" status in the international community - which is the strongest reason why ASEAN should not admit Burma into the regional organisation this year. On Friday in Geneva, the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child urged Burma to end what it called systematic, forced enrolment of children in the Burmese army and called for "urgent efforts to end child military conscription and forced use of children as porters for the army." Yesterday, SLORC announced that it had convicted 20 persons for inciting student protests in December and each had been sentenced to seven years in prison. The sentencing followed secret trials under emergency legislation passed 46 years ago and frequently used against politicaldissidents. Those imprisoned include six members of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy while the identities of the other 14 people given prison sentences are not known. Also yesterday, the Burmese security forces blocked one of Suu Kyi's senior deputies from entering Rangoon's holiest shrine to meet supporters braving the military regime's crackdown on political dissent. Police and soldiers told Tin Oo, 69, vice chairman of the National League for Democracy, not to climb a steep staircase to a hill topped by the gilded Shwedagon Pagoda, where 30 supporters were waiting for him to speak. Meanwhile, university campuses at the heart of the student unrest in Rangoon last month remain closed. These are not the only marks of SLORC's "pariah" status in the international community. On 12th December last year, the United Nations General Assembly in a resolution adopted without a vote specifically referred to Burma, asking SLORC to permit unrestricted access to Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and to hold substantive dialogue with her, other political leaders and ethnic representatives. SLORC was also urged to release political prisoners, allow citizens to participate freely in the political process, and to end torture, abuse of women, forced labour and relocations and summary executions. Last June, the 83rd International Labour Conference of the International Labour Organisation (ILO)in Geneva specifically referred to child labour and abuses under the SLORC regime, including child-trafficking routes from Burma. On the drug trafficking front, Burma has more than doubled its illicit drug exports since the SLORC takeover in 1988. The United Nations Drug Control Program (UNDCP) reported at the UN-sponsored Heads of Narcotics Law Enforcement Agencies international meeting in November last year that the Asian heroin trade reaps US$63 billion in profits annually. Burma is by far the largest exporter in the region, providing over 50 percent of the world's supply. Various reports have highlighted the integration of narco dollars into the Burmese national economy with one study estimating that at least 50 percent of Burma's economy is unaccounted for and extralegal. What is most shocking and intolerable is that SLORC had remained unmoved to demands by international opinion for greater respect for human decency and dignity for the people of Burma so as to cease to be regarded as an international "pariah" state. ASEAN's international reputation and credibility will suffer a severe blow if SLORC is admitted into the regional organisation without having to make serious efforts to remove its "pariah" status in the international community. *********************************************** NATION: JUNTA'S RULE NOT SEEN AS OBSTACLE TO BURMA TRADE January 21, 1997 KULACHADA CHAIPIPAT THAILAND considers Cambodia to have less potential for foreign investment than Burma despite the fact that both countries are suffering from long-term political conflicts. Whether intentional or not, the current political situation in Burma was conspicuously absent in a speech by the president of the Export-Import Bank of Thailand, Pridiyathorn Devakula, when he addressed a Thai-Canadian business forum yesterday on the topic ''Thailand: Canada's Centre for Indochina". Pridiyathorn spoke of the aspects of Burma's economic performance which are advantageous to investors, including Rangoon's positive attitude towards privatisation, but failed to give Canadian investors a glimpse of the reality in the country. Although he did list some obstacles investors would face in Burma, he did not seem to consider the political situation as a factor that should delay or sway the decisions of investors. Thai Exim Bank last year granted a US$150 million (Bt3.75 billion) soft loan to Burma for improvements to Mandalay airport. When Pridiyathorn's speech turned to Cambodia, he immediately concluded that the country's development was hindered by political conflicts. ''At present, the political situation in Cambodia is not quite clear to foreign investors. There are still a lot of uncertainties in their view. And all of you may realise, what investors hate most is the uncertainty and that, as a result, affects Cambodia a great deal," he said. Pridiyathorn did mention Cambodia's positive attributes which should attract investors in the future, such as an inexpensive labour force, and natural and historical sites. Pessimism has surged in Cambodia in the past two years because of the political climate, while in Burma, Rangoon's suppression of its political opponents has not receded despite the symbolic release of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi from six years of house arrest last year. The member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations has decided to admit both countries into its group, although when remains unclear. The situation in Burma was not high on Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien's list of priorities during his visit to Thailand, on which he was accompanied by a delegation of 300 Canadian businessmen. However, he used Thailand as a go-between to convey his concerns over the current political situation in Burma. The Canadian leader told Prime Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh over dinner on Friday that Canada wanted to see political dialogue between the Burmese military regime and Suu Kyi. The business forum was organised to illustrate to Canadian businessmen the business potential locally and what Thailand could offer beyond functioning as a regional centre for business activities. (TN) ********************************************************* CHICAGO TRIBUNE: CONGRESSIONAL JUNKET TO BURMA January 19, 1997 Mike Dorning and Mary Jacoby Remember Burma, the Southeast Asian country where a military dictatorship overturned the results of a 1990 election and began a brutal campaign against pro-democracy activists? The regime's human rights abuses were highlighted when pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi received the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize. Well, Burmese official media report that a four-member congressional delegation led by Rep. J. Dennis Hastert, Republican from Yorkville (IL), visited in December to dine with leaders of the regime, including Gen. Maung Aye, vice chairman of the euphemistically named State Law and Order Restoration Council. The U.S. government slapped a visa ban on members of that council in retaliation for their arrest in September of hundreds of democracy activists. The congressional leaders' meetings have infuriated some human rights activists, including Chicagoan Donald Erickson, a local coordinator for the Free Burma Coalition. "He was the guest of one of the hard-liners. That regime is one of the most brutal governments in the world," Erickson said. Although the congressional team officially was on the December trip to investigate the drug trade (and, indeed, it's a good place to go for information, since the military regime is suspected of complicity with heroin smuggling), the delegation also visited the controversial Yadana gas pieline in Burma. Charges from human rights groups that slave labor is being used to build infrastructure for the pipeline has inspired a protest campaign against Unocal, a California-based energy conglomerate with a stake in the project. -------------------------- Further information for inquiring minds: These four Reps. were the guests of Gen. Maung Aye: Dennis Hastert (IL) 708-406-1114, 202-225-2976, dhastert@hr.house.gov Tom DeLay (TX) 713-240-3700, 202-225-5951 Bill Paxon (NY) 716-742-1600, 716-634-2324, 202-225-5265, bpaxon@hr.house.gov Deborah Price (OH) 614-469-5614, 202-225-2015, pryce15@hr.house.gov *********************************************** BKK POST: RANGOON BUSINESS BAN CALLED UNFAIR January 22, 1997 AP To Governor Wilson, it's 'unconstitutional' California Governor Pete Wilson said yesterday that sanctions on companies doing business with military-ruled Burma violate the US Constitution, and the suggested that Southeast Asian neighbours take the lead in demanding more democracy. Mr Wilson, in Bangkok during an eight-nation trade mission to Asia, was asked if his state government would follow the lead of California cities like San Francisco and Berkeley in adopting anti-Burma laws. "I think that frankly is unconstitutional" if they dictate to private business, the republican governor said. Boycott Burma campaigns have been building in support of Burma's pro-democracy movement. Several US and European companies have pulled out of Burma under public pressure. One of the biggest remaining - the oil company Unocal, working on a gas pipeline between Burma and Thailand - is based in Los Angeles. California is working to expand trade with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which is near to making Burma a member. (BP) *********************************************************** AFP: RADIO FREE ASIA SET TO BROADCAST TO BURMA, VIETNAM January 17, 1997 (abridged) by Veronica Smith WASHINGTON, Jan 17 (AFP) - Radio Free Asia, the controversial new US government-funded broadcasting service transmitting to China and Tibet, said Friday it will add services to Burma and Vietnam next month. Richard Richter, president of the service, said the direct Burma transmissions will begin February 3, featuring a half-hour format of breaking news and more extended, magazine-style news reporting. On February 5, the service will begin "exactly the same scenario" of programming for Vietnam. Richter said the Burma broadcasts will be heard between 7-8 a.m. and 9-10:30 p.m., while in Vietnam they will air between 5:30-6:30 a.m. and 9-10 p.m. The service anticipates having three transmitters functioning each hour to Burma, and four for Vietnam. The Voice of America probably will announce the frequencies so listeners can tune in a day before the broadcasts begin, he said. Heading the Burmese service is So Thin, a former Burmese diplomat, he said. Bich Nguyen, a scholar and writer on arts and public affairs, will direct the Vietnam service. Radio Free Asia is technically a private corporation but is funded by about 10 million dollars annually in federal government grants. Congress has charged Radio Free Asia with broadcasting news and information in eight languages to Asia: Mandarin, Tibetan, Cantonese, Burmese, Korean, Khmer, Laotian and Vietnamese. The first broadcasting, in Mandarin to China, began last September 30; the Tibetan-language service was added on December 1. Beijing condemns the direct broadcasts to the mainland as US interference in its internal affairs. Washington defends the service as a means of delivering news and information to Asian countries where such information is controlled. ********************************************* NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR: CLIMBING UP THE PANDAL POLE JUST TO BE VISIBLE TO TRAITORS WITHIN November 30, 1996 (abridged) by Sein Lun Those elected to the presidency of the United States of America for the first term have to form the government with their people and appoint in the White House posts those who campaigned for their winning the election and those who raised election campaign funds. They have to see to internal affairs as they promised during their campaign. After that, they come out into the ring to show off their styles of fighting the rival before the actual boxing match as is a custom in dealing with international affairs. As all know, George Bush, Republican President, who won in the 1988 election waged war on Iraq. He hung the banner of the United Nations with whatever sophisticated weapons there were. He obtained financial support from oil tycoons and capitalist alliance countries. George Bush led the war against Iraq to victory. His men lauded him as a colossal warlord or a war hero. However, the American people who detested wars did not elect him to the second- term presidency in the 1992 election. They punished him thus. Bill Clinton was elected to the second-term presidency in the 1996 election so that he can do what he wishes to during the tenure. There is no more third term according to their law. So he now feels free to do what he wishes to. He need not be worried even if the people do not like is activities during the second term. What he wishes to do means acts compelled to be perpetrated by American presidents to bully and dominate all parts of the world and destroy the welfare of other nations in the interests of America. American President Clinton who arrived Thailand on 26 November also went to Chulalongkon University in Bangkok and made a speech. It is learnt according to BBC and VOA broadcasts that it is a university where Myanmar expatriates, insurgents, and CIA stooges often assemble and give talks and observe the four-8s [8 August 1988 mass democracy protests] anniversary. Clinton's Chulalongkon University speech has driven a wedge to jeopardize solidarity, peace, and security of Asia and stability, peace, and goodwill relations among South- East Asian countries. He talked in his speech about Myanmar for 17 and a half lines, or in words, 109. However, BBC and VOA exaggerated it in their broadcasts to more than seven pages. President Clinton lauded Thailand's fight against drug trafficking and promised America's continued support to the cause. It is well worthy of reciting 'well done'. It seemed that Clinton had not read writings of international researchers that narcotics from the Golden Triangle had been taken out through Don Muang Airport in Bangkok, Thailand. It seemed that Clinton had not known that American diplomats, former American military officers, Western journalists, and CIA agents had been coming in and out of the camps and locations of drug trafficking. All Myanmars know that there have been reports appearing with photos in the newspapers. [section omitted] It is mentioned in the article that George Bush and his former ministers in the International Republican Institute are narcotics missionary work and providing everything necessary to Suu Kyi and her group in Myanmar Naing-Ngan [Burma]. All these facts are true. Here, the question is why can't US curb narcotic drugs flowing in from abroad though it has all modern equipment? The entire 45 million national people of Myanmar know about the nation's endeavours to eradicate narcotic drugs. These endeavours are also known to the UN and true-hearted diplomats as well as to foreign journalists and DEA agents, who are attached to the American Embassy. Those who do not know about it might be Clinton and the American Government only. Clinton without maintaining his dignity had accused Myanmar that she is producing methamphetamine drugs. (section omitted) Earlier, methamphetamine drugs valued at millions of kyats were been seized in Tachilek which is divided only by a creek from the other country. Who produce these drugs that had been smuggled into Myanmar from the other country? Please Answer it, Clinton, as you can properly read the labels. In connection with this case, I would like to present the article of JFO Mac-Alistaire which appeared on page 26 of the Time magazine issued on 7 November 1994. The story was like this: Richard Horn, an agent of DEA, attached at the American Embassy in Yangon, wished Myanmar's anti-drug campaign success. He wanted to help in this matter with all- out efforts. At that time, America, which was ignoring Myanmar's drug eradication endeavours, had stopped providing assistance. Giving politics as a reason, it had hindered the State Law and Order Restoration Council's anti-drug campaign. All the reports submitted by poor little DEA officer Horn to his superiors were blocked by the then Charge d'Affaires ai of US Embassy in Yangon and also the then head of CIA branch Mr Franklin P Huddle Jr. Mr P Huddle Jr also bugged his phone. Horn thought that he was obstructing DEA's operations. DEA officials remarked that poor little Horn never realized the true policy of the central government of America. They called him back to America and transferred him to Illinois. Unable to stand it, he sued Mr P Huddle Jr and the Department of State Affairs of US. He was just hitting a stone with his fist. Only President Clinton can give the answer that whether he actually has no knowledge of these events or whether he was knowingly speaking like this without having any consideration. He also made brazen remarks on Myanmar's internal affairs, accusing the Government of rejecting the political changes of Myanmar and telling the Government to enter into dialogue with Suu Kyi and not to oppress her. Clinton needs to understand that today's 45 million Myanmars are making great political changes by building a peaceful, modern, and developed nation which practises genuine democracy. We will never let Myanmar become a slave country with democracy in name only in accord with the wishes of the West. Suu Kyi has already been branded as an axe-handle as she is destroying his father's nation with the assistance of alien nations; it had been done at the mass rallies attended by millions of people, who also see NLD jalebis [National League for Democracy followers], numbering in hundreds only, as reserve axe-handles and handout takers. It has been precisely stated in the four-point People's Desire, which emerged from mass rallies in May and June, that axe-handles would be opposed, those trying to jeopardize stability of the State would be crushed and all internal destructive elements would be branded as common enemy and crushed. The four desires also say the people will oppose foreign nations interfering in international affairs of the State and crush all external destructive elements as the common enemy. The people have openly said that internal destructive elements and axe-handles are Suu Kyi and her cohorts with slavish stinks. People are singling her out by name like that as they can no longer control their anger against Suu Kyi, as she is harming their interests, obeying alien dictates, and has married to an alien. Normally, Myanmars, who have purity of mind, never blame others by name. The people generally use the terms, the West, neocolonialists, hegemonists, and Ngapwagyi, for alien destructive elements. Let me just tell Clinton that he is of his own volition standing before the signboard "External destructive element" and "climbing up the pandal pole" as he has insulted and slandered Myanmar, to break up tranquillity, security, and development of Asia and South-East Asia region and incite enmity between Myanmar and her neighbours. ******************************************************* ANNOUNCEMENT: RE: JANUARY 19 BURMESE PROGRAM VIA INTERNET January 21, 1997 From: "ausgeo@msn.com " Democratic Voice of Burma (SYDNEY) Dear friends. The January 19 program of the DVB SYDNEY originally on 2NBC in Australia, is now available for real-time playback via RealAudio from BurmaSong at http://users.imagiware.com/wtongue/dvb2.html This is a Burmese-language program featuring Burma news, views, and music of Burma presented by Burmese now living in Australia. It will be appreciated any suggestion about program , Please sends E-mail to (ausgeo@msn.com ). Since December 15, 1996, program files have been encoded with Real Audio 3.0. Adjustment to your player may be necessary. Many thanks to Mr Wrightson Tongue and BurmaNet DVB SYDNEY http://users.imagiware.com/wtongue/dvb2.html ******************************************************* ANNOUNCEMENT: TRANSLATORS NEEDED TO DO VOLUNTEER WORK January 22, 1997 From: Martin Sieg I am working with two organizations here in Japan, called "Pro-Democracy for Burma" and "People's Forum on Burma." Both of these groups need to translate information related to Burmese politics and human-rights into Japanese, because most of the members do not read English well. It is very important that we distribute as much information as possible to p oliticians, business people and the general population, because Japan is still one of the leading investors in Burma and the Japanese media are reluctant to tell the whole story. If you are Japanese/English bilingual and willing to help translate even a few short paragraphs, or preferably more, please contact me directly as soon as possible. Thank you FAX: (81)-3-5387-5733 please put "Martin Sieg Room 212" at the top. *************************************************** ANNOUNCEMENT: FORCED LABOR PICTURES ON THE WEB January 21, 1997 From: PON NYA Dear friends Please take a look in our Home Page (http://user.centralnet.net/honsawatoi/monland.html). I just posted some Ye-Tavoy railway construction forced labor's pictures which I received them from Bangkok. Forced labourers are included children and women. Feel free to use them for free Burma campaign. Our home page address also was changed. The one given above is new address. Pon Nya Monland Restoration Council *****************************************************