Wednesday, February 27, 2019

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

In Their Own Words: Ethnic Politicians On Military’s Rebuffing of Constitutional Amendments

Posted: 27 Feb 2019 05:01 AM PST

YANGON— The ruling National League for Democracy's (NLD's) move to amend the military-drafted Constitution has drawn strong resistance from the military, or Tatmadaw, which sees safeguarding the Constitution as one of its main duties.

The military said the NLD's formation of a joint committee tasked with amending the Constitution "breached constitutional rules and parliamentary by-laws". The military's commander-in-chief and generals have come out saying they are not opposing amending the Constitution, but warned against any adjustments that might harm its "essence" or any of the 48 basic principles of the Union, as stated in the charter's Chapter 1.

The Irrawaddy recently spoke with a number of ethnic politicians and political analysts for their views on the military's resistance to the NLD's attempts at constitutional changes.

U Ye Tun(Photo: Facebook)

U Ye Tun, political analyst and former lawmaker with the Shan Nationalities Development Party (SNDP)

"It is not [true] that the formation of the committee is breaching the law. For charter amendments, a bill signed by at least 20 percent of lawmakers must be submitted before it can be discussed in Parliament. But what the NLD is doing now is not that step yet. The committee was formed to review potential amendments and that's the same as what the Parliament did under the previous [USDP] government.

I think the military dislikes [the NLD's forming of the committee] as it worries about debates and discussions on amending the articles which it is not yet willing to accept. This is because if there are any proposed amendments against their will, they will need to boycott them and that would only backfire on them politically. And if it thinks the NLD is intentionally trying to cause that to happen, it is not good."

U Sai Leik, Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD) spokesperson

"The military needs to consider whether the 2008 Constitution has been drafted with all ethnic people's wishes. It seems it is forgetting that. If the public demand charter change, it needs to accept it. Now, the ethnic parties and the ruling party are taking steps toward constitutional change. The ruling party has the public mandate and thus their attempts to amend the Constitution is the public's desire. If the military really "represents the people", it must accept amendments to the Constitution to reflect the people's aspirations. It has a duty to safeguard all constitutions [not only the 2008 Constitution].

When we are building a democratic Union for equality and autonomy, the military is just an institution. It needs to consider [the fact that] the stance of their institution doesn't represent the entire nation. If it doesn't consider that, the current peace process will be worse.

But now I think the military is just looking and thinking [about protecting] their own interests."

Htoot May(Photo: The Irrawaddy)

Htoot May, an Arakanese Upper House lawmaker

"The elected civilian government is now preparing and making reforms to establishing a democratic federal Union that the public demands. On the other hands, the military which takes a key role under the Constitution has taken a hard line [against the NLD's action] from the outset. It is not a good sign for the country.

"What is the essence? The essence [of the law] should be for the public, equality and justice. It shouldn't mean privileges for military nor any organization. Even in the basic principles [stated in the Constitution], there are plenty that need to be amended and rewritten. For example, it states "the Union's consistent objectives are [the] flourishing of a genuine, disciplined multi-party democratic system". I haven't seen such principles in any democratic country where their democracy is based on justice, human rights and freedom. If we say democracy, the administration of the defense services needs to be under the control of the head of the Union—the president—and the Parliament needs to be made up of 100 percent elected representatives.

It is we, the people, who should be concerned about the essence of the Constitution. That's because the essence of the current Constitution doesn't ensure the ethnic people's rights, it's not really designed for the State and its people. Instead it gives privileges to "an organization”. That is why we should be [talking about the essence of the Constitution], but now the wrong group is saying that."

U Min Zaw Oo(Photo: The Irrawaddy)

U Min Zaw Oo, executive director of the Myanmar Institute for Peace and Security

"The military chief also said that the military won't allow changes which would harm the basic principles of the Union [stated in the Constitution]. Among the basic principles, there are those which directly relate with the military, including enabling the military to participate in a national political leadership role in the State and allowing it the right to independently administer and adjudicate on all affairs of the armed forces [not under civilian control]. The military won't give in to amending those points. It firmly keeps holding its red line.

There will be many difficulties in carrying out constitutional amendments without having the military's agreement. To amend the military's political leadership role and its right to control security issues granted in the Constitution, we will need to go back to the peace process and negotiate with the ethnic armed groups." 

U Myo Nyunt, NLD spokesperson(Photo: The Irrawaddy)

U Myo Nyunt, NLD spokesperson

"We need to question what they (the military) means when it talks about the essence of the Constitution. The essence of the Constitution should be public representation and the deriving of the Union's sovereign power from the public.

But if they see maintaining the Tatmadaw's important role [in politics] as the essence, I would say we don't share the same view on that.

It seems that they [the military] want to amend the Constitution as they desire. But we will amend it as per the wishes of all ethnic people.

What we are doing is within the legal framework. We [the NLD] always maintain a policy of non-violence, so nothing will happen that will harm the public. I urge people not to worry and to overwhelmingly support us."

The post In Their Own Words: Ethnic Politicians On Military's Rebuffing of Constitutional Amendments appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Kachin Armed Group Asks UN to Correct Opium Claims

Posted: 27 Feb 2019 03:39 AM PST

Mon State — The Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) has asked the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) to correct a recent report that claims areas under the armed group’s control have some of the highest concentrations of opium cultivation in the country.

"When we looked at the UNODC survey, we found that they did not go to the area to do the survey for their report. They relied on information from a person or organization. If they had done the survey on the ground themselves, their survey report would not be wrong like this," KIO spokesman Col. Naw Bu told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday.

"They should confess their mistake and they should tell the people they made a mistake.”

The KIO says 6,000 acres are under poppy cultivation in Kachin State’s Special Region 1, under the control of the Kachin Border Guard Force, a former militia now under the authority of the Myanmar military. It says another 1,000 acres or more are also under poppy cultivation in the state’s Tanai Township in areas under the control of the Myanmar military itself.

The KIO sent the UNODC office in Bangkok a letter of Feb. 15 pointing out the report’s alleged mistakes and asking for a correction.

The areas under the densest cultivation, the letter says, “are actually located close to the Myanmar military and government militia camps in and around the town of Tanai.”

“By failing to mark the Myanmar military presence in the ‘armed groups’ map…a distorted picture of the link between conflict and opium is being conveyed,” it adds.

Contacted by phone for comment, the UNODC asked The Irrawaddy to email its questions. Emails sent to its Bangkok and Yangon offices have gone unanswered.

According to the report, the highest concentrations of opium cultivation are in areas under the control of the KIO in Kachin State and the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army in Shan State. It says cultivation remains most prevalent in areas with the most fighting and has dropped most dramatically in parts of Kachin and Shan with less fighting, drawing a clear relationship between conflict and opium production.

According to the survey, the total area under poppy cultivation in Myanmar dropped 12 percent to 36,100 hectares between 2017 and 2018. Despite the overall drop in cultivation, the report says Myanmar remains the major supplier of opium and heroin in East and Southeast Asia and Australia.

The survey, the UNODC’s 16th in Myanmar, was carried out in cooperation with the Home Affairs Ministry’s Central Committee for Drug Abuse Control, combining satellite imagery and a yield survey to evaluate the extent of opium poppy cultivation and production.

The post Kachin Armed Group Asks UN to Correct Opium Claims appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Military Presence Still Needed in Parliament, USDP Says

Posted: 27 Feb 2019 03:36 AM PST

NAYPYITAW—The Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) has defended the military's involvement in the country's national legislature, saying it is necessary to keep the country from breaking up, and to protect national sovereignty and unity.

Asked by The Irrawaddy whether the USDP supported amending the 2008 Constitution to limit the role of the military (or Tatmadaw) in politics, the party's senior leader, ex-general U Thaung Aye, parroted the slogan created by the former military regime: "Our Three Main National Causes—non-disintegration of the Union, non-disintegration of national unity and perpetuation of sovereignty."

"Do the 25 percent [of seats guaranteed by the Constitution to military-appointed lawmakers] in Parliament act against the interest of any particular citizen or individual? This percentage [of the parliaments formed in] in 2010 and 2015 served the non-disintegration of the Union, non-disintegration of national unity and perpetuation of sovereignty," said U Thaung Aye, who is also a lawmaker in the Lower House, at a party press conference on Monday.

He went on to repeat the military's oft-cited justification for seizing power at various times in the country's history. "Since independence, the country has almost fallen into the abyss time and again due to the haphazard management of politicians. To put it simply, the Tatmadaw has had to take care of [the problem] whenever that happened. This is the history of the Tatmadaw that can't be erased," he said.

Mandalay-based lawyer U Thein Than Oo acknowledged that the Tatmadaw saved the country many times during periods of civil war from 1948 to 1962. However, he said, Myanmar had become one of the world's poorest countries by 1988 in the years following General Ne Win's unconstitutional seizure of power in 1962.

"The country has collapsed in all aspects including politics, the economy, socially and the education system. It was not done by politicians. It was done by the military led by Gen. Ne Win," he said.

"The military seized power [again] in 1988, despite the public uprising, and retained it until 2011. [Former] President U Thein Sein is also from the military. Politicians got the country back only after the 2015 election," he added.

The Tatmadaw's image has been marred by self-seeking, power-mad military leaders, U Thein Than Oo said. He called on the military to withdraw from politics if it desires to build a genuine democracy and a genuine Union.

"The public has been robbed of 25 percent of its will," he said, referring to the 25 percent of seats in Parliament reserved for the military.

The Tatmadaw does not seem to be retreating from politics, said U Aung Thu Nyein, a director of the Institute for Strategy and Policy.

"It seems that there is still a need for lengthy negotiations between political and military leaders," he said.

At a press conference given by the Tatmadaw in Yangon on Saturday, some generals said the Tatmadaw would remain in politics as long as there are ethnic armed groups in the country.

USDP spokesperson Dr. Nanda Hla Myint denied allegations that the party is the military's proxy.

U Thaung Aye said it was necessary for the Tatmadaw to take 25 percent of the seats in Parliament because the country was still affected by rampant personality cults, partisanship and ideological disputes.

"There will be no need to demand [the military's retreat from politics] when there are politicians, political parties, individuals and organizations that really care about the interests of the people. The proportion [of military-appointed lawmakers] will decline automatically," he said.

The NLD-led government criticizes the Tatmadaw, but many of the top managers in the current government are retired generals, Dr. Nanda Hla Myint said.

"Aren't those assuming the top management positions in the organization that criticizes the Tatmadaw about this and that themselves from the Tatmadaw? Aren't they retired military officials? It is a dirty political trick to mar the image of the Tatmadaw that way. As long as there are such people, the country can't develop, can't achieve unity and peace," he said.

The parliamentary committee to draft amendments to the 2008 Constitution, whose formation was approved by a majority vote in the Union Parliament last week, is due to start its discussions soon.

Meanwhile, the USDP has also submitted a single proposed amendment to Section 261 of the Constitution. If it is approved, regional legislatures will be able to elect their own chief ministers. The ministers are currently appointed directly by the President.

The post Military Presence Still Needed in Parliament, USDP Says appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

NLD Buys 240-Million-Kyat Land Plot in Naypyitaw to House New Branch

Posted: 27 Feb 2019 01:55 AM PST

NAYPYITAW—The National League for Democracy (NLD) has bought a 16-acre plot of land in Naypyitaw for over 240 million kyats in order to open a branch in the city, according to Dr. May Win Myint, a member of the party's Central Executive Committee.

"We will open a branch in Naypyitaw. So, we have bought a 16-acre land plot for 244.5 million kyats [US$161,194]," Dr. May Win Myint, who is also a lawmaker representing Mayangon Township in the Lower House of Parliament, told reporters on Tuesday.

She did not have any details about the design of the office building, but added that the party had closely followed the instructions issued by State Counselor and NLD leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi that it would not use land officially designated as vacant or fallow land, or public property, to house the NLD office.

The money used to buy the land was collected from party lawmakers, Dr. May Win Myint said. According to party sources, NLD lawmakers must contribute 250,000 kyats a month—25 percent of their salary—to the party's coffers.

In addition to the lawmakers, NLD-appointed chief ministers and ministers of regional governments, as well as the Union president and the State Counselor herself are required to contribute to the party's funds, she said.

The total monthly contribution amounts to around 220 million kyats. So far, 2.85 billon kyats of this money has been shared among 134 townships in the country for regional development projects, NLD spokesperson Dr. Myo Nyunt told The Irrawaddy.

In line with its rules and regulations, in January next year the NLD will provide transportation and meal allowances to party members to help cover their costs related to campaigning for the 2020 election. The party does not pay a salary to rank-and-file members.

The post NLD Buys 240-Million-Kyat Land Plot in Naypyitaw to House New Branch appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Pakistan Says it Shot Down Indian Jets, Carried Out Airstrikes in Kashmir

Posted: 27 Feb 2019 12:43 AM PST

ISLAMABAD/NEW DELHI — Pakistan carried out airstrikes and shot down two Indian jets on Wednesday, Pakistani officials said, a day after Indian warplanes struck inside Pakistan for the first time since a war in 1971, prompting leading powers to urge both sides to show restraint.

Both countries have ordered airstrikes over the last two days, the first time in history that two nuclear armed powers have done so, while ground forces have exchanged fire in more than a dozen locations.

Tensions have been elevated since a suicide car bombing by Pakistan-based militants in Indian-controlled Kashmir killed at least 40 Indian paramilitary police on Feb. 14, but the risk of conflict rose dramatically on Tuesday when India launched an air strike on what it said was a militant training base.

The attack targeted the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), the group that claimed credit for the suicide attack. India said a large number of JeM fighters had been killed, but Pakistani officials said the strike was a failure and inflicted no casualties.

Indian air force planes strayed into Pakistani airspace on Wednesday after Pakistan carried out airstrikes in Indian-occupied Kashmir, said Major General Asif Ghafoor, a spokesman for the Pakistan armed forces.

“PAF shot down two Indian aircrafts inside Pakistani airspace,” he said in a tweet.

One of the aircraft fell on India’s side of Kashmir, while the second came down in Pakistani-held territory and its pilot was captured, he added.

In a statement, Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said it had hit a “non-military” target inside Indian-controlled Kashmir, but that it had avoided human loss and collateral damage.

“If India is striking at so-called terrorist backers without a shred of evidence, we also retain reciprocal rights to retaliate against elements that enjoy Indian patronage while carrying out acts of terror in Pakistan,” the statement said.

A spokesman for India’s Defense Ministry was not immediately available for comment.

Police officials in Indian-occupied Kashmir said that two Indian pilots and a civilian had died after an Indian air force plane crashed in Kashmir, but did not confirm if the plane had been shot down by Pakistani forces.

Indian officials said three Pakistani jets had also entered Indian airspace, before being intercepted and forced to turn back.

The Indian air force has ordered Kashmir’s main airport in Srinagar along with at least three others in neighboring states to close because of the two incidents, an official said.

The latest exchanges hit stock markets in both countries.

Pakistani stocks fell sharply during morning trade with the benchmark KSE 100 index down 3.34 percent and the narrower KMI 30 index down 3.6 percent in Karachi. The Indian stock market was down about 0.5 percent.

On Tuesday evening, Pakistan began shelling using heavy caliber weapons in 12 to 15 places along the de facto border in Kashmir, known as the Line of Control, a spokesman for the Indian defense forces said.

“The Indian Army retaliated for effect and our focused fire resulted in severe destruction to five posts and number of casualties,” the spokesman said.

Five Indian soldiers suffered minor wounds in the shelling that ended on Wednesday morning, he added.

“So far there are no [civilian] casualties, but there is panic among people,” said Rahul Yadav, the deputy commissioner of the Poonch district where some of the shelling took place.

“We have an evacuation plan in place, and if need arises we will evacuate people to safer areas," he said.

Officials on the Pakistani side said at least four people had been killed and seven wounded, though it was unclear if the casualties were civilian or military.

India has also continued its crackdown on suspected militants operating in Kashmir, a mountainous region that both countries claim in full but rule in part.

On Wednesday, security forces killed two Jaish militants in a gun battle, Indian police said.

Heightened security

Pakistan and India have fought three wars since independence from British colonial rule in 1947 and went to the brink a fourth in 2002 after a Pakistani militant attack on India’s Parliament.

In Mumbai, India’s financial capital, there was a visible increase in security levels for a city that has suffered numerous militant attacks in the past.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke separately with the foreign ministers of India and Pakistan and urged them to avoid “further military activity” following Tuesday’s airstrike.

“I expressed to both ministers that we encourage India and Pakistan to exercise restraint, and avoid escalation at any cost,” Pompeo said in a statement on Wednesday.

“I also encouraged both ministers to prioritize direct communication and avoid further military activity,” he said.

Both China and the European Union have also called for restraint. On Wednesday New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters also voiced concern over the escalation in tension.

In Afghanistan, the Taliban urged both sides to mediate via talks, and that further escalation could impact the Afghan peace process.

“India should not carry any further violence in Pakistan because its continuation will affect regional security also the continuation of such conflict will cost a lot for India,” Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said in a statement.

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Explosion at Govt Office in Rakhine State Injures 10

Posted: 26 Feb 2019 11:45 PM PST

SITTWE, Rakhine State — Nine employees of the General Administration Department in Rakhine State's Kyaukphyu Township and a firefighter were injured in an explosion inside the department’s compound on Tuesday evening.

The explosion occurred as staff were burning garbage at the back of the office building, according to township administrator U Soe Moe Kyaw.

"We are still investigating the cause of the explosion. Two staff members were slightly injured and eight others were sent to hospital," he told The Irrawaddy.

One of the victims sent to hospital is a firefighter who came to pick up his wife, who works for the department.

"He gave the others a hand while they were burning the garbage and he was also hit when the explosion occurred," U Soe Moe Kyaw said.

An electrical component lies on the grond near the secene of an explosion inside the compound of the General Administration Department office in Kyaukphyu Township, Rakhine State, on Wednesday. / Phyu Phyu / Facebook

Kyaukphyu residents speculated that the staff might have been burning explosive remnants of war together with the garbage.

Capt. Kyaw Zaw, head of the Kyaukphyu Township police station, said there was no explosive device involved and that the eight hospitalized victims were not in critical condition.

"None of them was seriously injured. We found old computers and accessories, stones and glass splinters at the scene. They were hit by those splinters. If it were a bomb, they would have all died," he told The Irrawaddy.

Police have not opened a case as they believed it was an accident, he added.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

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Joint Venture Chinese Company Faces Charges for Assaulting Reporters

Posted: 26 Feb 2019 11:32 PM PST

YANGON—The managing director and staff of a mining company who detained and assaulted two journalists on Tuesday, face five charges including assaulting a woman and wrongful restraint, according to the editor-in-chief of Myitkyina Journal where the reporters work.

A Chinese joint venture, Tha Khin Sit Mining, Import and Export Company's director and employees forcibly took two reporters from the office of the Myitkyina Journal one day after the journal published a story about local residents' plans to stage a protest against the companies which are carrying out site clearances for banana plantations in Waimaw Township, Kachin State.

The reporters were detained in separate rooms in the company's compound. One of the company employees slapped the female reporter's face with a copy of the Myitkyina Journal. The male reporter was forced to do 300 sit-ups as punishment. The two reporters were only released after their employers contacted Waimaw Township Police Station, which sent police officers to surround the company's compound.

The Myitkyina Journal editors opened a case against the managing director and five other employees of the mining company at the Waimaw police station under five charges: assault of a women with intent to outrage her modesty; obscene acts; wrongful restraint; voluntarily causing hurt; and abettor present when offence is committed, according to Seng Mai, publisher and editor-in-chief at the Myitkyina Journal which is a local independent weekly.

If found guilty, they could face a one-month to two-year prison sentence and a fine.

According to Myanmar TradeNet, the company is a joint venture between a local Kachin business and a Chinese partner which is active in mining, imports and exports and tissue-culture banana plantations. Registration data from the Directorate of Investment and Company Administration shows the company's three directors are ethnic Kachin.

According to the Media Law Chapter 8, if any responsibilities or ethics are considered to be breached by a news media worker, the aggrieved department, organization or individual should complain to the Myanmar Press Council first. The council can resolve the problem by meeting with the two parties and seeking a compromise between them. If the two parties cannot work out a compromise agreement, or the arguments cannot be settled, the complainant or aggrieved party can prosecute the other party at the relevant court under applicable laws, it states.

The Myanmar Press Council released a statement condemning the mining company for its wrongful criminal act and urged the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Kachin state government to take serious action against the people who committed the crime.

For more than two years, China-backed banana plantations have been facing a backlash from local residents in Kachin State, where operators are accused of working lands acquired controversially. As the banana plantations expand, villagers displaced by fighting and living in IDP camps are increasingly concerned that their land may be occupied, and that they will not be able to farm it when they return home.

According to the state's Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation Ministry, there are more than 27,000 acres planted with tissue-culture bananas in Waimaw Township, with most of the plantations being operated by Chinese companies. Statewide, there are more than 60,000 acres of banana plantations.

According to a 2017 environmental study by the Lisu Civil Society Organization, Chinese companies have been planting tissue culture bananas since 2012 in Kachin State's Special Region 1, which is under the control of the government-allied New Democratic Army-Kachin militia. It said the plantations have been gradually expanding in three townships: Bhamo, Shwegu and Waimaw Township.

According to the study, the companies are using insecticides, weed killers and fertilizers and disposing of them carelessly. This has led to the pollution of water supplies in these areas, in turn causing soil damage and killing fish and livestock.

The Irrawaddy was unable to reach anyone at Tha Khin Sit for their comments on Wednesday.

The post Joint Venture Chinese Company Faces Charges for Assaulting Reporters appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

That’s What I Don’t Like: West Java Cracks Down on ‘Adult’ Foreign Pop

Posted: 26 Feb 2019 09:00 PM PST

JAKARTA—Indonesia’s most populous province has set restrictions on when certain English-language songs can be aired on television and radio, citing concerns over “vulgar” and “negative” lyrics.

The West Java provincial broadcast commission identified 85 songs labelled “adult” that can only be aired between 10 pm and 3 am. These include Ed Sheeran’s “Shape of You”, Bruno Mars’ “That’s What I Like” and Ariana Grande’s “Love Me Harder”.

The world’s biggest Muslim-majority country has seen a rise in restrictions on content or behavior deemed pornographic, sometimes through local bylaws based on sharia in the officially secular country.

“Broadcast programs are prohibited from containing songs and/or video clips that display or contain obscenities, sex…and drugs,” Neneng Athiatul Faiziyah, a member of the commission, said on Tuesday.

She said the action followed complaints from the public and there were similar objections over thousands of songs.

Faiziyah said the broadcast commission was also drawing up a list of Indonesian language songs considered “adult”.

West Java is home to 48 million people and is known for being among the most conservative provinces in Indonesia.

At the national level, Indonesia already has strict anti-pornography laws that critics say can be misused to threaten tolerance or creative expression in the Southeast Asian country.

Indonesia’s parliament last month dropped a draft music bill after protests by artists and rights activists who were concerned that it could restrict freedom of expression.

The bill included articles that aimed to prevent the creation of music deemed to bring in negative influences from foreign cultures or that could incite the public to acts of violence or to break the law, the Jakarta Post newspaper said.

The post That’s What I Don’t Like: West Java Cracks Down on 'Adult' Foreign Pop appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Bomb Bunker, War Reporters and Charlie Chaplin: Hanoi’s Storied Metropole Hosts Kim-Trump Summit

Posted: 26 Feb 2019 08:39 PM PST

HANOI — A storied French colonial-era hotel once used by the North Vietnamese government to house foreign guests during the Vietnam War is set to host U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as they meet for a second nuclear summit on Wednesday.

The Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi has hosted dignitaries and celebrities from Charlie Chaplin on his honeymoon in 1936 to “Hanoi Jane” Fonda during her 1970s anti-war campaign and even Trump himself on a recent visit to the Vietnamese capital.

The Metropole could begin a new chapter as a symbol of peace if Trump and Kim, as some officials in Seoul and Washington expect, formally declare an end to the last remaining Cold War conflict after their two-day summit.

The United States and North Korea are technically still at war, because the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce, not a peace treaty.

“We hope Trump and Kim make some progress with their denuclearization and hopefully open North Korea to the outside world,” said Stephen Fries, a doctor from Colorado whose long-planned family trip was disrupted by preparations for the summit.

He was among two dozen Metropole guests touring an underground air raid bunker at the hotel used during the Vietnam War that was rediscovered by chance in 2011 while the hotel was renovating its poolside Bamboo bar.

Trump and Kim will meet at the Metropole at 6:30 pm on Wednesday, where the two will have a 20-minute one-on-one chat followed by a dinner with aides, the White House said.

“It’s about time there is a deal. Vietnam had been our enemy, now they are kind of a friend. I hope North Korea would become exactly like Vietnam, and maybe use it as an example to follow for its own economic development,” Fries said.

Secrets and security

The elegant interior of the 118-year-old Metropole thronged with security personnel and hotel staff on the summit eve as final preparations were made. Nearby street corners were guarded by armed police, while security staff searched potted plants around the pool.

In a letter distributed ahead of the leaders’ arrival, the hotel’s general manager notified guests of the “very strict security measures” expected in the coming days.

All but one entrance to the hotel will be blocked during the summit and a temporary checkpoint has been installed to screen guests, who need to show copies of their passports to gain access to the hotel.

The hotel, decorated with U.S. and North Korean flags, was locked down on Wednesday morning, with roads around it blocked and TV crews filming at barricades.

Trump and Kim likely chose the Metropole for its ability to keep secrets, Nguyen Dinh Thanh, former head of marketing at Metropole, told Reuters.

“When superstars come here, some journalists offered $2,000-$5,000 or more to staff to take a photo of that superstar, but that has never happened,” said Thanh.

“That shows Metropole has a tradition of keeping secrets as well as knowing how to treat VIP guests.”

Celebrities and controversies

Heads of state from European kings and British royals to U.S. and South American presidents have all chosen the Metropole as their Hanoi abode.

It has attracted celebrities such as Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt in 2007, but perhaps its most iconic guest is American actress Jane Fonda, who stayed for two weeks in 1972 when visiting then-enemy territory.

A controversial photo of her sitting with North Vietnamese troops atop an anti-aircraft gun used to shoot at American planes earned her the nickname “Hanoi Jane.”

The Metropole also hosted Graham Greene, who wrote part of his seminal 1955 work “The Quiet American” there, and numerous war correspondents during the 20-year-long Vietnam War that ended in 1975.

Trump, who stayed in the hotel on his last visit to Vietnam in 2017, has chosen the easier-to-secure JW Marriott hotel this time. Kim is staying at the Melia Hanoi hotel.

Despite its long history of hosting VIPs, the Metropole is not an ideal summit venue from a security point of view, said Le Van Cuong, who used to head the strategy institute of the Ministry of Public Security.

“Metropole is definitely more tricky to protect the leaders, especially because of the lack of space. In the protection job, space gives us advantages. Metropole sits right in the center of crowded streets, so it’s difficult to ensure security,” Cuong told Reuters.

“Singapore chose an isolated island and protection on such island is much easier, definitely easier than Metropole.”

Trump and Kim held their first summit at Singapore’s Capella hotel, a refurbished British Royal Artillery mess on the resort island of Sentosa.

The post Bomb Bunker, War Reporters and Charlie Chaplin: Hanoi’s Storied Metropole Hosts Kim-Trump Summit appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

India Launches Air Strike in Pakistan; Islamabad Denies Militant Camp Hit

Posted: 26 Feb 2019 08:22 PM PST

BALAKOT, Pakistan/NEW DELHI — India said its warplanes killed “a very large number” of fighters when they struck a militant training camp inside Pakistan on Tuesday, raising the risk of conflict between the nuclear-armed neighbors, although Pakistan officials denied there had been casualties.

Pakistan said it would respond at a time and place of its choice, with a military spokesman even alluding to its nuclear arsenal, highlighting the escalation in hostile rhetoric from both two sides since a suicide bombing in Kashmir this month.

The spokesperson said a command and control authority meeting, which decides over the use of nuclear weapons, had been convened for Wednesday, adding: “You all know what that means.”

The air strike near Balakot, a town 50 kilometers (30 miles) from the frontier, was the deepest cross-border raid launched by India since the last of its three wars with Pakistan in 1971 but there were competing claims about any damage caused.

The Indian government, facing an election in the coming months, said the air strikes hit a training camp belonging to Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), the group that claimed a suicide car bomb attack that killed at least 40 Indian paramilitary police in Kashmir on Feb. 14.

Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale said “a very large number” of militants were killed in the strikes in northeast Pakistan.

“The existence of such training facilities, capable of training hundreds of jihadi, could not have functioned without the knowledge of the Pakistani authorities,” Gokhale said. Pakistan denies harbouring JeM.

A senior Indian government source said that 300 militants had been killed in the strikes and that the warplanes had ventured as far as 80 kilometers (50 miles) inside Pakistan. But no evidence was provided to back up the claims of casualties.

The government said the action was ordered as India said it had intelligence that Jaish was planning more attacks.

Pakistani officials dismissed the Indian claims, saying the Indian aircraft had dropped their bombs in a wooded area, causing no damage or casualties.

Villagers near the town of Balakot were shaken from their sleep by the air strikes. They said only one person was wounded in the attack and they knew of no fatalities.

“We saw fallen trees and one damaged house, and four craters where the bombs had fallen,” said Mohammad Ajmal, a 25-year-old who visited the site.

A resident, who did not want to give his name, said there was a nearby madrasa Islamic college run by Jaish, though most villagers were guarded in talking about any militant neighbors.

JeM is a primarily anti-India group that forged ties with al Qaeda and has been on a UN terrorist list since 2001. In December 2001, Jaish fighters, along with members of another Pakistan-based militant group, Lashkar-e-Taiba, attacked India’s parliament, which almost led to a fourth war.

Hospitals on alert

There has been mounting impatience in India to avenge the Feb. 14 attack, which was the most deadly seen in Kashmir during an insurgency that has lasted three decades, and as news of the raid broke, celebrations erupted across the country.

“I want to assure you our country is in safe hands,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said to cheers at a rally in western India hours after the raid. “I won’t let the country down.”

Pakistan’s top civilian and military leaders rejected India’s comments that it had struck a “terrorist camp” inside Pakistan, warning that they would retaliate.

Pakistan’s National Security Committee (NSC), comprising top officials including Prime Minister Imran Khan and army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa, said Khan would “engage with global leadership to expose irresponsible Indian policy”. It also warned that “Pakistan shall respond at the time and place of its choosing” to Indian aggression.

China, Pakistan’s long-time ally, and United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged both countries to exercise restraint.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement issued in Washington that he had talked to Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj and Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi separately and encouraged both countries to “exercise restraint… and avoid further military activity.”

He said he had underscored to Qureshi “the urgency of Pakistan taking meaningful action against terrorist groups operating on its soil.”

Swaraj said she had spoken to Pompeo and Indian diplomats had met foreign ambassadors to assure them no escalation was planned.

But as fears grew that the conflict could escalate, hospitals in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province were ordered to set a quarter of beds aside for “a national cause”, officials said.

“We put all hospitals in the province on high alert due to the present situation on the border with India and issued directives to all heads of the hospitals to be prepared for any sort of emergency,” provincial secretary health Dr Farooq Jameel told Reuters.

Indian and Pakistan troops exchanged gunfire along several sectors of their contested border in Kashmir later on Tuesday and local officials on the Pakistani side said at least four people had been killed and seven wounded.

Giving the Pakistan military’s account of the Indian incursion, spokesman Major General Asif Ghafoor said Pakistani aircraft were patrolling and identified Indian jets on the Indian side of the border near Okara and Lahore in Punjab as well as Muzaffarabad where they crossed and were engaged. They left Pakistani airspace after only four minutes.

He denied the incursion had caused any damage, saying there was no debris, “not even a single brick” and no casualties.

“You have proved you are not a democracy, you have chosen the path of war,” he said, addressing his remarks to India.

The post India Launches Air Strike in Pakistan; Islamabad Denies Militant Camp Hit appeared first on The Irrawaddy.
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