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Burma Related News - Dec 23, 2009.

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TIN KYI

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Dec 23, 2009, 2:55:22 PM12/23/09

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BURMA RELATED NEWS - DECEMBER 23, 2009
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AFP - Russia to deliver 20 MiG fighters to Myanmar: report
RIA Novosti - Myanmar to buy 20 MiG-29 fighters for $570 mln
AP - North Korea turns to air smuggling
AP - Weapons-carrying cargo plane headed for Sri Lanka
AP - Report: Weapons flight heading to Iran
UPI- Suu Kyi appeal to go ahead
The Buffalo News - Burmese refugees spread holiday spirit with song
UN News Centre - Credit vital to boosting development in Myanmar,
economist says
PTI - ULFA cadres fleeing to Myanmar: BSF
Xinhua - Myanmar, Japan economic cooperation reaches new height
Bernama - Myanmar To Increase Rice Export To More Countries
The Nation - 'I warned, he didn't listen'
Mizzima News - Elder brother objects to renovation of Suu Kyi’s home
The Irrawaddy - Nyi Nyi Aung Tortured: Feedom Now
DVB News - Revival of delta mangroves begins
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Russia to deliver 20 MiG fighters to Myanmar: report
Wed Dec 23, 1:31 am ET

MOSCOW (AFP) – Russia has signed a contract to deliver 20 MiG-29
fighter planes to military-run Myanmar, the daily Kommersant reported
Wednesday.

The contract was signed a few weeks ago and came to nearly 400 million
euros (570 million dollars), according to a source close to Russian
arms sales company Rosoboronexport quoted by the paper.

The Southeast Asian country is under Western sanctions but human-
rights campaigners complain that its ruling junta has received a
steady supply of arms from neighbours China and India, as well as from
Russia.

A source close to Rosoboronexport said the Russian offer beat one by
China which offered Myanmar "ultra-modern" J-10 and FC-1 fighters "on
very advantageous conditions".

The daily said Russia had already delivered 12 MiG-29s to Myanmar in
2001.

"It is the largest contract to deliver fighters of this type after the
breaking of a similar transaction with Algeria in 2007," Kommersant
said.

Algeria cancelled its order for 34 MiG-29s worth 987 million euros as
their quality was lower than expected and returned several planes to
Russia in 2008, the paper said.
*************************************************************
Russian Information Agency Novosti - Myanmar to buy 20 MiG-29 fighters
for $570 mln - paper
MOSCOW, December 23 (RIA Novosti)

A 400 million-euro ($570 mln) contract has been signed for the
delivery of Russian MiG-29 fighters for the Myanmar Air Force, a
source close to Russia's arms export monopoly told a business daily on
Wednesday.

Vedomosti quoted the source at Rosoboronexport as saying the Russian
bid to supply MiG-29 Fulcrum-D carrier-based fighter jets beat China's
offer to sell its latest J-10 and FC-1 fighters.

Myanmar was rearmed with Chinese military aircraft worth some $2
billion in the 1990s, the paper said.

The country bought 12 MiG-29 fighters in 2001, but this contract is
the largest since the 2007 unfulfilled contract to supply Algeria with
34 MiG-29 fighters.

In 2008, a contract for the supply of six MiG fighters was signed with
Sri Lanka.

Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov announced last year that
Russia would give Lebanon 10 MiG-29 fighter jets for free, Vedomosti
said.
*************************************************************
North Korea turns to air smuggling
By DENIS D. GRAY, Associated Press Writer – 47 mins ago

BANGKOK (AP) – North Korea, banned from selling arms by U.N.
sanctions, may have gambled and lost when it dispatched 35 tons of
weapons by air rather than by sea as it has done in the past.
Authorities seized the plane, which may have been bound for Iran,
during a refueling stop in Thailand.

The 11-day saga, spanning the globe from Pyongyang to Azerbaijan to
the Thai capital, remains shrouded in mystery and missing pieces,
including the final destination of the Ilyushin Il-76 cargo plane now
under Thai custody along with its five-man crew.

Among difficulties facing investigators is a fly-by-night
infrastructure seemingly rigged up for the flight, including a Hong
Kong-based company reportedly involved which was only incorporated
Nov. 2 and whose director could not be traced there or at his address
in Spain.

But experts in South Korea say one thing appears clear: North Korea is
seeking new ways to bust through a U.S.-led interdiction program of
its arms sales.

"They must have experienced difficulties finding ships to transport
cargo because of U.N. sanctions," said Yang Moo-jin, a professor at
Seoul's University of North Korean Studies. "I believe this surely
made North Korea realize that it is under great surveillance from all
directions regardless of whether it's a sea or air route, and that it
won't be easy to sell weapons."

Another analyst, Cha Du-hyeon at the Korea Institute of Defense
Analyses, said that North Korea's attempt at the air shipment
suggested that the regime was taking chances to meet a delivery
deadline, as transport by sea was heavily scrutinized.

The seizure was the first known of arms sent by air. There have been
several of sea borne weaponry. Analysts said the Bangkok seizure would
likely deter some potential buyers of North Korean weapons.

In Bangkok, Police Col. Supisarn Police said investigators have so far
found no evidence that the aircraft was bound for Iran, contradicting
a report from arms trafficking experts.

Separately, the five crew members insisted their final destination was
Sri Lanka and not Iran, their lawyer said after visiting the jailed
men, who also say they had no idea they were carrying weapons.

Defense attorney Somsak Saithong told The Associated Press the crew
also denied any knowledge of accused international weapons trafficker
Victor Bout, who is in the same prison battling extradition to the
United States on terrorism charges.

"They told me they don't know Victor Bout," Somsak said. He quoted the
five men — four from Kazakhstan and one from Belarus — as saying their
flight plan called for a refueling stop in Bangkok before flying on to
Sri Lanka. They have been charged with illegal arms possession.

But according to a flight plan seen by arms trafficking researchers,
the aircraft was chartered by Hong Kong-based Union Top Management
Ltd. to fly oil industry spare parts from Pyongyang to Tehran, Iran,
with several other stops, including Bangkok, Colombo in Sri Lanka,
Azerbaijan and Ukraine.

Union Top was set up by a company called R & G Management Consultancy,
according to a woman who answered the door at Union Top's registered
office. She said she didn't know a man called Dario Cabreros Garmendia
— who signed Union Top's incorporation in Hong Kong on Nov. 2 — and
did not know how to reach anyone at the company.

After answering several questions she asked the AP reporter to leave
the office.

Garmendia listed Barcelona, Spain, as his address on another document
related to the set up of the company. But AP reporters asked four
people living next to the location and none had heard of him or the
company.

Thai authorities, acting on a U.S. tip, impounded the Ilyushin Il-76
cargo plane after uncovering 35 tons of weapons, which officials say
included explosives, rocket-propelled grenades and components for
surface-to-air missiles.

The U.N. imposed sanctions in June banning North Korea from exporting
any arms after the communist regime conducted a nuclear test and test-
fired missiles. Impoverished North Korea is believed to earn hundreds
of millions of dollars every year by selling missiles, missile parts
and other weapons to countries such as Iran, Syria and Myanmar.

The report on the flight plan, which cited Iran as the final
destination, came from the nonprofit groups TransArms in the United
States and IPIS of Belgium. It was funded by the Belgian government
and Amnesty International. It could not be independently verified.

Saeed Jalili, Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, denied Tehran was
importing weapons from North Korea. "We are not at all after such
weapons, let alone bringing in or importing from other countries,"
told a press conference in Tokyo Monday.

South Korean analysts said that while the aircraft may have been
heading for Iran, the weapons could actually have been earmarked for
radical Middle Eastern groups like Hamas and Hezbollah which Iran has
bankrolled and supplied with weapons in the past.

Kim Tae-woon, a security expert at the Korea Institute of Defense
Analyses, said the weapons known to be aboard the plane — rocket-
propeled grenades, explosives and components for surface-to-air
missiles — were those used by insurgents, not regular armies.

"There are no insurgents in Iran, and in that sense, Iran may not be
the destination," Kim said.

Another puzzle is why the aircraft chose to risk landing in relatively
well-policed Bangkok rather than taking a "safer" route. Given the
aircraft's maximum range of more than 4,000 miles (6,440 kilometers),
it had a number of landing options.

The complex web of companies set up to facilitate shipments adds
further stumbling blocks for investigators.

Brian Johnson-Thomas of IPIS said that "this is normal it tends to be
a pattern. It is normal (for traffickers) to put in as much
obfuscation as possible so that they can't be traced backward."

But he said that it was "somewhat strange" that the company contracted
for only just one flight rather than a series of flights after going
through all the trouble.

The report says the plane was registered to Air West, a cargo
transport company in the former Soviet republic of Georgia. Asked to
comment on whether the plane was bound for Tehran, company owner Levan
Kakabadze told AP he was unaware of the plane's final destination.

Researchers say the plane's previous registration documents link it to
Air Cess and Centrafrican Airlines, which are allegedly connected to
Bout, who has been in prison in Thailand since he was arrested March
6, 2008.

But the report, which was released Monday, said there was not enough
evidence to link the plan definitively to Bout.

The plane, according to the researchers, was owned by Overseas Cargo
FZE, based in Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates where the plane also
made a landing. Officials at the company did not respond to repeated
requests for comment and the extent of its physical operations in
Sharjah was also unclear.

In recent years, Sharjah's international airport has become a hub of
many small charter and cargo carriers serving Asia, Africa and the
former Soviet republics.
*************************************************************
Weapons-carrying cargo plane headed for Sri Lanka
By DENIS D. GRAY, Associated Press Writer – 2 hrs 51 mins ago

BANGKOK (AP) – A plane seized in Bangkok with a cache of North Korean
weapons wasn't headed to Iran, a senior Thai police official said
Wednesday, contradicting a report from arms trafficking experts.

Separately, the five-man crew insisted their final destination was Sri
Lanka and not Iran, their lawyer said after visiting the jailed men.

There has been much speculation since the plane was impounded Dec. 12
about where it was headed and whether it was linked to Bout.

Police Col. Supisarn Bhaddinarinath said investigators have so far
found no evidence that the aircraft was bound for Iran, or any link
between Bout and the arms seizure.

Union Top was set up by a company called R & G Management Consultancy,
according to a woman who answered the door at Union Top's registered
office. She said she didn't know a man called Dario Cabreros
Garmendia, who signed Union Top's incorporation in Hong Kong on Nov.
2, and did not know how to reach anyone at the company.
After answering several questions she asked The Associated Press
reporter to leave the office.

Garmendia listed Barcelona, Spain, as his address on another document
related to the set up of the company.

Thai authorities, acting on a U.S. tip, impounded the Ilyushin Il-76
cargo plane after uncovering 35 tons of weapons, reportedly including
explosives, rocket-propelled grenades and components for surface-to-
air missiles.

"They always deny any involvement with the weapons or any charges they
are accused of. They told me that their job was just to fly the cargo
plane to its destination. They don't know about or had anything to do
with the cargo itself," said Somsak.

Daniel Pinkston, a Seoul-based North Korea watcher for the
International Crisis Group think tank, said while the incident remains
murky, it was clear that U.N. sanctions have not stopped North Korea
from trying to engage in arms sales.

"It's a major source of foreign exchange and earnings for the Korean
People's Army," Pinkston said. "I don't think anyone believed they
were going to desist or just say, 'OK, well, you guys wrote up a tough
resolution so we're gonna get out of this business now.'"

But he said cases such as the Bangkok seizure will likely have an
impact on those willing to purchase North Korean weapons.

"It's very clear that if you are a buyer you run a risk of losing your
cargo or getting intercepted," he said.

The Thai government has been investigating the arms cache and says it
will send the results to the United Nations.

Somsak said the five men complained that they had been forced by
police investigators into signing documents written in Thai. They
asked to be provided with a translator.

The report on the flight plan from the nonprofit groups TransArms in
the United States and IPIS of Belgium was funded by the Belgian
government and Amnesty International. It could not be independently
verified.

The report says the plane was registered to Air West, a cargo
transport company in the former Soviet republic of Georgia. Asked to
comment on whether the plane was bound for Tehran, company owner Levan
Kakabadze told The Associated Press he was unaware of the plane's
final destination.

Speaking by telephone from Batumi, Georgia, Kakabadze said he leased
the plane to the SP Trading company and could bear no responsibility
for what happened next.

But the report, which was released Monday, said there was not enough
evidence to link the plan definitively to Bout.
*************************************************************
Report: Weapons flight heading to Iran
By AOIFE WHITE and DEBORAH SEWARD, Associated Press Writers – Tue Dec
22, 7:12 pm ET

BRUSSELS (AP) – The flight plan for an aircraft seized in Thailand
with a load of illicit North Korean arms and ammunition shows that the
mysterious plane was headed to Iran, a new report from arms
trafficking researchers says.

According to the flight plan seen by researchers, the aircraft was
chartered by Hong Kong-based Union Top Management Ltd., or UTM, to fly
oil industry spare parts from Pyongyang to Tehran, with several other
stops, including in Azerbaijan and Ukraine.

Thai authorities, acting on a U.S. tip, impounded the Ilyushin Il-76
cargo plane when it made a scheduled refueling stop in Bangkok on Dec.
12, uncovering 35 tons of weapons, reportedly including explosives,
rocket-propelled grenades and components for surface-to-air missiles.
The plane's papers described its cargo as oil-drilling machinery for
delivery to Sri Lanka.

The report says the plane was registered to Air West, a cargo
transport company in the former Soviet republic of Georgia. Asked to
comment on whether the plane was bound for Tehran, company owner Levan
Kakabadze told The Associated Press that he was unaware of the plane's
final destination.

Speaking by telephone from Batumi, Georgia, Kakabadze said that he had
leased the plane to the SP Trading company and could bear no
responsibility for what happened next.

"I know that the flight documents listed the cargo as oil drilling
equipment. It turned out that they were carrying weapons," Kakabadze
said. "After leasing the plane, I can't be held responsible for what
happened. It's a problem for people who leased the plane. I have
nothing else to say."

The authors cite confidential e-mails saying that UTM had ruled out a
direct flight from Pyongyang to Tehran.

The report also raises multiple questions, including why the plane
would stop in Thailand, since arms traffickers would be wiser to fly
over China toward the former Soviet republics and on to Iran, rather
than the well-policed southeastern Asian country.

It says that the final flight plan shows that the aircraft stopped at
an Azerbaijani air force base a few miles (kilometers) north of the
capital, Baku, on its way to North Korea, and was expected to make a
stop there on its way back from Pyongyang to Tehran.

An Azerbaijani aviation spokesman Tuesday denied the plane stopped in
his country, which shares a border with neighboring Iran.

"The claims that the plane made a refueling stop in Azerbaijan have
nothing to do with reality," said Maharram Safarli, a spokesman for
the national flag carrier AZAL. "This plane has never landed in
Azerbaijan."

The report, which was released Monday, also says that the aircraft's
lease owner, SP Trading, which is located in New Zealand, was told
that the equipment on board should be brought to Ukraine first for
handling before its delivery to Pyongyang.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Petr Poroshenko has been quoted as saying
that the plane was not Ukrainian. He said the plane landed in Ukraine
on Nov. 13 empty and left empty on Dec. 8.

The researchers say that the plane's previous registration documents
link it to Air Cess and Centrafrican Airlines, which are allegedly
connected to accused weapons trafficker Victor Bout, who has been in
prison in Thailand since he was arrested March 6 and is battling
attempts to be extradited to the United States on terrorism charges.

But, the report said there was not enough evidence to link the plan
definitively to Bout.

"In the arcane and esoteric world of former Soviet aircraft
registration it is only possible to say that it is 'highly probable'
that this aircraft is the same plane which, up to a decade or so ago,
was part of a fleet of aircraft which 'quite likely' were under the
control of Mr. Bout," it said.

"But this is rather like saying that possession of one's vintage
Jaguar, which a decade ago was used as the getaway car in a bank job,
makes one a bank robber."

The aircraft itself was formerly a Soviet air force plane that was
later converted to civilian use in Ukraine before it was reportedly
exported to Malaysia in 1997. It resurfaced in Swaziland in 1998 and
was spotted again in the United Arab Emirates in 2003.
*************************************************************
Special Reports
Suu Kyi appeal to go ahead
Published: Dec. 23, 2009 at 12:31 PM

YANGON, Myanmar, Dec. 23 (UPI) -- The Supreme Court will hear pro-
democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's appeal against her latest house
detention handed down in August, Myanmar news sources report.

The decision comes as the county appears to be preparing for next
year's promised general election.

The court had turned down several requests since the Nobel Peace Prize
laureate was given 18 months for violating her previous house
detention after a U.S. man entered her lakeside home and stayed
uninvited for two days.

Suu kyi, 64, was harboring John William Yettaw who swam across the
lake and entered her house in early May. Her defense lawyers argued
that she had repeatedly asked him to leave and so was not guilty.

She has been a high-profile and often an embarrassing prisoner for the
military junta over the years since the leadership refused to
recognize her landslide win in a 1990 national election widely seen as
free and fair.

The trial in August was given much media coverage worldwide and many
heads of government -- including the United States, Russia and China
-- were vocal in their condemnation, urging the military to release
her and other political prisoners.

Analysts said at the time that the coverage had an effect and the head
of the military, Senior Gen. Than Shwe, halved the sentence and
allowed her to continue serving her time at her lakeside home.

The court's decision to hear an appeal, announced in the city of
Yangon, formerly called Rangoon and also the former capital city, was
announced amid rumors that Suu Kyi might be released, reported the
Indian-based expatriate-staffed news Web site Mizzima.

Suu Kyi had written a letter to Shwe requesting a meeting with him to
further discuss what she could do to help lift Western sanctions
against Myanmar, many imposed because of their treatment of her. Shwe
allowed her to meet some party leaders last week, Mizzima said.

However, the military has not allowed her to meet with people of her
own political party, National League for Democracy.

Easing up on the tighter aspects of her detention is one thing, but
allowing her more political room is another. The government has
scheduled national elections next year, and keeping her detained is
likely a barrier to her running again for office.

Although the military promised the elections, there is as yet no fixed
date. But there are reports of some political organizing and clashes
in villages as well as some infrastructure preparations in cities.

A street fight was reported between a pro-democracy group and the pro-
government Union Solidarity and Development Association, which has
begun campaigning in villages near Yangon, another report in Mizzima
noted.

Around 20 USDA members and 200 villagers attacked the group with
sticks and stones, according to members of the group. Their flags and
placards were set on fire, but no one was seriously injured.

There are some indications that the government is starting to spruce
up the capital, the newly built city of Naypyidaw. The Parliament
building looks like it will be completed in time for the 2010
elections, said Michael Lwin, a research fellow at Georgetown
University. Lwin recently traveled to Myanmar to research Burmese law,
culture and religion.

"Last month I saw workers scrambling to lay down asphalt from the
public street to the Parliament, on long roads that are now only
adumbrated dirt paths," he wrote on the World Focus news Web site.

He also noted that the State Department's 2008 Human Rights Report on
Myanmar listed multiple violations by the government, including
indefinite detention without charges, attacks on ethnic minorities and
infringements on civil liberties.
*************************************************************
The Buffalo News - Burmese refugees spread holiday spirit with song
By Tom Buckham - NEWS STAFF REPORTER
Updated: December 22, 2009, 10:54 AM

Putting aside any thought of the grim circumstances they left behind,
a dozen new Burmese refugees lifted their voices Monday in the crowded
vestibule of the International Institute on Delaware Avenue.

The performers were Chins, a predominantly Christian ethnic group from
the Burma region bordering India, and the songs were native Christmas
carols.

The ensemble didn’t simply harmonize, they energetically belted out
the lyrics backed by two acoustic guitars and one electric guitar
hooked to a portable amplifier. Fellow Burmese stood facing them in a
semicircle, smiling, singing and clapping along.

“In Burma, they would be singing these songs in church this week,”
said Nanda Sara, a Buddhist monk who fled his homeland, also known as
Myanmar, in 2004 and was in the vanguard of refugees who started
resettling in Western New York.

Now a caseworker at the institute, Sara does not speak the Chin
dialect but understood perfectly the tidings of joy expressed by the
exuberant choir. After all, music — in every language— has long been a
powerful antidote to political strife the world over.

The choir members are part of a tide of Burmese refugees that is
expected to total about 350 in the next year, said Denise Phillips
Beehag, International Institute director of refugee and employment
services.

They are part of a trend that has seen Erie County and Buffalo become
the state’s leading refugee destination — a distinction long and
famously owned by New York City. The county has resettled about 5,300
refugees from 45 troubled countries during the past decade, with many
more on the way.

Among the nations of origin, few are as problematic for the
international community as Burma, which has been ruled by an insular,
iron-fisted military regime since 1990.

The number of people living in abject poverty in camps along Burma’s
borders has grown to about 1.5 million, and the United Nations is
spearheading a global effort to resettle as many as possible. Ethnic
Burmese, many of whom were born in those camps, now make up the
largest refugee group served by the International Institute, Beehag
said.

“We literally meet them at the airport, buy them their first food and
then help them find housing, services and jobs,” said Executive
Director Eva Hassett. The institute is one of three local agencies
expected to welcome a total of about 1,600 refugees this year, she
said.

Burmese make up a majority of the 150 people who go to the institute
daily and two nights a week for English language classes or other
help, Hassett said.

As they have established their own community on Buffalo’s West Side,
where three houses have been converted to Buddhist monasteries,
Burmese who settled elsewhere in the United States have moved here to
join them, she said.

If his countrymen share a goal, it is the determination to succeed in
their new surroundings, in a climate that couldn’t be more different
than that of tropical Southeast Asia, Sara said.

“The weather is a little hard, but they adapt,” he said. “They can’t
go back to Burma anyway, so they say, ‘This is my home.’ ”
*************************************************************
UN News Centre - Credit vital to boosting development in Myanmar,
economist says

23 December 2009 – With 70 per cent of Myanmar’s population dependent
on agriculture, credit reform could help the Asian nation reach its
full productivity potential and enhance development, Nobel Prize-
winning economist Professor Joseph Stiglitz said after a United
Nations-backed visit to the country.

“If you’re going to reduce poverty and meet the Millennium Development
Goals [MDGs], a focus on agriculture is absolutely essential,” Mr.
Stiglitz told reporters after his trip.

Surveys, he pointed out, have shown that the cost of credit is very
high in Myanmar, with many farmers and casual labourers having to
borrow money at interest rates of 10 per cent or more per month.

The loans are reminiscent of “pay day” loans in the United States, he
said, except that the interest rates charged in Myanmar are even more
“usurious.”

While in the country, the economist met with Government officials and
academics, as well as visiting projects in rural areas.

Farmers, he said, told him that while irrigation had increased their
productivity, “because they could not get the credit to buy fertilizer
and high quality seeds, the full potential was not being realized.”

While productivity is high, “what is clear is that it’s not as high as
it could be,” Mr. Stiglitz underlined. “They have made some impressive
successes, but [they are] not living up to their full potential.”

He and other experts travelled to Myanmar at the invitation of the
Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), as
part of a development partnership requested by the Government.

The foundations of the four-day visit, according to ESCAP Executive
Secretary Noeleen Heyzer, were laid shortly after the devastating
Cyclone Nargis struck Myanmar last year when the UN body and the
Government launched their first development partnership seminar.

Mr. Stiglitz, who chairs the UN Commission of Experts on Reforms of
International Finance and Economic Structures, noted that the effects
of the devastating cyclone – including the devastation of the already-
fragile credit system and fertilizer supply – can be felt long after
the disaster itself.

Nargis showed how “even a country that is not integrated into the
global economy is being affected by the same global recession that
every country in the world has been,” he said.

Acknowledging his role as an “outsider” in the talks in Myanmar, he
said that “while [an outsider] can’t bring the knowledge of the
details that the people within a country have… he can share the
experiences” of enormous success and failures in development and the
management of natural resources.

Mr. Stiglitz also underlined how the economic and political processes
of countries are intertwined.

“If one wants to achieve security stability, economic security,
economic stability [and] sustainable development, then one has to
engage in participative processes in trying to absorb some of the
lessons of those countries that have been successful and absorb the
lessons also of countries that have been failures so you can try to
avoid those mistakes.”
*************************************************************
Press Trust of India
ULFA cadres fleeing to Myanmar: BSF
STAFF WRITER 17:7 HRS IST

Shillong, Dec 23 (PTI) ULFA rebels are infiltrating into Myanmar
following mounting pressure on them and other groups in Bangladesh,
BSF said today.

"Pressure is building on Indian insurgents in Bangladesh, where they
do not have a free run anymore. Those who don't want to surrender are
finding new pastures and one such place in Myanmar," BSF Inspector
General (Assam and Meghalaya Frontier) Prithvi Raj said.

Militants are infiltrating into Myanmar of late, he told reporters to
specific questions on the presence of ULFA in that country.

He was speaking to the media at the surrender of a Myanmar-based ULFA
militant -- 'corporal' Jatin Shaw alias Alput Thapa, the body guard of
ULFA 'commander' Sujeet Mohan who is also holed up in Myanmar.

Raj said Jatin's surrender was another step in the process of
reconciliation of the ULFA.

"The atmosphere of confrontation is giving way to the process of
reconciliation.
*************************************************************
Myanmar, Japan economic cooperation reaches new height
www.chinaview.cn 2009-12-23 13:04:51

YANGON, Dec. 23 (Xinhua) -- The current visit to Myanmar of Japanese
Deputy Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Hiroyuki Ishige has
marked a new height of economic and trade cooperation between Myanmar
and Japan.

The visit of Ishige, who was received by Myanmar Prime Minister
General Thein Sein Tuesday, represented another high-level one to Nay
Pyi Taw of Japan during this year after that of Japanese Deputy
Foreign Minister Kenichiro Sasae in June.

Ishige's visit also came more than a month after the Economic
Cooperation Committees of the Union of Myanmar Chambers of Commerce
and Industry (UMFCCI) and the Japan Chambers of Commerce and Industry
(JCCI) met in Yangon in November to seek ways of boosting trade and
investment between the two countries.

The 7th joint meeting of the economic cooperation committees of the
UMFCCI and JCCI discussed economies of Myanmar and Japan and further
cooperation between the two major business organizations.

Meanwhile, the Myanmar industrial authorities are also working
together with Japanese entrepreneurs in quality garment production to
boost the export to Japan as well as to expand its foreign market.

The Japanese entrepreneurs include those of JETRO, Association for
Overseas Technical Scholarship (AOTS) and Juki Corporation.

These organizations have been providing for Myanmar staff at all-level
training related to management, production and human resources since
February this year.

Myanmar's garment export to Japan has been increasing annually and
during last year, the export hit 135 million U.S. dollars, up 38
million dollars compared with 2007.

Japan takes up one third of Myanmar's garment export standing as
Myanmar's largest garment exporting country, followed by England,
Germany and Spain, according to statistics.

In the latest development, the Japan External Trade Organization
(JETRO) has planned to inject investment in Myanmar's industrial
sector as the first Japan-Mekong investment business mission and their
first business meeting was held in Yangon last week.

JETRO's investment in Myanmar covers motor car spare parts
manufacturing, food, garment and agricultural production.

According to compiled statistics, Japan's total investment in Myanmar
so far amounted to 216.76 million U.S. dollars in 23 projects since
1988, accounting for 1.37 percent of Myanmar's total foreign
investment and taking the 12th position.

The bilateral trade between the two countries stood at 341.8 million
U.S. dollars in the 2008-09 fiscal year, of which Myanmar's export to
Japan amounted to 179.6 million dollars with Japan ranking the 6th in
Myanmar's exporting countries line-up. Myanmar's import from Japan
took in 162.2 million dollars.
*************************************************************
December 23, 2009 09:16 AM
Myanmar To Increase Rice Export To More Countries

YANGON, Dec 23 (Bernama) -- Myanmar has been endeavouring to expand
its international rice market in a bid to increase rice export to more
other countries especially those of the European Union (EU), reported
China's Xinhua news agency.

The export of Myanmar's high-grade Ziya rice to Europe came after
coordinations were made between Myanmar and EU rice producers at the
World Rice Conference held in the Philippines in October this year.

As its market expansion, Myanmar has also planned export of good-
quality rice to Kuwait, Middle East and African countries.

The country also attended the Middle East-Africa-Asia Rice/ Grain
Global Summit in Dubai earlier in June.

The summit was held during which rice and grain producers, traders and
experts discussed investment opportunities and challenges facing the
rice and grain sectors and strengthen information exchange and
partnership to harness the potential of agricultural food investments
and production.

Myanmar enjoyed yearly rice surplus of 5 million tonnes, Xinhua said.

According to official statistics, the country generated about 30
million tonnes of rice out of 8.26 million hectares of paddy
cultivated in the last fiscal year 2008 to 2009 which ended in March.

The growing paddy output had raised the export of rice of Myanmar,
setting a new record high of the export in 2008 to 2009 with over
700,000 tonnes compared with 100,000 tonnes six years ago.

The 2008-09 rice export earned about US$200 million.

There are so far 35 private companies in the country undertaking the
export of rice to South Africa, Singapore, Sri Lanka, the United Arab
Emirate, South Korea and Egypt.

Meanwhile, the export of rice stopped for five months due to cyclone
Nargis which occurred in May last year but such export resumed since
October last year with up to 100,000 tonnes monthly.

The cyclone destroyed about 900,000 hectares of farmland which
accounted for 24 percent of the country's total cultivated area from
where 1.35 million tonnes of paddy could be produced, Xinhua cited the
statistics as saying.

Myanmar has set a new target for producing 40 million tonnes of paddy
annually over the next few years, saying that the move is not only for
self sufficiency but also for surplus in food, according to the
government's Special Projects Implementation Committee.

Agriculture represents the mainstay of Myanmar's economy with over 70
percent of the country's 57.37-million population being engaged in the
sector and contributing 40 percent to its gross domestic product.

Myanmar targeted to generate 32 million tonnes of rice in 2009-10
ending March, of which 1.5 million tonnes of rice are to be exported.

The country's per capita rice consumption stands 510 kg per year which
are for rural people, while 408 kg for urban people. The annual
consumption of rice by the entire country people reached over 17
million tonnes, statistics revealed.

Meanwhile, Myanmar is endeavoring to extend its contract farming
system to three more divisions with cultivation area in extra --
Sagaing, Ayeyawaddy and Bago in addition to Yangon's where such
project is underway.

Standing as the second main crop after rice, Myanmar's beans and
pulses also fetched large amount of foreign exchange for the country.

According to the statistics, it exported over 1.5 million tonnes of
beans and pulses in 2008-09, up 15.3 percent from 2007-08 when it
registered 1.3 million tons, earning US$806 million from the export
out of 4.25 million hectares cultivated.

Myanmar stands the second largest beans exporter in the world after
Canada with 70 percent of the crop being shipped to India.
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The Nation - 'I warned, he didn't listen'
Published on December 23, 2009

Surakiart tells court Thaksin failed to heed his strong objection
about loan to Burma

Ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra ordered the Foreign Ministry to help
Burma get an additional Bt1-billion loan from the Export-Import Bank
of Thailand (Exim Bank) despite the ministry's strong objection, Bt300
million of which might have been used to buy equipment from his
telecom empire, former foreign minister Surakiart Sathirathai
testified yesterday.

Surakiart, who was foreign minister in the Thaksin government from
2001-04, told the Supreme Court that Thaksin personally intervened in
the total Bt4-billion loan deal with Burma back in 2003-04.

Surakiart and graft-buster Klanarong Chantik yesterday testified
before the court to wrap up the prosecution's case to seize Bt76
billion from Thaksin and his former wife, Pojaman.

In cross-examining Surakiart, the defence surprisingly asked if he had
knowledge of Burma using Bt300 million of the loan to buy equipment
from ShinSat.

It was unclear why the defence raised the issue when it could reflect
poorly on Thaksin.

Surakiart replied that he was only aware of such a purchase during the
investigation by the Assets Examination Committee.

The former premier has been accused of hiding his assets illegally and
abusing his office by implementing at least five government measures
to benefit his family's vast shareholdings in Shin Corp, which was
eventually sold to Temasek Holdings of Singapore in 2006.

The court yesterday asked for more documentary evidence and witnesses
for two more hearings, scheduled for January 12 and January 14.

In his testimony Surakiart said he recalled that Burma's foreign
minister, in October 2003, had officially asked for a low-interest
Exim Bank loan of Bt3 billion to buy machinery, building materials and
other products from Thailand.

Later on, Surakiart said, Burma sought an additional US$24-million
(Bt798 million) credit line to develop its telecom infrastructure.

"As the foreign minister, I raised my objection because the government
could face criticism due to the fact that the Shinawatra family was a
major shareholder of Thailand's telecom giant [Shin Corp].

"At the time, several countries had also imposed trade sanctions on
Myanmar [Burma]. Initially, there was no reaction from PM Thaksin
until Myanmar's officials asked Thai counterparts at a regional
meeting in Phuket if it's possible to increase the loan from Bt3
billion to Bt5 billion."

"In writing, Myanmar said it would also want to buy asphalt and
building materials from Thailand. Afterwards, PM Thaksin asked the
Foreign Ministry about its position. I said I'm against it.

"Then, PM Thaksin suggested that we should meet half-way. Myanmar had
asked for Bt5 billion so we should give them Bt4 billion. That's the
deal," recalled Surakiart, who was also deputy premier in the final
year of the Thaksin government.

Meanwhile, Klanarong, a former member of the Asset Examination
Committee, told the court there were at least five policy measures
executed during Thaksin's tenure which caused public damage of Bt70
billion.

First, state-owned TOT lost a big chunk of revenue when the Thaksin
government issued an executive decree to convert the telecom
concession fees into an excise tax.

Second, TOT lost an estimated Bt60 billion in revenue after a
concession contract with Advanced Info Service (AIS), a unit of Shin
Corp, was amended to reduce the concession fee from a progressive rate
of 20-30 per cent of revenue to a flat rate of only 20 per cent.

Third, the telecom concession contract was amended to help AIS reduce
its investment requirement by Bt10 billion, thus boosting its profits.

Fourth, the satellite concession contract was amended to help ShinSat,
another unit of Shin Corp, make money from the iPSTAR satellite rather
than investing in a back-up satellite.

Fifth, state-owned Exim Bank was ordered to provide the Bt4-billion
loan to Burma to buy services from ShinSat.

Altogether, the government's measures helped boost the share price of
Shin Corp and benefited its major shareholders, he said.

Thaksin insisted last night that he was unfairly charged of being
"unusually wealthy" by the post-coup Assets Examination Committee and
said he had some Bt60 billion in assets before entering politics many
years ago.

In his weekly Internet-based radio broadcast, he said the value of
Shin Corp shares held by his family rose and fell naturally, without
his political influence.

Meanwhile Thaksin insisted last night that he was unfairly charged of
being "unusually wealthy" by the postcoup Assets Examination Committee
and said he had some Bt60 billion in assets before entering politics
many years ago.

In his weekly Internetbased radio broadcast, he said the value of Shin
Corp shares held by his family rose and fell naturally, without his
political influence.
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Elder brother objects to renovation of Suu Kyi’s home
Wednesday, 23 December 2009 19:43 Phanida

Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – Aung San Oo, elder brother of Aung San Suu Kyi,
has objected to the renovation of her house at the Rangoon City
Development Committee (RCDC).

Aung San Oo’s representative Soe Win Naing communicated his objection
against the renovation verbally to the city municipal office on
December 15, the National League for Democracy (NLD) spokesperson Nyan
Win said.

The municipal committee has already granted permission for renovation
on the upper floor verandah of the house, where a brick wall partition
is to be made. Work started since the middle of this month, he added.

Among the three children of Burma’s independence architect General
Aung San and former ambassador Khin Kyi -- Aung San Suu Kyi, is the
youngest. Middle son Aung San Linn died at a young age.

Former Prime Minister U Nu gave the house situated on the bank of Inya
Lake to Khin Kyi, while she was serving as the Burmese Ambassador to
India in 1960. Nobel Peace laureate Suu Kyi has lived in this house
since she came back to Burma in 1988.

US citizen John William Yettaw intruded into her house by swimming
across the Inya Lake in May last year. The house is being renovated
from the security point of view.

Soe Win Naing also submitted an objection letter on behalf of US
citizen Aung San Ooo to the Supreme Court in Rangoon on December 21
against the renovation.

Earlier, Aung San Oo filed an inheritance suit. Advocate Kyin Win
said that the court dismissed his application on the grounds that
foreigners are not entitled to land ownership.

But Aung San Oo’s lawyers again filed a ‘letter of administration’ on
the estate in 2001. The case is still pending in court.

Since 2007, the case has been pending as Suu Kyi could not meet her
witnesses.
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The Irrawaddy - Nyi Nyi Aung Tortured: Feedom Now
By LALIT K JHA - Wednesday, December 23, 2009

WASHINGTON—in a letter to the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture on
Tuesday, legislative counsel Beth Schwanke and Jared Genser, president
of Washington-based Freedom Now, accuse Burmese authorities of
torturing Kyaw Zaw Lwin, a.k.a Nyi Nyi Aung.

Hired by Nyi Nyi Aung's fiancee, Wa Wa Kyaw, Schwanke said in a
separate statement that Nyi Nyi Aung has been unjustly imprisoned in
Burma since Sept. 3, 2009. He is being subjected to torture by prison
officials in Burma’s notorious Insein Prison as punishment for his
hunger strike earlier this month protesting the conditions of Burma’s
political prisoners, she said.

In the joint letter to Manfred Nowak, the UN Special Rapporteur on
torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or
punishment, Schwanke and Genser said: “We write to request urgent
action in the case of Kyaw Zaw Lwin (Nyi Nyi Aung) detained in Burma's
Insein Prison. In addition to prior incidents of torture, Mr. Aung is
currently subjected to what is known in Burma as 'military dog cell'
confinement.

“It is Freedom Now's understanding that this means that Mr. Aung is
being held in solitary confinement in an 8 x 10 cell. Prison officials
keep military dogs directly across the hall, subjecting Mr. Aung to
almost constant barking. Mr. Aung has reportedly been enduring this
treatment since at least December 7, 2009; fifteen days.

“Freedom Now believes that this treatment rises to the level of
torture or, at a minimum, cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment,
given its duration and interference with his ability to sleep, and
requests your urgent assistance,” they said.

After Nyi Nyi Aung's arrest, “he was moved from interrogation center
to interrogation center throughout Burma where he was tortured,
including: food and sleep deprivation for seven days, beatings, and
denial of medical treatment,” they said.

Freedom Now assumes the initial torture was carried out by the Burmese
Special Branch, who first arrested him. They believe recent incidents
have been carried out by Insein Prison officials.

Describing the methods of torture used, Freedom Now believes that he
is “only allowed to go to the bathroom on a tray kept in his cell,”
and is “allowed out of his cell once a day to wash his face.” The
barking dogs lead to “extreme sleep deprivation.”

“Freedom Now believes this treatment began December 7, 2009, if not
before.

“The initial torture led to physical injuries, from which they believe
he has now mostly healed.

“However, these most recent incidents of torture will certainly lead
to more lasting injuries if not immediately stopped. Fifteen days of
sleep deprivation can lead to extremely serious health consequences.
Given that Mr. Aung is in a weakened condition from the initial
torture, poor conditions at Insein Prison, and his hunger strike;
Freedom Now is gravely concerned for his well-being,” they said,
adding that they do not believe Nyi Nyi Aung is receiving appropriate
medical treatment.

A well-known democracy activist, Kyaw Zaw Lwin was arrested by the
Burmese authorities on September 3, when he was attempting to visit
his mother, an imprisoned democracy activist who has cancer. He was
accused of using a forged Burmese identity card and illegally
importing currencies into the country, they said.

On Dec. 18, 53 US Congressmen wrote a letter to the Snr-Gen Than Shwe
urging Nyi Nyi Aung's release.

Among signatories to the letter were Congressmen by Howard Berman,
chairman of the powerful House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Frank
Wolf, co-chair of the Tom Lantos Human Right Commission; House
Majority Leader Steny Hoyer; Assistant to the Speaker Chris Van
Hollen; and Dan Rohrabacher, ranking member on the House Foreign
Affairs Subcommittee on International Organizations, Human Rights and
Oversight.

“Based on information relayed by the US embassy in Rangoon, it appears
that Mr. Aung's detention and trial is inconsistent with both Burmese
and international law,” the congressmen said.

Sen Jim Webb, who traveled to Burma earlier this year to secure the
release of US citizen John Yettaw, also urged the regime to grant Kyaw
Zaw Lwin all rights guaranteed under international law.

In a statement on Dec. 11, Webb expressed concern about news reports
that Kyaw Zaw Lwin had been mistreated during his detainment and that
he is being denied regular access to US consular visits.
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Revival of delta mangroves begins

Dec 23, 2009 (DVB)–In a bid to rejuvenate Burma’s cyclone-stricken
Irrawaddy delta, a Burmese environmental group is replanting swathes
of mangrove forests and boosting the breeding of salt water fish.

The programme is being undertaken by the Forest Resource Environment
Development and Conservation Association of Myanmar (FREDA).

According to the vice-chairperson, U Ohn, the forest environment in
the delta region was destroyed by cyclone Nargis, which struck in May
last year flooded some 800,000 hectares of farmland.

“When mangrove forests are destroyed, it lowers the population of
water creatures living in the mangroves,” he said. “While replanting
mangrove forests, locals can survive on fish, shrimps and crabs for
food and income.”

In a report delivered to a Southeast Asian ministers’ conference in
July, U Ohn had warned of the possible contribution that heavy
deforestation in Burma is making towards climate change.

Following the cyclone last year, the head of the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Surin Pitsuwan, said that destruction
of Burma's mangrove forests may have contributed to the devastating
impact it had.

Population increases had led to an "encroachment into the mangrove
forests which used to serve as a buffer between the rising tide,
between big waves and storms and the residential area," he said in a
speech in Singapore.

The World Rainforest Movement highlighted the problems caused by
deforestation in Burma in a 2002 report in which it described the
mangroves of the Irrawaddy delta as "some of the most degraded or
destroyed mangrove systems in the Indo-Pacific".

Around 140,000 people were killed in Burma’s worst recorded natural
disaster, which also ranks as the second deadliest North Indian
cyclone in recorded history.

“Planting mangrove trees is not a difficult job. We did it
successfully with about 14 to 17 different kind of mangrove trees 12
years ago,” said U Ohn. “Although they are not difficult to grow, they
are very difficult to maintain.”

The programme will start in Irrawaddy division’s Phyarpon district in
early 2010. If successful over the next one to two years, the
programme will be extended to other parts of the Irrawaddy division,
he said.

“We have groups providing funding for next year so we will grow more
kinds of plants and will get a chance to research which plants are
best.”

Reporting by Thurein Soe
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