Monday, February 25, 2019

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

NLD Urges Public ‘Not to Worry’ Amid Military Warnings over Charter Reform

Posted: 25 Feb 2019 06:35 AM PST

YANGON—Amid rising tension between the military and the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) over constitutional reform, the party's spokesperson urged the public not to worry, promising that the Constitution would be amended in accordance with ethnic people's wishes.

"What we are doing is within a 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," Dr. Myo Nyunt told The Irrawaddy on Monday, calling on the public to overwhelmingly support the party's efforts.

Senior leaders of the military, or Tatmadaw, warned at a press conference in Yangon on Saturday that the NLD's move to form a joint committee tasked with amending the military-drafted Constitution, "breached constitutional rules and parliamentary by-laws," and reiterated the views expressed by military appointees in Parliament.

"We will need to wait and see what the results and consequences are [of breaching the constitutional rules]," Major-General Tun Tun Nyi said at the press conference.

The NLD has questioned the military's objection to its formation of the joint committee, pointing out that under the previous government led by the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), Parliament also initiated a process of constitutional amendment. A committee was formed to review the proposed amendments, and only after that was a bill to amend the Constitution submitted to Parliament.

The USDP-dominated Parliament only amended a few minor articles of the Constitution, and the effort was generally seen as ineffective.

"The USDP did just as we are doing in terms of constitutional amendments… Why do they [the military] only oppose it now, while they didn't oppose the formation of the committee as unconstitutional [when the USDP was in power]?" NLD vice chairman Dr. Zaw Myint Maung told local media on Sunday.

From the outset, the military appointees, who hold 25 percent of seats in Parliament as stipulated in the Constitution, have cited Chapter 12 of the charter in their rejection of the NLD's proposal to form the committee.

They said that at least 20 percent of lawmakers must agree to a bill's submission before it can be discussed in Parliament. The committee was formed after a majority of votes—from the NLD and other ethnic party members in Parliament—agreed to do so.

The senior officers repeated during Saturday's press conference that the military's main duty is "safeguarding the charter" and strongly warned that they wouldn't tolerate any amendments that harm the "essence" of the Constitution, referring to the 48 basic principles of the Union stated in Chapter 1 of the charter.

NLD spokesperson Dr. Myo Nyunt told The Irrawaddy on Monday that 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," he said.

He added that the proposed amendments to the Constitution will only be submitted after all members of the amendment panel, including ethnic parties and independent candidates, reach a common agreement.

"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," the spokesperson added.

The post NLD Urges Public 'Not to Worry' Amid Military Warnings over Charter Reform appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

A Tale of 3 Myanmar Political Assassination Plots

Posted: 25 Feb 2019 05:57 AM PST

YANGON—Two weeks ago, a Yangon court handed down death sentences to two men involved in the killing of National League for Democracy (NLD) legal adviser U Ko Ni, who was gunned down at point blank range outside Yangon International Airport two years ago.

With U Ko Ni's assassination widely believed to be politically motivated, these were the highest-profile capital cases in Myanmar's recent history. U Ko Ni was a longtime advocate for amending the country's Constitution, mainly to diminish the military's involvement in politics. The Constitution was drafted by the military and is widely criticized as undemocratic. At the time of his death, the 63-year-old lawyer was advising the ruling NLD on charter reform.

On Feb. 15, a judge at Yangon's Northern District Court pronounced that convicted gunman Kyi Lin should be hanged for his premeditated murder of U Ko Ni. His accomplice Aung Win Zaw received the same sentence for helping to plan the killing. (Two others received prison sentences while another major suspect is still at large.)

Since independence, U Ko Ni's case is the third political assassination plot—successful or otherwise—that has led to the death sentence and gripped the public.

Seventy years before U Ko Ni's bloody assassination in Yangon, Myanmar national hero General Aung San and his cabinet members were shot to death during a meeting at the city's Secretariat. The killings, which took place less than one year before the country achieved independence from the British, were masterminded by U Saw, a former prime minister of British Burma and the general's bitter political rival.

U Saw, center, on the gallows at Insein Prison on May 8, 1948.

U Saw and nine men were put on trial for the assassinations, and a special tribunal handed down death sentences to all of them in December 1947 after convicting them of committing or abetting the murders. But only U Saw and five accomplices were executed on a late summer morning in May 1948.

As the gray dawn broke on the day, witnesses said, U Saw emerged from his cell and smiled to everyone he saw on his way to the gallows. The 48-year-old paid his last respects to a Buddha statue on the way. He even shook hands with some of the officers supervising the execution and said goodbye. While U Saw paid with his life, his family's suffering lasted long after his death for they became virtual outcasts for what he had done.

The case may have appeared to be open-and-shut, but many loose ends were left hanging, leading to conspiracy theories and rumors of other participants in the assassination plot, including British Army officers.

In his book "A Trial in Burma", which tells the full story of the assassination and trial in the context of the politics and personalities involved, author Dr. Maung Maung, a former assistant attorney-general who briefly served as Myanmar's president in 1988, writes that Britain itself was on trial in the eyes of the public, as rumors swirled that figures in London supported the plot, believing that with Aung San gone and U Saw in charge, Burma might be kept in the British fold. As a result, to this day many Myanmar people still suspect the British were behind Gen. Aung San's killing.

Twenty-nine years later, in March 1976, another assassination plot was hatched, this time within Myanmar's military circles targeting state leaders including the president, General Ne Win; U San Yu, who was general secretary of the then ruling Burma Socialist Program Party (BSPP); and National Intelligence Chief Colonel Tin Oo.

The coup plotters—a group of young army officers led by a captain—were unhappy with Ne Win's Burmese Way to Socialism, as well as his recent ouster of General Tin Oo as defense minister and chief of staff. The general was quite popular among army personnel at the time. (U Tin Oo went on to become one of the founders of Myanmar's currently ruling NLD and is currently the patron of the party.) They wanted to restore Gen. Tin Oo to his former position.

The assassination was planned to take place at the Armed Forces Day dinner on March 27 at the Presidential Residence on Yangon's Ahlone Road. It didn't happen, however, due to poor coordination among the plotters and the long distance between the site where their weapons were stored and the targeted location. The plotters aborted the plan and agreed to make another attempt later. The plan was leaked, however, and arrests began.

On the evening of July 2, a frightened 36-year-old man appeared at the entrance to the compound of then U.S. Ambassador David L. Osborn on Pyay Road asking for political asylum.

Capt. Ohn Kyaw Myint (right) stands trial.

The panic-stricken man was the leader of the failed coup, Captain Ohn Kyaw Myint. He told the ambassador that the plot had been uncovered and that he feared imminent arrest.

Unfortunately, his request fell on deaf ears, as the U.S. government was trying to maintain good relations with Burma at the time. Embassy officials persuaded the fugitive to get into an embassy car and drove into the city while asking him for details about himself and the other plotters. During the ride, they refused his asylum request and managed to get him to leave the car voluntarily somewhere downtown.

The New York Times reported in late August of 1976 that Osborn said he called on the authorities the following morning to report that a man claiming to be an officer had requested asylum. The embassy did not want the Burmese government to suspect U.S. complicity in the reported coup attempt.

The paper said it learned independently that the ambassador had not notified the Foreign Ministry, which would have been in accordance with protocol, but had made his report to Col. Tin Oo, the chief of intelligence. A few days later Capt. Ohn Kyaw Myint was arrested. Along with 13 others, he was put on trial. The trial ended on Jan. 11, 1977 with the captain being sentenced to death, while having also earned the public's silent admiration. Capt. Ohn Kyaw Myint was executed in 1979 without his family's knowledge, according to U Win Htein, who was then an Army captain and went on to become an aide to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi until early last year. U Win Htein was himself dismissed from the army in 1977 for withholding information about the plot.

Forty-one years later in 2017, NLD legal adviser U Ko Ni was shot dead. While the victim himself did not hold a position in the state leadership, as in previous cases, his endeavors on behalf of constitutional amendment were unquestioningly remarkable and important for Myanmar. Were it not for his expertise in the Constitution, there would have been no "State Counselor" position created for Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, allowing her to serve as the de facto head of state. The position was necessary as the military-drafted charter bans her from holding the presidency. He advised the NLD on what should be changed in the Constitution in order to make it democratic for the betterment of all Myanmar citizens, bestowing equal rights and self-determination on the country's diverse ethnic minorities. The motive behind the assassination is an open secret. For his relentless activism and contributions to the NLD on charter reform, he was rewarded with a bullet to the head.

In all three high-profile assassinations, the victims attracted varying levels of public sympathy. The whole nation mourned the loss of its leader Aung San and his cabinet. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi praised U Ko Ni as a "martyr" and a majority of the people remember him as a "hero" who sacrificed his life while helping to shape a better Myanmar society bound by a democratic constitution. At the same time, his killing epitomizes how difficult it will be to change the charter. The failed assassination attempt against Ne Win and his colleagues was a source of public dismay. Their survival led the country to become poorer and the people continued to suffer for decades to come.

Kyi Lin (center) and Aung Win Zaw (right) appear at a court hearing in April 2017. / The Irrawaddy

Given the diverse motives for these attempted and successful killings, public opinion regarding the assassins is varied as well. U Saw and his men have gone down in history as a national disgrace. This will also be the case for Kyi Lin and Aung Win Zaw, U Ko Ni's assassins. Despite their death penalties, some questions remain unanswered, such as who masterminded the killing. Only when those behind it are brought to trial will justice be done for the slain Muslim lawyer. Capt. Ohn Kyaw Myint may be a daredevil in the eyes of some due to his unrealistic coup plot. Nobody can deny, however, that he tried to change the regime. He gave his life in the fight against the repressive Ne Win regime. He deserves praise for that.

The post A Tale of 3 Myanmar Political Assassination Plots appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Selling Rakhine to the World

Posted: 25 Feb 2019 05:44 AM PST

In the wake of the 2017 Rohingya crisis and ongoing fighting between the military and Arakan Army, the Myanmar government is desperate to attract investors to Rakhine State in hopes that they will help reverse the fortunes of one of the country’s poorest regions. To that end, it invited more than 600 of them to the beach resort town of Ngapali on Thursday, Friday and Saturday for the first ever Rakhine State Investment Fair, which was opened by State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi herself. Foreign and domestic companies signed 28 expressions of interest for projects worth a potential $4.9 billion.

Businessman U Htun Htun Naing has been playing a key role in helping the state government bring investors to Rakhine. He is also chairman and group CEO of Blue Ocean Investments and of Blue Ocean Operating Management Co. Ltd, based in Yangon. The Irrawaddy's Nan Lwin spoke with him about the current investment climate, China, Japanese and Indian interest in Rakhine, and what government technocrats are doing to try to revive Rakhine’s image abroad.

What sectors in Rakhine have the most potential for investment?

Rakhine State has abundant opportunities for investment. The Rakhine Investment Fair wants to attract both foreign and local investment, particularly for infrastructure projects such as building and upgrading roads, bridges and ports. Once we receive investment for infrastructure, we can move on to production-based industry, the fisheries sector, and service-based and value-added industry.

What are the priority foreign investment projects for Rakhine State?

Speaking of infrastructure projects, we now have investors for the Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone in Kyaukphyu, and also for the Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project in Sittway. However, we need to upgrade road access to other parts of the country. We have improved access to electricity for the public, but we still need more for industrial use. The government is currently implementing a 30 MW power plant project in Kyaukphyu. We need airports. For example, we need to upgrade the Thandwe and Mrauk-U airports. After all those projects are completed, conditions will be better for additional investment here.

State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi visits a fabric stall at the Rakhine State Investment Fair in Ngapali, Rakhine State, on Friday. / State Counselor’s Office / Facebook

As far as we know, the Rakhine State government has invited investors to invest in six major projects. Are the investors interested in investing in those projects?

Yes. We have showcased six major projects from the project bank that was introduced by the Union government at the Invest Myanmar Summit in Naypyitaw. Actually, Rakhine has more than that. That's why we are having a separate investment fair. In terms of the countries interested in investing in Rakhine, China is the top country, Japan is second and [South] Korea is third. Furthermore, among neighboring countries, India and Thailand are also interested in investing in Rakhine.

Which projects do they want to invest in and why?

There is a power play among the countries. After China and Myanmar agreed to implement the Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone, Japan and Korea also became interested in initiating mega-projects in Rakhine State. Rakhine occupies a unique geographic position next the India. We have the greatest sea access and own the longest coastline in Myanmar. So investors really love to invest in Rakhine.

However, it would be better if we had more investment, particularly from Korea, Thailand and India rather than China. Because, as we have said, we would like to invite responsible and sustainable investment from foreign investors.

You mentioned that Japan and Korea are interested in mega-infrastructure projects. Can you provide more details about these projects?

Korean investors are eyeing the construction of a new city that they have submitted a proposal for. Moreover, Japan has proposed building both mega and small industrials parks in Rakhine. Thai investors are interested in investing in the tourism sector, especially in Ngapali and Mrauk-U.

If we can upgrade and build airports in Mrauk-U and Ngapali, that would help boost the tourism sector in Rakhine. India is also interested to operate ports. Although India and Myanmar have been working on the Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project, the Rakhine government just received new proposals from Indian and local investors to build ports in other part of Rakhine.

When we talk about foreign investment in Rakhine State, the investors mostly point out infrastructure problems, electricity and roads in particular. How are you dealing with the infrastructure problems?

When it comes to attracting foreign investment, electricity and roads are crucial for Rakhine State. We will start a mega-electricity project in Kyaukphyu. Moreover, the government has plans for electric power projects in Sittway and Ponnagyun. The government also received proposals for a mini-grid to provide electricity to villages.

Furthermore, we only have access to the sea. We also need better access to the interior. We will need upgraded roads to reach China if we are to implement the One Belt One Road Initiative projects. If we have better road access, we can be the major hub for transporting goods from upper Myanmar to India. So we need to upgrade road access. The government is also inviting BOT [build, operate, transfer] for the road construction projects.

We all know Rakhine has problems securing investment because of the Rohingya crisis and the armed conflict. What is your opinion on that?

Rakhine is a big state that stretches from south to north. The crisis happened in the northern part of the state — Buthidaung and Maungdaw — which borders Bangladesh. Except for Buthidaung and Maungdaw, the rest of the cities — Sittwe, Mrauk-U and Kyauktaw — are peaceful. Kyaukphyu, Thandwe, Gwa, Manaung and Ngapali in particular are the most pleasant places in southern Rakhine. When we look at the map, the crisis happened in a small part that is less than 10 percent of Rakhine State.

However, Rakhine's image has been tarnished because of the international media’s portrayal. Now we are conducting a "Beautiful Rakhine" campaign to revive our image. As you see today, 65 percent of the attendees at the fair are foreign investors and only 35 percent are local investors.

We have problems, but we can solve them. Investment should aim for long-term benefits. I hope investors can invest more for the long-term benefit of the state. We also found out that the root causes of Rakhine's problems are education and the economy. If we have improvements in education and the economy, we will have less crisis. This was also mentioned in a report by late U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

What are the government and your team doing to revive Rakhine's image?

As a first step, we are working on the" Beautiful Rakhine" campaign together with the Rakhine government. We uploaded a lot of photos that show the beauty of Rakhine. We currently reach 7 million people on Facebook. As a second step, we participated in the Invest Myanmar Summit in Naypyitaw. As a third step, we will publish a report about the results of this fair including short- and long-term plans for implementing the investment agreements. We have also traveled abroad to China, India and elsewhere to attract investment and to explain Rakhine's situation.

The post Selling Rakhine to the World appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Photographer Tells the Dark Side of the Elephant’s Story in Myanmar

Posted: 25 Feb 2019 04:21 AM PST

YANGON—Freelance documentary photographer Ko Myo fell in love with elephants when he started photographing the beautiful story of a mahout and his best friend, an elephant called Pho Khwar, and this love has motivated him to spend several years photographing the gentle giants.

"When I got to know more about elephants—their behavior, their nature—I came to love them more and more and wanted to protect them from cruel poachers," said Ko Myo.

Back in 2015, Ko Myo was searching for a topic for his photo essay. His mother told him that people in Bagan still use elephants for traditional ceremonies.

"I started questioning why elephants are going among crowds, why they are working under the bright sunlight. I went to Bagan to see them but they had already left," Ko Myo said.

Luckily, he managed to get the details of the group providing elephant services for the traditional event he had just missed. He traveled to Yinmabin in Sagaing Region.

"I didn't know anything about elephants; I didn't even know what story I could get, so I asked the elephant owner everything," he said, recalling the beginning of his long journey.

Here, he heard the touching story of the elephant Pho Khwar and his best friend, the mahout, and started to capture their story.

Ko Myo taking a photo of a pachyderm somewhere in the jungle. / Supplied

Both the mahout and elephant are 18 years old. They grew up in different elephant camps but after they met, they became best friends—now they play together, eat together and sleep close to one another.

"They are like brothers," said Ko Myo.

The photo essay he created about them, "Brothers," won fourth prize at the 2015 Yangon Photo Festival.

But the story of the elephant in Myanmar is not usually a happy one.

He recalls witnessing a tragic moment of violence between a group of wild elephants and villagers in Kyaukpadaung, Mandalay Region.

"It was in 2015. Six wild elephants from the Bago [mountain range] had wandered into Kyaukpadaung Township. They passed through many villages and so many people came together and used some tame elephants to urge them to change their direction and to go back to their habitat in the Bago mountains. I followed them," Ko Myo recalled.

"At one place, there was a gorge and the elephants were in the middle. The people were scaring them from both sides. One man went very close to the wild elephants and he was telling me to come to take photos but I refused because it was too dangerous. I even called him to come back but he didn't and a big elephant crushed him."

Ko Myo received third prize for “Hunting the Poachers” at the 11th Yangon Photo Festival on February 24, 2019. / Htet Wai

"It looked like a balloon burst. He died right there and I was so confused, scared and sorry for him. I got some pictures of the moment but deleted them later because I don't want to use those sad images for my project even though they are really good," Ko Myo said.

For his second prize-winning photo essay "Beautiful Girl" he followed the story of a newborn elephant calf named Mi Chaw. She was taken away from her mother and saved by an elephant doctor at Wingabaw elephant camp. However, the doctor found it impossible to source the milk she needed and milk powder was expensive. The doctor used Facebook to reach out to others for donations but help came too late.

"We moved her to a nearby elephant camp to save her. If she got milk from elephants, she could survive but she didn't know how to deal with other elephants. She thought the doctor was her father. Her health condition got worse and Mi Chaw died at 23 days old," said Ko Myo.

But their efforts were not in vain. Soon after Mi Chaw died another orphaned calf, Marry, was brought to the elephant camp.

"We sent her to Wingabaw and were able to support her with the things donated for Mi Chaw. Now, Wingabaw elephant camp has other motherless calves and they have everything they need. It's all because of Mi Chaw," said Ko Myo.

He continued to spend many years studying the lives of elephants, staying in the jungle with other villagers. He got a lot of contacts and a deep understanding of elephants. He even learned an elephant lullaby only known by old mahouts. In more recent years, he began to look into the wild elephant trade.

"When someone contacted me to say that an elephant was killed, I went to that place immediately. Most of the time I don't get permission to take a photo. Sometimes they allow it but it's really risky," said Ko Myo.

He spoke of the risks he takes to photograph the illicit trade—sometimes poachers would try to attack him, but he pushes on with his drive to document it regardless.

"If I don't photograph those moments, the public can't know these terrible things and more elephants will die and poachers will cut more skins and tusks and kill them."

An elephant is seen dead and with its skin cut off by cruel poachers in the jungle. / Ko Myo

He urges other photographers to document wildlife trading too and to give awareness to the public.

"It's not only elephants, other animals are also suffering from illegal wildlife trading. The animals are living in nature—they never intentionally hurt people, they just defend themselves when people come too close to them," said Ko Myo.

As well as "Beautiful Girl" which won him an award in the 2017 Yangon Photo Festival, his most recent photo essay about the illegal wild elephant trade "Hunting the Poachers" won third prize in the professional photo category at this year's festival.

"It doesn't matter whether I win a prize or not but I'm happy to accept the prize too. I just want people to become aware of this issue, that's more important," said Ko Myo.

Ko Myo said most elephant poaching happens in the Bago mountain range and in Irrawaddy Region. In 2017, about 59 wild elephants were killed by poachers but this number dropped to 18 in 2018. Currently, there are about 2,000 wild elephants left in Myanmar and if they keep losing their habitat, there will be more conflict with humans and illegal trading. Wild elephants might disappear from Myanmar altogether.

"Through Ko Myo's photos, people can know more about elephants: that they are lovely and worth protecting; that we should value them and they don't deserve to be killed. His projects help to raise awareness of the illegal wild elephant trade. That's a good impact," said Ko Ye Min Thwin, Senior Communications Officer at WWF Myanmar.

Ko Myo said, "The solution is to raise awareness to encourage people to stop using products made of animal [parts]. All poaching and trading is motivated by the greed of humans, so humans should stop using all animal-made products."

The post Photographer Tells the Dark Side of the Elephant's Story in Myanmar appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Myanmar Military Major Killed in Fighting With Arakan Army in Rakhine

Posted: 25 Feb 2019 03:02 AM PST

YANGON — The Office of the Commander-in-Chief said a Myanmar military major was killed during fighting with the Arakan Army (AA) in northern Rakhine State’s Buthidaung Township Friday night, near where the rebel group killed 13 border police officers in early January.

Brig. Gen. Zaw Min Tun, a spokesman with the office, identified the dead officer as Maj. Aung Ko Nyein.

"This has been confirmed, and it happened in the same location where four [border police] stations were attacked in Buthidaung," he told The Irrawaddy on Monday, declining to answer further questions.

On Sunday, Maj. Aung Kyo Nyeins's wife, Daw Phyo Pa Pa Win, posted a short message to her Facebook account that said: "Now you left me with two daughters." More than 200 users including some soldiers responded with condolences.

Masarita Nyarni, who identified herself as the major’s sister on her own Facebook page, posted messages and photos on Sunday stating that her brother was a graduate of the 44th intake at the Defense Service Academy and died during fighting in northern Rakhine. But she said he died Saturday, not Friday. The posts have since been removed.

The AA reported clashes with the military on Thursday, Friday and Saturday in Kyauktaw and Mrauk-U townships in northern Rakhine and in Paletwa Township in neighboring Chin State, but not in Buthidaung.

A source close to the AA told The Irrawaddy that Maj. Aung Ko Nyein may have been killed during fighting between the military and AA in the mountains of Mrauk-U because the military had recently sent soldiers from various battalions to the area.

The AA claims it killed six soldiers in Paletwa and Mrauk-U on Thursday and that it killed at least two soldiers and severely wounded at least five in Kyauktaw on Friday. It said one AA fighter and an unspecified number of soldiers died in fighting on Saturday in Paletwa.

The AA also claims that the military randomly fired about 70 rocket propelled grenades and mortar shells ranging from 105mm and 120mm in size into a forested area in Paletwa on Friday. It said the shells produced an unusually large amount of smoke and that it was investigating whether they were chemical weapons.

Maj. Aung Ko Nyein’s death during fighting with the AA is the second involving a high-ranking officer that the military has confirmed since December.

The post Myanmar Military Major Killed in Fighting With Arakan Army in Rakhine appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Japanese Newspaper Apologizes to Commander-in-Chief over Interview

Posted: 25 Feb 2019 12:50 AM PST

YANGON—Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun has issued an official apology to the Office of the Commander-in-Chief after the latter complained to the Myanmar Press Council over alleged inaccuracies in an interview with Army chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing.

The Office of the Commander-in-Chief (Army) filed a complaint with the council on Feb. 16, apparently upset that the Asahi Shimbun had failed to honor its agreement to show the senior general a draft of the interview prior to publication. The interview was conducted in Naypyitaw on Feb. 14.

"Yes, we filed a complaint, and Asahi Shimbun gave us an apology. As it sent us a formal apology, it can be said that the case is settled now," Brigadier-General Zaw Min Tun of the Tatmadaw True News Information Team told The Irrawaddy. Myanmar's military is commonly referred to as the Tatmadaw.

The senior general had asked to see a draft of his interview with the Japanese newspaper's Yangon bureau chief, Ryuta Sometaya, to prevent any mistakes or misunderstandings. However, the newspaper published the story the following day on its Japanese-language website without doing so.

In its complaint, the Myanmar Army said the Japanese newspaper failed to report the interview correctly and precisely, and therefore breached Chapter 4, Paragraph 9 (a) of the Media Law and Chapter 10, Para 33 (c) of the Media By-law.

The Myanmar Press Council has asked the Myanmar Army to clarify which parts of the Asahi Shimbun's story it believes could cause misunderstanding. The website of the Office of the Commander-in-Chief has itself published the entire interview in both Burmese and English.

U Myint Kyaw, joint secretary 1 of the press council, said, "In my view, if it agreed to show a draft before publication, [the newspaper] has to do so, because it is an interview," adding that the situation might be different if the military were demanding an apology over a straight news story.

The interview touched upon the military chief's view on constitutional amendment, the military's role in Parliament, the Rohingya issue, the peace process, and the policies of State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the ruling National League for Democracy.

The Press Council has invited representatives of both sides to discuss the issue at a meeting on March 1.

The post Japanese Newspaper Apologizes to Commander-in-Chief over Interview appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

‘Revenge’ Killing Following Death of ARSA Leader 

Posted: 25 Feb 2019 12:10 AM PST

DHAKA—Armed assailants shot dead one Rohingya paramedic and injured a computer technician at the Muchuni camp in Teknaf sub-district of Cox's Bazar on Friday evening for allegedly sharing information about the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) military commander Nurul Alam who was killed in a 'gunfight' with a Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) earlier the same day.

The police discovered the body of paramedic Mohamed Hamid, 41, in a forested area near the camp hours after being kidnapped by sympathizers of Nurul Alam. Computer operator Hasan Ali was shot in Muchuni refugee camp at around 7 p.m. on Friday.

"The police on receiving information rushed to the spot and dispatched Hasan to the district hospital, while the body of Hamid was found later at night," said additional police Superintendent Nihad Adnan Taian of Teknaf-Ukhia Circle.

The police official said sympathizers of slain Nurul Alam carried out the attack at the dispensary where Hamid, better known as Doctor Hamid, worked and took his body to the nearby forest.

He suspected that Nurul Alam's cohorts singled him out and killed him as revenge for sharing information about Nurul Alam.

Teknaf police and army personnel rushed to the spot and recovered Hamid's body, sending it to the district hospital.

Nurul Alam is said to have been involved in, or an organizer of, a number of serious crimes committed in the region since 2016, including murder and looting, most notably an incident of looting of arms from an Ansar security establishment near the Nayapara Rohingya shelter in Tekhnaf in May 2016. The commander of the Ansar battalion was killed during the incident.

Nurul Alam was killed on Friday morning in what has been called a "gunfight" with RAB next to the road near Damdamia of Teknaf.

"We are collecting intelligence and closely monitoring the development," RAB's Teknaf Commander Lieutenatn Mirza Shahed Mahtab told Dhaka-based newspaper New Age.

He said they were yet to clarify the identities of the Hamid's killers but would continue joint patrols in the area.

Cox's Bazar additional police Superintendent Iqbal Hossain said on Saturday afternoon that no one had yet been arrested and that the case had yet to be filed with the Teknaf police.

Local Rohingya believe that Hamid worked as an informant for the law enforcement agencies. Police officials believe that Nurul Alam’s deputy Al Yaqeen leader Sadek was behind Hamid's murder.

When The Irrawaddy contacted Hamid's family they were unwilling to comment.

As of Sunday evening, a case was yet to be filed with the Teknaf police, though the hunt for the killers continues.

The post 'Revenge' Killing Following Death of ARSA Leader  appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Irrawaddy Region Bridge Collapse Kills Six

Posted: 24 Feb 2019 10:53 PM PST

PATHEIN, Irrawaddy Region — A wooden bridge in Irrawaddy Region’s Ingapu Township collapsed early Saturday morning while a logging truck was crossing it, killing six people on board.

The bridge, which spanned the Ma Mya Hpauk Creek along the Htoo Gyi-Shwegyin-Thaebyingon road in Htoo Gyi Town, had been declared dangerous by local authorities. Use of the bridge was banned and another had been built for crossing the creek.

A six-wheel logging truck was crossing the bridge when it collapsed at about 1:30 a.m. Six people on board were crushed to death by the logs they were hauling. The driver and two other passengers were injured but survived.

"The bridge is dangerous to use. So we had put up warning signs asking commuters to use the bypass," police Lt. Col. Tun Shwe, of the Irrawaddy Region Police Force, told The Irrawaddy.

He said it took firefighters almost nine hours to recover the dead bodies and that the injured were sent to the Hinthada People's Hospital.

People gather at a bridge that collapsed in Ingapu Township, Irrawaddy Region, on Saturday. / Kyaw Lin Aung/Ingapu

Nyaungbingyikwin Village Tract administrator U Htay Aung said five of the dead were between the ages of 20 and 30 and that the oldest was 48.

"There are warning signs at both ends of the bridge. When the truck reached the middle of the bridge, it could not bear the weight and broke down. Six of the seven people sitting on the logs were killed on the spot. The driver, who drove recklessly, is to be blamed for the accident," U Htay Aung said.

The Htoo Gyi police station has opened a case against the detained driver for causing the deaths.

In a separate case on Feb. 10, a six-wheel truck carrying 2,500 bamboo poles plunged into a ditch in Irrawaddy’s Thabaung Township, killing seven people on board.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

The post Irrawaddy Region Bridge Collapse Kills Six appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Security Men and Metal Detectors: Vietnam Prepares for Trump-Kim Summit

Posted: 24 Feb 2019 08:25 PM PST

HANOI — Dozens of North Korean security men with identical haircuts and suits marched off an aircraft at Hanoi airport on Sunday, as Vietnamese soldiers searched through shrubbery outside a posh hotel in the city center days before a North Korea-U.S. summit.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump will meet in Hanoi on Wednesday and Thursday, hoping to build on a commitment they made at their first meeting, in Singapore in June, to rid the Korean peninsula of nuclear bombs.

They are expected to meet for their second summit in Hanoi’s Government Guesthouse, an elegant, colonial-era building in the city center, or at the nearby Metropole Hotel, sources have told Reuters.

Vietnam has confirmed that Kim will arrive for an official goodwill visit as well as the summit with Trump, but has released no further details regarding the location of meetings.

A Reuters witness saw Vietnamese soldiers in camouflaged fatigues sweeping the area around the Metropole with a metal detector. Its potted plants were thoroughly checked.

Teams of soldiers were also seen busy on nearby rooftops, installing radio devices and equipment under camouflaged webbing.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has ordered that security should be a top priority for the summit, the government said in a post on its website.

The Southeast Asian country is relishing its role as peacemaker, seeing it as an opportunity to burnish its international standing and balance its foreign ties.

Vietnam has pushed U.S. and North Korean security services to work closely to prepare for the summit, a senior Vietnamese security official told Reuters.

Media published photographs taken at Hanoi’s Noi Bai International Airport showing a North Korean cargo plane with its loading door open and the security men filing off onto the tarmac.

Some banners proclaiming the summit have gone up along Hanoi’s tree-lined streets and some lamp posts are decked with North Korean, Vietnamese and U.S. flags fluttering above a handshake design, but apart from that, for now at least, life goes on as normal.

Motorists have been warned to expect road closures when the leaders are in town.

Security at the train station in the town of Dang Dong, on the Chinese border where Kim is expected arrive by train, has also been stepped up.

Vietnamese soldiers were seen patrolling its streets on Sunday. 

The post Security Men and Metal Detectors: Vietnam Prepares for Trump-Kim Summit appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

‘Roma’ Wins Two Early Oscars as Queen Rocks Show Without a Host

Posted: 24 Feb 2019 08:18 PM PST

LOS ANGELES—Alfonso Cuaron’s “Roma” took home two early Oscars on Sunday at an Academy Awards ceremony held without a host but filled with powerhouse music performances.

“Roma” won the best foreign language Oscar—a first for Mexico—and director Cuaron was named best cinematographer—two of several awards that his sentimental movie is expected to win on Sunday.

The black-and-white “Roma” went into Sunday’s show with 10 nominations, including best picture. A win would mark the first best picture Oscar for Netflix and a sign that streaming services can not only compete with traditional Hollywood studios, but beat them at their own game.

British band Queen got the first Oscar ceremony in 30 years without a host off to a rousing start with a performance of their hit songs “We Are the Champions” and “We Will Rock You” that brought the A-list crowd to its feet.

Their appearance, with singer Adam Lambert, made them the first rock band ever to open the Academy Awards and celebrated the global success of best picture nominee “Bohemian Rhapsody,” about the British band and its late frontman, Freddie Mercury.

The film took three early wins for sound and production design, and Rami Malek is considered a strong contender before the end of the awards night.

Yet Queen weren’t the only big musical acts on Sunday.

Lady Gaga and her “A Star is Born” director Bradley Cooper sang an emotional rendition of their hit song “Shallow,” sitting side by side at a grand piano and bringing the audience to its feet.

Bette Midler and Jennifer Hudson also took the stage for nominated songs from the film “Mary Poppins Returns” and documentary “RBG.”

However, “RBG, about U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, lost the best documentary category to rock climbing tale “Free Solo.”

In the acting races, Mahershala Ali was named best supporting actor for playing a black pianist touring the segregated U.S. South in the 1960s—his second Academy Award in three years.

Regina King won her first Oscar for her supporting role as a mother fighting for justice in “If Beale Street Could Talk.”

The lack of a host did not deter presenters from cracking Hollywood and political jokes.

“There won’t be a host, there won’t be a popular movie category and Mexico is not paying for the wall,” said presenter Maya Rudolph quipped, referring to U.S. President Donald Trump’s lengthy campaign to build a wall on the U.S. southern border.

Comic actress Melissa McCarthy turned up on stage dressed as an over-the-top monarch, her pockets stuffed with plush rabbits, in a nod to best picture nominee “The Favourite.”

The post ‘Roma’ Wins Two Early Oscars as Queen Rocks Show Without a Host appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Trump Happy if N.Korea Doesn’t Test Weapons; Peace Deal a Possibility

Posted: 24 Feb 2019 08:13 PM PST

WASHINGTON/HANOI — U.S. President Donald Trump has said he would be happy as long as North Korea maintains its pause on weapons testing, and he was in no rush to strike a nuclear deal with its leader, Kim Jong Un, when they hold their second summit this week.

The two leaders will meet in Hanoi on Wednesday and Thursday, eight months after their historic summit in Singapore, the first between a sitting U.S. president and a North Korean leader.

The two leaders pledged to work toward the complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula, but their vague agreement has produced few results and U.S. Democratic senators and security officials have warned Trump against cutting a deal that would do little to curb North Korea’s nuclear ambitions.

As Kim made his way across China by train for the summit, North Korean state media warned Trump on Sunday not to listen to U.S. critics who it said were disrupting efforts to improve ties.

Trump, speaking in Washington on the eve of his departure for Vietnam, said he believed he saw eye to eye with Kim and that they had developed “a very, very good relationship.”

“I’m not in a rush. I don’t want to rush anybody,” Trump said.

“I just don’t want testing. As long as there’s no testing, we’re happy.”

North Korea conducted its last nuclear test, its sixth, in September 2017. It last tested an intercontinental ballistic missile in November 2017.

The Trump administration has pressed the North to give up the nuclear weapons program which combined with its missile capabilities pose a threat to the United States, before it can expect any concessions.

But in recent days, Trump has signaled a possible softening, saying he would love to be able to remove sanctions if there is meaningful progress on denuclearization.

Limited deal?

South Korea’s Yonhap news agency said the two sides might agree to declare a formal end to the 1950-1953 Korean War at the summit.

The war ended in a truce, not a treaty, and the North has long called for a treaty to end it. It also wants security guarantees.

The United States has for years demanded North Korea’s complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization before any concessions could be granted.

North Korea denounced that stance as unilateral and “gangster like.”

Trump’s latest comments would appear to support speculation his administration is open to seeking a limited deal at the summit.

Officials in Washington and the South Korean capital, Seoul, have said discussions have included allowing inspectors to observe the dismantlement of North Korea’s Yongbyon nuclear reactor and opening U.S.-North Korea liaison offices.

Declaring an end to a technical state of hostilities that has existed since the 1950s, and allowing some inter-Korean projects like opening a tourism zone in North Korea were other possibilities.

Few details of Kim’s trip to Vietnam had been announced until early on Sunday, when North Korean state media confirmed he had left Pyongyang by train, accompanied by senior officials as well as his influential sister, Kim Yo Jong.

The Rodong Sinmun newspaper, the official mouthpiece of the ruling Worker’s Party, said on Monday the entire nation received news of the leader’s long foreign trip with “countless excitement and thrill.”

“Our people wish the Dear Marshal will come back safely from a long foreign visit, following his trail in our minds day and night,” the newspaper said

Kim's train passed through the central Chinese city of Wuhan at around 7 a.m. on Sunday, Yonhap news agency reported on Monday. That would put it on track to arrive in Vietnam by early Tuesday.

The post Trump Happy if N.Korea Doesn’t Test Weapons; Peace Deal a Possibility appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Happy Birthday Sir Maung Ba, British Burma Home Affairs Minister

Posted: 24 Feb 2019 08:00 PM PST

Today is the 146th birthday of Maung Ba, who served as Myanmar's home affairs minister from 1932 to 1937 under British colonial rule. His predecessors were Sir Maung Khin, U May Aung and Sir J. A Maung Gyi.

Maung Ba was one of the 13 winners of a Sir Award bestowed by the British government while Myanmar was under colonial rule, and was awarded the title of KSM (Kyet-tha-yay-saung Shwe-salwe-ya Min), an honor bestowed on notable Burmese in public service by the colonial government.

He served as chairman of the committee tasked with raising funds to establish Rangoon University in 1920. He was vice chancellor of the university in 1928 and 1931 and also served as chairperson of the Burma Research Society.

The former home affairs minister passed away on June 4, 1937 in Pyin Oo Lwin Township, Mandalay Region. His body was brought to Yangon and entombed in the precinct of Ngahtatgyi Pagoda.

In its obituary for him, Dee-Dok Journal praised Sir Maung Ba as a minister loved and respected by both the government and the people, and an official who never upset the poor.

by Wei Yan Aung

The post Happy Birthday Sir Maung Ba, British Burma Home Affairs Minister appeared first on The Irrawaddy.
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