Friday, June 28, 2013

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

2 Rohingyas Killed, 6 Injured, For ‘Attacking Security Forces’

Posted: 28 Jun 2013 05:50 AM PDT

Police stand guard in Sittwe, the capital of Arakan State, in this June 2012 photo, after communal violence saw houses torched and residents driven from their homes. (Photo: Reuters)

Two Rohingya Muslims were killed and six were injured, including two minors, after government security forces opened fire on displaced Muslims in a camp in Arakan State's Pauktaw Township on Thursday, the UN said.

An Arakan official claimed that the crowd had been shot at because they "attacked" the armed officers.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said in a statement on Friday that the incident had reportedly been sparked by a disagreement between displaced Rohingyas and local Muslim villagers, who had come to Kyein Ni Pyin camp to construct temporary shelters.

UNHCR said the two groups had a poor relationship and false rumors that the displaced Rohingyas would be isolated at another site led to an argument. Security forces intervened and took away a camp leader.

"When some of the displaced gathered at a nearby military post asking that the leader be handed over, gunfire was used by the authorities to disperse the crowd, resulting in the fatalities and wounding," UNHCR spokesperson Adrian Edwards said.

He added that UNHCR staff arrived shortly after to treat the wounded. The agency is calling for investigation into the deadly shooting at the camp, which houses some 4,400 Rohingyas who were displaced by last year's inter-communal violence.

Arakan State spokesperson Myo Thant's account of events differed from the UNHCR statement as he claimed that the shooting had been provoked by the Rohingyas.

"The incident initially broke out between the workers and displaced in Kyein Ni Pyin IDP camp following a dispute over payments," he said. "Security forces who tried to intervene in the dispute were attacked by a group of displaced people, and the security forces shot to disperse the crowd."

Myo Thant said one person died on the scene, while another succumbed to his injuries on Friday.

It is unclear if the security forces fired any warning shots before taking aim at the Rohingyas.

A man called Lalu, one of the 35 workers who had become embroiled in the argument at the camp, also blamed the incident on the displaced Rohingyas.

"They threw stones at us and held knives and sticks, and their group was big," he claimed, adding that workers and officers "had no place to run as there was only a fence behind us, so the authorities shot into the crowd to disperse them."

The incident is the second fatal shooting in a camp for displaced Rohingyas this month, after policemen shot dead three Muslim women in Parein village, Mrauk-U Township, on June 4.

The women had been among a group of unarmed Muslim villagers who had protested against a government order to move to another site, according to UN rapporteur on human rights in Burma Tomás Ojea Quintana.

He condemned the incident at the time as "another shocking example" of "widespread and systematic" human rights abuses by security forces against the Muslim minority, which are not recognized by the government as citizens of Burma.

The President's Office has dismissed the allegations and claimed the women had been shot dead because "they attacked authorities."

International human rights groups and the UN rights envoy have repeatedly deplored the government's handling of the crisis in western Burma, where Arakanese Buddhists clashed with Rohingyas between June and October 2012. The unrest led to 192 deaths and displaced about 140,000 people, mostly Muslims.

Monks Rally Behind Bill That Would Restrict Interfaith Marriage

Posted: 28 Jun 2013 04:05 AM PDT

Nationalist Buddhist monk U Wirathu is greeted with respect at a monks' conference in Rangoon on Thursday. (Photo: Jpaing / The Irrawaddy)

RANGOON — Senior Buddhist leaders told a large monks' conference on Thursday that they support a controversial draft law that would put restrictions on marriages between Buddhist women and Muslim men.

The monks said they would pressure Burmese lawmakers into accepting the bill, which was first proposed at a conference earlier this month with the support of ultra-nationalist monk U Wirathu.

About 1,500 monks from all over Burma gathered at a monastery in Rangoon's Insein Township on Thursday in order to discuss how to resolve ongoing tensions between Buddhists and the country's Muslim minority.

Senior monks who spoke at the event, which was the largest gathering of monks in Burma in many years, urged the Buddhist clergymen to rally behind their draft Law for the Protection of Race and Religion.

This bill includes a set of rules that would supposedly strengthen and protect Burma's Buddhist tradition.

The draft law also requires any Buddhist woman seeking to marry a Muslim man to first gain permission from her parents and local government officials. Any Muslim man who marries a Buddhist woman is required to convert to Buddhism.

At a press conference on Thursday evening, three monks presented the senior monks' decision to unite behind the proposal.

“The bill has been endorsed," said U Sanda Siri, a monk from Kachin State, adding that legal experts would conduct a final review of the draft law before it is sent to lawmakers in Naypyidaw.

He said the monks would gather signatures from the public in support of the bill to pressure lawmakers to pass it into law.

U Wimala Buddhi, a monk from the Mon State capital Moulmein, warned that the clergymen would discourage voters from supporting any parliamentarian who does not back the law. "I want to know who will oppose our law, which political parties," he said during a speech.

U Nyanissara, one of the most respected Buddhist monks in Burma, urged the monks to unite against supposed external forces, although he stopped short of endorsing the controversial bill.

"To protect our race and religion, we should speak with one voice," he said in a speech, "The government also has an important role to play."

The bill on interfaith marriage was first presented at a smaller monks' conference in Hmawbi Township in mid-June in the presence of nationalist monk U Wirathu, who said that he had "dreamed of this law for a long time."

The radical monk leads the nationalist '969' movement, which calls on Burma's Buddhist majority to shun Muslim communities, and to only support Buddhist-owned businesses. It has been accused of stirring up deadly violence between Buddhists and Muslims, which has killed about 250 people and displaced some 150,000 people, mostly Muslims, in the past year.

At its presentation in mid-June, the draft law sparked a flurry of reactions, with some Muslim leaders pointing out that it was a flagrant violation of basic human rights. Burmese women's rights groups have vowed to campaign against the proposal.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights Article 16 states that "Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family."

Senior monk U Dhammapiya insisted nonetheless that the law would "protect Buddhist women's rights" and he dismissed the idea that the bill would violate human rights principles. "There are different human rights conditions in different countries," he said during a press conference.

U Wirathu also attended Thursday's event. He kept silent about the draft law but as he walked through conference many monks showed high respect to him.

In the past few days, the nationalist monk has been at the center of controversy after his photo appeared on the cover of Time magazine's July 1st issue with the headline "The Face of Buddhist Terror." The cover caused an uproar in Burma because some felt it coupled the country's Buddhist tradition with terror and violence.

On Thursday, U Nyanissara also spoke out against Time's cover and appeared to defend U Wirathu.

“They say the Buddhist religion is carrying out genocide, but we did nothing, not even expand our population,” he said. "Ashin Wirathu is a person who shows tolerance when someone criticizes him."

U Nyanissara, a highly revered monk in Burma, urged the gathered clergymen to unite and stay calm in the face of such outside criticism, saying, "Our Buddhist clergy here is as strong as the Burmese army; we have 500,000 monks." The Burmese military has some 400,000 troops.

Win Tin, a senior member and co-founder of the National League for Democracy, Burma's largest opposition party, said in a reaction that he was disturbed by the monks' proposal.

"It's all developing rather ugly… All these proposed laws would worsen the situation," he said, adding that the clergymen should not enter the field of politics in order to get laws passed that would put restrictions on ordinary people's lives.

"The first thing is, it should not be initiated by the Buddhist monks," he said. "These are issues for individuals, whether they are Buddhist or Muslim. These are family matters. There should be no legal obligations at all.

"This doesn't need to be put to Parliament at all, this is my opinion."

Additional reporting by Paul Vrieze.

Burma Telecom Deal with Qatar Firm Sparks Ire

Posted: 28 Jun 2013 05:33 AM PDT

A Buddhist monk walks inside a mobile phone shop in Rangoon on Feb. 4, 2013. (Photo: Reuters / Soe Zeya Tun)

RANGOON — Religious tensions engulfing Burma spread Friday to the world of big business: Monks and others in the Buddhist-dominated country demanded to know why a lucrative license for a new national mobile phone network had gone to a company from a Muslim nation.

Currently 7.3 million of Burma's 60 million people have access to mobile phones, making it one of the least connected countries in the world, according to government statistics seen Friday. Eager to push that number to 45 million by 2015, the former military-run nation decided to loosen its grip on the industry and award licenses to build and operate mobile networks.

Norway's Telenor was widely seen as a favorite and there was little surprise that it was one of the two winners announced Thursday.

But Ooredoo of Qatar, formerly known as Qatar Telecom, was a surprise to some. The company's majority shareholder is the Qatari government.

Social networking sites were alight with criticism, with comments flooding the Facebook pages of government officials who posted the official announcement.

"We should not be putting the Myanmar's telecommunications system into the hands of an Arab company," Kyaw Kyaw Oo wrote on the page of the president's office director, Hmuu Zaw. "I will not use their service."

Others said giving the contract to a Muslim-owned company was "worrisome," especially as it came at a time people were calling for protection of nationality and race.

Burma only recently emerged from a half-century of isolation and military rule.

Since embracing political and economic reforms in 2011, it has witnessed firsthand the downside of newfound freedoms of speech. Preaching all over the country, monks belonging to the radical Buddhist movement called 969 have been urging followers to boycott Muslim businesses and not to marry, sell property to or hire Muslims.

That has incited violence in several parts of the country with 250 people, most of them Muslims, killed in the last year and 140,000 others fleeing their homes.

"I'm really unhappy," said Shin Pyinya Dhaza, a monk from the Thaketa monastery in Rangoon and a 969 supporter, when asked to comment on the telecom deal.

Some of the overlooked front-runners in the telecom deal included Singapore Telecommunications, Bharti Airtel of India, KDDI Corporation of Japan, Telenor of Norway and Digicel of the Caribbean. More than 90 international consortiums were vying for the licenses and 11 were shortlisted.

Set Aung, chairman of the government panel handling the tender, defended Ooredoo, which has operations in more than a dozen countries in the Middle East, North Africa and Asia as the "best choice." It also has deep pockets, promising to pump part of its cash pile into the network.

That the government didn't consider public sentiment was a good thing, he said.

"That just shows how transparent we are and how unbiased," he said.

In a statement released Thursday, Ooredoo said its investment in Burma will create a significant number of jobs and be the indirect catalyst for creating several hundred thousand jobs in areas such as sales, distribution and customer service as the mobile industry develops.

Though not a household name in Asia, Ooredoo has been stepping up its presence in the region for several years and is the biggest shareholder in Indonesian phone company Indosat. It also has stakes in Singapore's StarHub and the main phone company in Laos.

Burma’s Mobile Phone Users to See Major Drop in Call Fees

Posted: 28 Jun 2013 04:51 AM PDT

A man uses his mobile phone on the side of a street in Rangoon. (Photo: Reuters)

RANGOON — The deputy minister of communications says Burma's sole provider of telecommunications services will slash mobile phone airtime fees, potentially to one-third of the current price, according to a lawmaker in Parliament's lower house.

Thaung Tin, the deputy minister of communications, posts and telegraphs, said during the lower house session of Parliament on Friday that Myanma Posts and Telecommunications (MPT) would slash the fees to make and receive mobile phone calls, according to lawmaker Kyi Myint.

The deputy minister's pledge came after Kyi Myint asked whether MPT would consider reducing the current fee of 50 kyats (about US 5 cents) per minute to 5 kyats.

"The vice minister replied that the airtime fee would be between 25 kyats and 15 kyats," the lawmaker told The Irrawaddy.

Thaung Tin told Parliament that the airtime fee in Burma was two or three times higher than rates in neighboring countries, and that the ministry would consider reducing the fee to benefit the Burmese people.

He did not, however, offer a timetable for when MPT would carry out the plan, Kyi Myint said.

The announcement came one day after Norway's Telenor and Qatar's Ooredoo won licenses on Thursday to also provide telecommunications services in Burma, bringing foreign companies into the sector for the first time.

Ye Myat Thu, an IT expert in Burma, said he welcomed a drop in the airtime fee but also worried that a cheaper fee would lead to an overloading of mobile phone lines.

"In other countries, the price is based on customers' use," he said. "The fees are not the same when you call during the day and at nighttime. When you call a number that uses the same SIM card from the telecoms provider you use, you can usually call free of charge. Now here [in Burma], only one organization fixes the fee. It sounds like we're still in the socialist era."

With Ceasefire, Land-Mine Removal Begins in War-Torn Karen State

Posted: 28 Jun 2013 04:45 AM PDT

Two land-mine victims who were former enemies find themselves lying next to each other at a hospital in Mae Sot, Thailand. (Photo: Alex Ellgee / The Irrawaddy)

For more than 60 years, ethnic Karen rebels and the Burmese government have waged war in Karen State, with both sides guilty of planting countless land mines in the war-torn region to gain a combat edge.

Since the signing of a ceasefire agreement in January 2012 between the Karen National Union (KNU) and the government, the long and dangerous task of identifying and removing that legacy has begun to take place in some regions of Karen State, one of Burma's most mine-populated states. The task includes surveying, mapping, mine risk education and de-mining activities.

Aung Min, a President's Office minister, told reporters at a press conference in Rangoon on June 21 that a de-mining program had been started in Papun District, where local residents can now travel freely without fear of land mine danger.

"Land mines started to be removed in Papun and people can travel freely now. Media don't know about it because we didn't tell you. Actually, it [de-mining] is happening around there," Aung Min told reporters.

Papun is one of the most densely mine-populated districts in northern Karen State, which is partly controlled by Brigade 5 of the KNU's military wing, the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA).

Sources familiar with land mine affairs in the area told The Irrawaddy on Friday that the European Union is providing funds to the government-affiliated Myanmar Mine Action Center for mine-related activities in ethnic regions where ceasefire have been signed between the government and the respective ethnic rebels.

Mine mapping, the posting of warning signs and de-mining have been separately taking place in Pegu Division's Kyaukkyi Township since the KNU ceasefire's signing. The Myanmar Peace Support Initiative, a Norwegian NGO, and the Myanmar Mine Action Center have been collaborating in such activities, the sources said.

Another NGO, the Norwegian People's Aid (NPA), signed an agreement on May 31 with the European Commission, donating 3.5 million euros (US$4.6 million) to support the establishment and initial operations of the Myanmar Mine Action Center over the next 18 months. Operations include conducting mine mapping and clearance of land mine-plagued areas in Burma, according to a report by the NPA.

In the report, NPA secretary-general Liv Tørres said "securing this large grant from the EU is a significant step forward in the effort of making it possible for NPA to implement mine action in Myanmar and to open up for other international and national actors to engage in mine action activities."

One Burma observer said work on mine-related activities remained difficult.

In northern Karen State territory controlled by the KNLA's Brigade 5, NGOs face resistance to de-mining operations from KNLA troops that argue the land mines are still useful for defensive purposes.

The KNLA has voiced skepticism over the durability of the ceasefire agreement, and sees the mines' continued presence as a hedge against a possible breakdown of the peace deal. The deployment of government troops in its territories has also discouraged land mine removal from KNLA regions, according to the observers.

However, the observers said some Karen militia groups such as Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) and the Karen Peace Council, along with some government troops, have begun de-mining projects, mostly in the southwest of Karen State.

The NPA has initiated several development pilot projects in ceasefire areas including non-technical surveys. The group has said that non-technical surveys and de-mining are a precondition for the return of internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees.

Both the Burmese government and ethnic rebels used land mines extensively during six decades of civil wars. The KNLA is accused of particularly heavy land mine use during the conflict, with the explosive devices viewed as necessary to bolster the militia's odds against a government Army of many more soldiers and superior weaponry.

British Council to Hold Conference on Higher Education in Naypyidaw

Posted: 28 Jun 2013 03:25 AM PDT

From left to right: Dr. Mya Oo, Dr. Aung Kyaw Myat, Dr. Mya Oo, and Dr. Myo Myint attend a meeting during their fact-finding mission to UK universities in May 2013. (Photo: The British Council)

The British Council is holding an educational conference entitled "Empowering Higher Education" in Naypidaw this weekend.

Attending will be Burmese members of Parliament, officials from the British Council and representatives from UNESCO, AusAid and the Asian Development Bank.

It is a follow-up to a fact-finding tour of British universities that the British Council organized for four Burmese government officials in May. The delegates were Dr. Myo Myint, Dr. Mya Oo, Dr. Aung Kyaw Myat and Dr. Mya Oo.

Aung San Suu Kyi, who chairs two parliamentary committees tasked with drafting new laws on Burmese higher education and revitalizing Rangoon University, had asked the British Council to support her work.

The British Council organized visits to English and Scottish universities and meetings with staff and student representatives for the delegates.

The culmination of the tour was a policy dialogue meeting on May 9 at the University of London, where Suu Kyi gave the keynote speech by video link.

In her speech, the Burmese opposition leader stressed the need for academic freedom.

"We want to make our academic institutions independent. We want to make them vital and we want to modernize them to be in keeping with the developments of the times. We have to learn from everybody because we have fallen so far behind," she said.

She also called for students to be given more freedom to enjoy campus life again. She said: "Our young people have not known campus life for decades. The focus of the military government was on maintaining discipline, not on providing education."

After the meeting, Dr Myo Myint said training better academics and teachers and focusing back on the education parts of the discussion would initially be more important than site and residential campus matters. Widening access would also be critical, in light of the discussions around inclusiveness and the equity of education, he added.

The trip led to five major joint recommendations.

These were: to stay optimistic; to build strong friendships between the UK and Burma; to invest in English-language learning and the development of libraries; to strengthen student unions and the intellectual and civic identity of universities; and to build reciprocity with foreign universities.

Fakebook in Burma: Half of All Accounts Use False IDs, Says President’s Spokesman

Posted: 28 Jun 2013 12:46 AM PDT

Presidential spokesman Ye Htut is pictured at the US Embassy's discussion about hate speech on June 28 in Rangoon. (Photo: Simon Roughneen / The Irrawaddy)

RANGOON — Dismissing "conspiracy theories" that Burma's government and military have fomented recent inter-religious violence, President Thein Sein's spokesman pointed instead to how people spread information and stoke tensions via social media, saying that half of Burma's 800,000 Facebook accounts use fake names.

"Some small criminal cases can become a religious riot because people can go on social media," Ye Htut, who is also the deputy information minister, said at a US Embassy seminar on "Preventing Hate Speech in Myanmar: Divergent Voices in a New Democracy."

Facebook, Ye Htut said, is increasingly a first source of news for many Burmese, with people preferring to read a four- or five-line update on the social media site rather than digesting a full newspaper story.

On Thursday, the Burmese government announced the winners of the country's two new long-awaited mobile licenses by posting a notice on Ye Htut's Facebook page.

Nonetheless, despite social media's utility for news dissemination, it has its downsides, believes the Burmese government. "Hate speech has been moving toward social media," Ye Htut added, saying this development has "allowed people to spread prejudice against each other."

Ye Htut acknowledged, however, that the prevalence of online pseudonyms was partly a legacy of military rule, with people still wary of speaking freely online after decades of censorship and arrest for those who criticized the former military government.

And while he said the government and army wanted to solve conflict in Burma, he added—without naming names—that some politicians in the country were manipulating religious and ethnic strife for their own ends. "People are confused," said the spokesman. "Is this a hate-speech issue or a political issue?"

"We have to know who is behind these conspiracy theories," he said. "Who is instigating behind the scenes?"

With a new telecommunications regime likely to see Burma's current 1.05 million Internet users increase significantly in the near future, Ye Htut said there was a growing need to balance free speech with what he termed "social responsibility."

The government hopes to have 75 percent of the country's population connected to a mobile network by 2015-16, and of these, Ye Htut projected that half would use their phones to go online.

"We do not want to go back to censorship," he said, "but society must be able to control itself."

The balance between allowing free speech and curbing excesses is a crucial issue in a democratizing Burma, said Hindu leader Aung Naing.

"Should there be a hate speech law or not?" he asked, cautioning that "if you shut their [the people of Burma] mouths, there will be no development here."

But monk Ashin Dhammapiya said that in contemporary Burma, where old restrictions on freedom of expression have been dismantled, people now overstep the mark.

"They think they can say what they like," he said. "People cannot differentiate between freedom of speech and human rights."

Recommending self-regulation for media in Burma, where a new press code is under consideration, Ye Htut took a potshot at one of the world's best-known media moguls, with an implicit message, perhaps, for Burma's so-called "cronies," or politically connected businessmen, who might want to use the country's media to promote themselves.

"[Rupert] Murdoch uses his media to improve his business," he said. "It shouldn't be like that."

Burma’s Currency Continues Its Downslide

Posted: 27 Jun 2013 10:12 PM PDT

Piles of Burmese kyat currency are counted in Rangoon. (Photo: Jpaing / The Irrawaddy)

Rangoon — Burma's currency is continuing its downslide and has dropped almost 18 percent in value since the government floated the kyat in early April last year. Currency speculation and falling global gold prices are contributing to the slump of the kyat, local bankers and traders said.

On Friday, the Central Bank's official exchange rate stood at 969 kyat per US dollar, while some of Rangoon's money changers reported that the currency had already fallen to more than 1,000 kyat per dollar.

The currency has dropped 17.8 percent compared to 818 kyat per dollar on April 2, 2012, when President Thein Sein's reformist government floated the currency.

Since its float, the kyat experienced a gradual decline to 890 kyat per dollar until May 8, 2013, when it suddenly fell to 946 kyat per dollar in just one day.

Before April 2012, Burma's military government set the official exchange rate at 6.4 kyat per dollar, even though the black market rate stood at around 820 kyat per dollar.

Rangoon money changers said the currency was also subject to strong daily fluctuations.

"This morning when I just started exchanging, a US dollar cost 998 kyat only. Now, in the evening, the price for a dollar has gone up to 1005 kyat. The price of a US dollar jumped like this, just today," an informal money changer said on Wednesday.

Naw Eh Phaw, deputy-director-general foreign currency management at the Central Bank, told The Irrawaddy that a strong US dollar was hindering the bank's policy of trying to limit fluctuations in the currency's value.

"Now, our currency exchange rate has been destabilized," he said, adding, "I can't disclose how we will manage it."

Burma's Central Bank is still under authority of the Ministry of Finance, but Parliament is expected to soon pass a law that will turn it into an institution that can set independent monetary policy.

The International Monetary Fund said in a May 22 statement that the Central Bank was limiting exchange rate fluctuations without setting a specific target rate.

Than Lwin, deputy-chairman of Kanbawza Bank, said there were multiple reasons for the kyat's slump, including a strong demand for US dollars among Burmese traders.

"There are many reasons for the rise of the dollar's value [in Burma]. The reasons could be manipulation of the dollar's price. The buying and hoarding of dollars, as its price is likely to continue to rise. I also suspect that gem traders buy dollars," he said.

Gold traders are among those rushing to buy dollars, as global gold prices have fallen to their lowest point in many years.

"As the world gold prices slump, Burma's gold prices also slump. So, gold traders here seek to buy US dollars," said a Rangoon gold trader, who is a member of the Myanmar Gold Entrepreneurs Association.

The slump of the kyat has coincided with an increase in imports, driven in part by a construction boom in Rangoon and a sharp rise in car sales in Burma in the past year.

Some international economists have said that the kyat was overvalued when it was floated last year and needs to fall in order to strengthen Burma's exports.

The President Office's Minister Soe Thein has said on several occasions that the government would prefer a lower-valued kyat as it could attract foreign investment and boost export, as Burmese products become cheaper for overseas buyers.

Win Aung, chairman of the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry, warned in late May however, that the kyat's sudden drop was hampering Burmese companies' foreign trade activities.

Dr. Maung Maung Soe, a retired economics professor of Rangoon University of Distance Education, said the falling kyat could attract foreign investment and boost export sectors, such as agriculture and garments, but he added that this had yet to happen.

"Although the US dollar price is up, in reality this has not led to an increase in exports. [And] there is not as much foreign investment as expected," he said, adding that the slump of the kyat has so far only led to a rise in the price of imported goods, such as fuel, which has contributeds to inflation.

Cambodian Khmer Rouge Atrocity Suspect Dies

Posted: 27 Jun 2013 10:05 PM PDT

Cambodians who survived the Khmer Rouge regime wait to attend a hearing at the UN-backed Khmer Rouge Tribunal, located on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, in March 2012. (Photo: Reuters / Pring Samrang)

PHNOM PENH — A former top Khmer Rouge military officer who was expected to be indicted for alleged atrocities has died, a Cambodian official said on Wednesday.

Northwestern regional deputy commander Maj. Gen. Ek Sam Oun said former Khmer Rouge air force chief Sou Met suffered from diabetes and died on June 14 after a long illness. He had been living in Battambang province and was believed to be 76.

A UN-backed tribunal is currently trying two former top leaders of the Khmer Rouge for alleged crimes against humanity and other offenses. The group’s radical policies in 1975-79 led to the deaths of an estimated 1.7 million people from starvation, disease, overwork and execution.

Tribunal documents leaked last year indicated that prosecutors were seeking to indict Sou Met along with Khmer Rouge navy commander Meas Mut. The documents alleged that both took part in purges that resulted in tens of thousands of deaths.

Tribunal spokesman Lars Olsen said he was unaware of Sou Met’s death and noted that he had never officially been named a suspect.

The tribunal earlier convicted the head of a Khmer Rouge prison where thousands were tortured before being sent away for execution. Currently on trial are Nuon Chea, the Khmer Rouge’s chief ideologist and No. 2 leader, and Khieu Samphan, its former head of state, both in their 80s.

There are concerns that the defendants could die before justice is achieved. Former Khmer Rouge Foreign Minister Ieng Sary, who was being tried with his two colleagues, died in March.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has opposed extending the tribunal to cover further suspects, saying it would cause civil unrest. Many former members of the Khmer Rouge — including Hun Sen, who defected from the group in 1977 — hold important positions in the current government or are political allies.

Ek Sam Oun said Sou Met had been appointed an adviser to the Cambodian armed forces and held a major-general’s rank in the army after he defected from the Khmer Rouge in the late 1990s, but was retired at the time of his death. The Khmer Rouge were ousted from power in 1979 by a Vietnamese invasion but continued an insurgency from the jungles until the shrinking movement collapsed with the 1998 death of its leader, Pol Pot.

Sou Met had been receiving medical treatment for several months in hospitals in Phnom Penh and in the Thai capital, Bangkok, Ek Sam Oun said, adding that a Buddhist funeral ceremony was held for him at the headquarters of Cambodia’s northwestern Army Region Five. He did not give any details of any family surviving Sou Met.

China Lifts 17-Year Ban on Dalai Lama Photos at Tibet Monastery: Group

Posted: 27 Jun 2013 09:57 PM PDT

Tibetan monks and activists pray next to a portrait of exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, before a rally to support Tibet in Taipei on March 10, 2013. (Photo: Reuters / Pichi Chuang)

BEIJING — Chinese officials have lifted a ban on Tibetan monks displaying photographs of the Dalai Lama at a prominent monastery, a rights group said on Thursday, an unexpected policy shift that could ease tensions in the restive region.

The decision concerning the Gaden monastery in the Tibetan capital Lhasa—one of the most historically important religious establishments in Tibet—reversed a ban introduced in 1996, the UK-based Free Tibet group told Reuters, citing sources with direct knowledge of the situation.

It was made as similar changes are being considered in other Tibetan regions of China, and may signal authorities are contemplating looser religious restrictions and a policy change over Tibet, three months after President Xi Jinping took office.

Chinese officials in western Qinghai province are also considering lifting a ban on Tibetans displaying pictures of the exiled spiritual leader, according to the International Campaign for Tibet, a US-based advocacy group.

It said there were also draft proposals in the region to end the practice of forcing Tibetans to denounce the Dalai Lama, and to decrease the police presence at monasteries.

Officials in Lhasa and Qinghai could not immediately be reached for comment.

Such measures appear calculated to reduce tensions between the Tibetans and the government after a series of Tibetan self-immolation protests against Chinese rule.

Beijing considers the Dalai Lama, who fled China in 1959 after an abortive uprising against Chinese rule, a violent separatist. The Dalai Lama, who is based in India, says he is merely seeking greater autonomy for his Himalayan homeland.

Since 2009, at least 120 Tibetans have set themselves on fire in China in protest against Beijing's policies in Tibet and nearby regions with large Tibetan populations. Most were calling for the return of the Dalai Lama.

"Tibetans' reverence for and loyalty to the Dalai Lama has almost no equal among the world's communities and if this policy is extended beyond this individual monastery as other reports suggest, it will be very significant for the Tibetan people," Free Tibet spokesman Alistair Currie said.

The new policy at the Gaden monastery and the discussions in Qinghai come after a scholar from the Central Party School published an essay questioning China's policy on Tibet.

So far, President Xi has said very little publicly about Tibet. His late father, Xi Zhongxun, a liberal-minded former vice premier, was close to the Dalai Lama. The Tibetan leader once gave the elder Xi an expensive watch in the 1950s, a gift the senior party official still wore decades later.

"There's increasingly a view that due to the critical nature of the situation of Tibet, a discussion of a change in some hardline policies is merited and there's a need for the Dalai Lama to be involved in some way," Kate Saunders, spokeswoman for the International Campaign for Tibet, told Reuters.

Saunders said that Tibetans at the meeting raised the possibility of the draft proposals in Qinghai being implemented either in August or September.

US Suspends Bangladesh Trade Privileges

Posted: 27 Jun 2013 09:51 PM PDT

Protesters hold up a sign commemorating those killed in recent clothing factory tragedies in Bangladesh outside Wal-Mart Stores Inc. headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas, on June 5, 2013. (Photo: Reuters / Rick Wilking)

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama announced Thursday the suspension of US trade privileges for Bangladesh because of concerns over labor rights and worker safety that intensified after hundreds died there in the global garment industry's worst accident.

In a proclamation, Obama said Bangladesh was not taking steps to afford internationally recognized worker rights to employees in the South Asian country.

US Trade Representative Mike Froman said the United States will, however, start new discussions with Bangladesh on improving workers' conditions so the duty-free benefits that cover some 5,000 products can be restored. He didn't say when that might be, noting that it would depend on Bangladesh's actions.

Bangladesh's Foreign Ministry called the suspension "harsh" and had been taken despite its concrete actions to improve factory safety.

Thursday's announcement was the culmination of a years-long review of labor conditions in the impoverished country. Democratic lawmakers have been pushing for the step since the April 24 collapse of Rana Plaza in Dhaka that killed 1,129 people. In November, a fire at a garment factory killed more than 100 people.

"The recent tragedies that needlessly took the lives of over 1,200 Bangladeshi garment factory workers have served to highlight some of the serious shortcomings in worker rights and workplace safety standards in Bangladesh," Froman said.

The Generalized System of Preferences, which is designed to boost the economies of developing nations, covers less than 1 percent of Bangladesh's nearly $5 billion in exports to the United States, its largest market. The benefits don't cover the lucrative garment sector but Bangladesh's government was anxious to keep them.

The action may not exact a major and immediate economic toll, but it carries a reputational cost and might deter American companies from investing in the country, one of the world's poorest.

The US action, which takes effect in 60 days, also may sway a decision by the European Union, which is considering withdrawing GSP privileges. EU action could have a much bigger economic impact, as its duty-free privileges cover garments, which account for 60 percent of Bangladesh's exports in that sector.

The US Trade Representative review of labor conditions in Bangladesh follows a petition filed in 2007 by the AFL-CIO labor federation seeking withdrawal of the GSP benefits. The review was expedited late last year amid concern from US lawmakers over deadly industrial accidents, deteriorating labor rights and the April 2012 killing of prominent labor activist Aminul Islam—a case that has not been solved.

Froman said despite close engagement with Bangladesh to encourage labor reforms, the United States hadn't seen sufficient progress. But he said the United States was "committed to working with the government of Bangladesh to take the actions necessary to rejoin the program." Steps it wants to see include passage of an amended labor law and other steps to enhance workers' rights and worker safety, Froman said.

Defending its record, Bangladesh said it was amending the labor law and a ministerial committee has been formed to ensure compliance by garment factories.

"Bangladesh hopes that the US administration would soon bring back Bangladesh's GSP status, a benefit a least-developed country is supposed to receive in developed countries as per the provisions of the World Trade Organization," the Foreign Ministry statement said.

House and Senate Democrats who had been calling for the US benefits to be curtailed quickly welcomed Thursday's decision.

Rep. Joe Crowley, a Democrat who is co-chairman of the congressional caucus on Bangladesh, said that in light of recent tragedies in the country, the suspension was "inevitable."

"I hope this action will propel Bangladeshi officials to develop a clear path forward that protects all workers in Bangladesh," he said.

Robert Menendez, a Democrat and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said it was long overdue for Bangladesh to change its labor practices and ensure workers' rights.

"Bangladesh is an important trading partner, but we cannot and will not look the other way while workers are subjected to unsafe conditions and environments endangering their wellbeing," Menendez said in a statement.

He also called for American companies operating in Bangladesh to improve conditions for factory workers and work with European companies on a global standard for safety.

Lawmakers have criticized US retailers that source garments from Bangladesh for not joining the more than 40 mostly European companies that have adopted a five-year, legally binding contract that requires them to help pay for fire safety and building improvements. The Bangladeshi garment manufacturers' association says it stepping up inspections and has closed 20 factories.

The garment industry employs some 4 million people in Bangladesh, 80 percent of them women.
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Democratic Voice of Burma

Democratic Voice of Burma

Freedom from hate

Posted: 28 Jun 2013 05:02 AM PDT

Burma's Deputy Information Minister Ye Htut attended the 'Preventing Hate Speech in Myanmar: Divergent Voices in a New Democracy' forum in Rangoon on Friday.

After the forum, Ye Htut said the religious problems in Burma stemmed from the grassroots level and were not promoted by religious leaders or government officials.

Monk threatens politicians over proposed interfaith marriage ban

Posted: 28 Jun 2013 04:31 AM PDT

A prominent monk and outspoken advocate of Burma's growing anti-Muslim movement has warned politicians to back a proposed ban on interfaith marriages or risk losing votes in the 2015 general election.

The threat was issued at a convention of over 1,500 senior monks in Rangoon on Thursday, where a new draft of the controversial legislation, which would require Buddhist women to obtain official permission before marrying a Muslim, was formally approved.

"I would want to know which representatives turn down the national race protection law when it is proposed [in parliament] – I will make it so that they get no votes in 2015," Wimala Buddhi from Moulmein's Mya Sadi monastery told the gathering. "A party that doesn't win votes will end up in the drain."

His words are largely viewed as an attack against opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, who recently spoke out against the ban, describing it as a "violation of women's rights and human rights".

Wimala Buddhi is a fervent supporter of Burma's ultra-nationalist "969" movement, which calls on Buddhists to shun Muslim shops and businesses, and is a close ally of its chief architect Wirathu. The threat has been circulated widely on social media, including on Wirathu's Facebook page, where it has received hundreds of likes, shares and encouraging comments.

"That cow is no expert on religion and yet she wants to become president," derided one user.

But Suu Kyi's spokesperson from the National League for Democracy (NLD) scoffed at the threat during a telephone interview on Friday. "I am not afraid because these monks have no right to vote in our country," said Nyan Win, referring to a religious edict that precludes members of the Sangha from participating in politics.

He also dismissed suggestions that the "969" movement had enough support to oust the NLD, which is expected to dominate the 2015 elections, adding that he did not think the draft would even make it to parliament.

"We don't get any clear views from the government, [but] I think they will act according to the law, and this law is against human rights," he said.

The law demands that any Muslim man, who wants to marry a Buddhist woman, must first convert to her religion. Meanwhile, Buddhist women are obliged to obtain permission from her parents and local authorities before marrying a non-Buddhist man. An earlier draft of the law only targeted Muslims, but was recently amended to include members of all other faiths.

The proposal has prompted outrage from women's groups in Burma, who say they will lobby against its implementation. The secretary of Burma's national human rights commission has also slammed it as "unconstitutional".

However, a growing number of monks and religious leaders have spoken out in support of the draft law and called on Suu Kyi to revise her position. Thursday's convention reportedly agreed to set up an association to pursue the interfaith marriage proposal, as well as other legal means to protect Buddhism.

The government has also come under fire for its failure to condemn the growing "969" movement, which has been linked to a rise in anti-Muslim violence in Burma. In an interview with reporters on Friday, the president's spokesperson Ye Htut insisted that advocates of the marriage ban are "entitled" to free speech.

"It is normal in a democratic society for all people to participate [in discussions] on things necessary or said as necessary to change," he said.

He also defended Wimala Buddhi, who is a member of the government-backed monastic body Sangha Maha Nayaka. "The abbot was expressing his individual point of view," he said.

But critics have been quick to accuse the government of hypocrisy. During the pro-democracy uprising in 2007, where monks played a key role in protesting the military government, the Sangha Maha Nayaka issued a statement strictly prohibiting monks from participating in secular affairs.

Earlier this week, the government banned a controversial issue of Time Magazine, which branded Wirathu the "Face of Buddhist Terror", prompting speculation that it was actively courting political support from the "969" movement.

Burma has seen a rise in religious tensions since last year, when Buddhists clashed with Rohingya Muslims in Arakan state, displacing some 140,000 people and killing over 200. Since March, renewed bouts of anti-Muslim violence, which have been directly linked to Wirathu's "969″ campaign, have claimed another 44 lives.

Defence minister vows to return land confiscated by military

Posted: 28 Jun 2013 02:03 AM PDT

Burma's Defence Minister Brigadier General Wai Lwin has informed the parliament-backed Land Grab Investigation Commission that the military was planning to return land appropriated by their forces, with the exception of property that is set to house construction projects.

Upper house representative from Magwe division and member of the Land Grab Investigation Commission Hla Swe said the group's chairperson Tin Htut recently informed members that the defence minister pledged to return the seized land; however, a timetable was not provided.

According to the upper house representative, more than 100,000 acres of land has been confiscated by the military to build 'ordinance factories' in Magwe division alone.

Moreover, Hla Swe called on farmers across the country to start collecting evidence that would prove their ownership instead of waging "ploughing protests".

The demonstrations, where farmers till land that had been confiscated, is a popular form of protest in Burma in response to the rash of land disputes across the country.

Following more than two years of reforms, land rights have become one of the most tempestuous issues in Burma as farmers begin to challenge authorities over property that was appropriated by the military and crony-connected companies during nearly five decades of junta rule.

The monk who heals bones

Posted: 28 Jun 2013 01:12 AM PDT

BY ALI FOWLE

Traditional medicine is thriving in Burma despite recent reforms in the country's health care system.

This year the health ministry increased spending on public health, bringing more affordable options for modern medicine, which was previously prohibitively expensive for the majority of people.

But the reality is many areas do not have access to government hospitals, and where they do many still opt for traditional methods out of fear of high costs and medical incompetence.

Thai official charged after Rohingya refugee trafficked and raped

Posted: 28 Jun 2013 12:34 AM PDT

A policeman has been charged with trafficking after a Rohingya woman was allegedly lured from a shelter in southern Thailand and subsequently raped by a man from the refugee Muslim minority, police told AFP Friday.

It is believed to be the first time a Thai official has been charged with trafficking of Rohingya boat people, despite probes into alleged people smuggling by authorities including the army.

The officer is accused of driving the 25-year-old victim along with her daughters, aged 12 and nine, and two other women, from the shelter in Phang Nga province in late May.

The woman was told she would be taken to Malaysia to be reunited with her husband, who is also from the minority group, but was instead held at several places in the region in an ordeal lasting several weeks, police said.

The woman was allegedly raped repeatedly by a Rohingya man, who is believed to have worked as a translator at the shelter and has been charged with assault.

The victim and her children were found on a roadside and returned to the shelter last week when she contacted the police.

“The officer has been charged with taking part in human trafficking and abuse of his position,” Police Colonel Weerasin Kwansaeng, commander of Kuraburi Police Station told AFP.

“The victim said he drove the car from the shelter,” he said, adding it was the first time charges had been brought against police over the trafficking of Rohingya.

Dozens of Rohingya women and children, who fled communal violence in Burma, are housed at the shelter while hundreds of men from the ethnic group are being held at an immigration detention centre in the same province.

Rights groups have repeatedly voiced concerns over the treatment of destitute Rohingya refugees by Thai authorities, saying they are held in poor conditions and are vulnerable to exploitation.

The rape “demonstrates the vulnerability of Rohingya women to human traffickers — even when they are living in government-run shelters where they should be protected,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

In January, Thai authorities opened an investigation into allegations that army officials were involved in trafficking Rohingya.

Around 2,000 Rohingya refugees remain in detention in Thailand, while authorities wait for a third country to offer to accept them.

Described by the UN as among the most persecuted minority groups in the world, Rohingya have for years trickled abroad to neighbouring Bangladesh and, increasingly, to Muslim-majority Malaysia.

Burma views its population of roughly 800,000 Rohingya as illegal 'Bengali' immigrants and denies them citizenship.

An explosion of tensions between Buddhist and Muslim communities in Burma’s Arakan state since June 2012 has triggered a huge exodus of Rohingya from the country.

Burma launches search for “lost city” of Suwarnabhumi

Posted: 27 Jun 2013 11:14 PM PDT

A team of archaeologists in Burma have launched a campaign to search for the lost city of Suwarnabhumi, an ancient Buddhist kingdom, which is believed to be located somewhere in South or Southeast Asia.

Although the city's exact location is shrouded in mystery, excavation work is set to begin this year in eastern Burma's Mon state, where Burmese historians believe the city to be found.

Mon state is one of several suggested locations for the lost city, which has become the centre of both scholarly and nationalist debate. Other Asian countries, including Thailand, India and Bangladesh, have also staked claims to the kingdom, based on references in various ancient scriptures.

But Mon state's chief minister, Dr Min Nwe Soe, told DVB that an agreement was reached at a meeting with archaeologists and historians on Wednesday to carry out excavation work near the ancient Thaton town and at the foot of Kaylatha hill in Bilin township in Mon state in a bid to unearth the city.

"There is an argument surrounding [the location] of Suwarnabhumi – whether it's over here or over there – and we wanted to prove that it is here," said Min Nwe Soe.

He said they will approach the central government for approval of the programme, which will be led by the Ministry of Culture and aims to recover ancient artefacts as well as promote tourism in the region.

"We aim to uncover our ancient architecture and to attract foreign tourists," said Min Nwe Soe.

A workshop was held from Tuesday to Thursday in Mon state's capital Moulmein this week to etch out excavation plans in search of the lost city. The minister added that they will develop a plan to inform locals and the general public about the project.

"We also need to study whether the dig sites are in residential areas – we just can't tell people to relocate for the programme so we have to find a win-win solution," said the minister.

"Also we have limitations with our budget so we might not have enough skilled professionals, and we don't know whether the excavation will turn out as we expect."

The lost city is mentioned in a number of ancient scriptures, including the Sri Lankan Mahavamsa and Dipavamsa texts, which tell tales of Buddhist missionaries being sent to the kingdom, located in what is now modern day Mon state, around 300 BC.

Mon tradition maintains that the lost city of Suwarnabhumi was part of the Thaton Kingdom, which was overrun by the Burmans in 1057 AD.

An unsuccessful search for the city was once carried out in 1975.
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National News

National News

Thai policeman charged in Rohingya rape case

Posted: 28 Jun 2013 06:22 AM PDT

A policeman has been charged with trafficking after a Rohingya woman was allegedly lured from a shelter in southern Thailand and raped by a man from the refugee Muslim minority.

Myanmar migrants fear violence

Posted: 28 Jun 2013 02:04 AM PDT

Religious unrest spills over to migrant Myanmar populations in Malaysia and Indonesia, as Buddhist and Muslims alike fear retaliatory violence.
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Shan Herald Agency for News

Shan Herald Agency for News

Shan leader considers trip to Naypyitaw a success

Posted: 28 Jun 2013 12:07 AM PDT

Friday, 28 June 2013 13:03 S.H.A.N.

The Restoration Council of Shan State / Shan State Army (RCSS/SSA) is issuing a statement tomorrow thanking the government for the 15 day trip to Naypyitaw and exhorting it to extend its invitation and hospitality to leaders of other movements as well.

"Facilitation by the Union Peacemaking Work Committee (UPWC) and the Myanmar Peace Center (MPC) had enable us to meet and form cordial relations with leaders there. The result was that we were able to exchange our views and aspirations freely and frankly with them," reads the 5-page statement, the draft of which SHAN has received.

Lt-Gen. Yawdserk and President Thein Sein (Photo: Facebook/ShanStateArmy)

It sees President as a "broad-minded" man but unable to exert his authority over the military. "There are those within the leadership both who are for and against change. President Thein Sein has his work cut out for him in his quest for peace."
The military, the statement said, is still bent on resorting to force to resolve differences. Even Vice Senior Gen Soe Win, army commander in chief, whom the delegation met with, acknowledged that the two sides had fought 97 clashes since May 2012.

The delegation, during its 9-23 June trip, also met and talked to some 4,000 people in Mandalay, Kyaukme, Taunggyi, Panglong and Tachilek. "Most of the questions being asked were:

  • Why is there still fighting after ceasefire?
  • When will the joint anti-drug operations (agreed in October 2012), be implemented?
  • When will the Unlawful Association Act (that has deterred most people from coming to meet the delegation) be repealed?"

The RCSS/SSA, that has renounced its Independence aim since the government's invitation for peace talks was announced on 19 August 2011, met President Thein Sein and his ministers, foreign diplomats and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), political parties and their leaders, including Aung San Suu Kyi, other armed movements and civil society organizations.

"Our proposal that a body representing Shan State should be formed to hold political dialogue with the government has received wide support from the people," said Lt-Gen Yawdserk, the RCSS/SSA chairman, who also headed the delegation to Naypyitaw. This was his second trip back to areas controlled by the government. The first was to Kengtung, 18-22 May 2012.
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Thursday, June 27, 2013

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

Telenor, Ooredoo Win Burma’s Coveted Telcoms Licenses

Posted: 27 Jun 2013 05:52 AM PDT

Norway's Telenor was one of two foreign telecommunications firms to be awarded 15-year mobile network licenses in Burma on Thursday. (Photo: Telenor)

RANGOON — Norway's Telenor and Qatar's Ooredoo have been awarded two 15-year mobile network licenses in Burma, fending off challenges from nine rival bids that included some of the world's biggest telecoms providers.

The long-anticipated announcement could see Burma's mobile phone usage jump from less than 10 percent, according to current estimates, to covering around three-fourths of the population within three to four years, if government aspirations for the sector are realized.

Prior to Thursday's announcement, Ooredoo—backed by the energy-rich pockets of the Qatari emirate—said it would provide 3G coverage to 90 percent of Burma's population within two years, based on a proposed investment of US$15 billion, while Telenor, the world's 14th biggest mobile company by subscriber numbers, said after Thursday's announcement that it "plans to achieve nationwide coverage in Myanmar within five years."

"The successful applicants must fulfill post-selection requirements. The Parliament will also try to adopt a telecommunications law very soon," President's Office spokesman Ye Htut told The Irrawaddy, shortly after posting the announcement of the license winners on his Facebook page at 5pm Thursday.

The government listed the French-Japanese Orange-Marubeni consortium as the back-up candidate "in the event that one of the two successful applicants does not fulfill the post-selection requirements contained in the invitation to tender."

Dr Aung Thura, CEO of Thura Swiss, a Rangoon consultancy, told The Irrawaddy that while Telenor's win was not a bombshell, given that the company had been touted as a leading contender in the weeks leading up to the announcement, "Ooredoo had not been mentioned as a likely winner, so that is a real surprise."

The news comes as the culmination of a drawn-out tender process followed by will-they-won't-they last minute drama in which Burma's Parliament voted on Wednesday to delay the scheduled June 27 announcement, citing the need to first pass the still-in-progress telecoms bill, but prompting whispers that the gambit was an attempt to buy time on behalf of the Army-run Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC), allowing the company to sell more of its new $1.50 SIM cards before well-heeled and aggressive foreign competitors entered the fray.

In the end, however, the government overruled the legislature's objections, saying afterwards that the announcement would go ahead as scheduled. The news marked a double-blow for the attempted postponement, given that in MP Myo Swe's proposal to Parliament on Wednesday, lawmakers suggested that only foreign companies with a local joint-venture partner should get the telecommunications licenses.

Aung Thura said that the last-minute run by MPs to postpone the announcement came across as amateurish. "If they had concerns about the process, they could have raised these weeks ago, rather than the day before the licenses are to be awarded."

The two winners—one European, one Gulf-based—are notable for not having a local partner, unlike several of the other bids in the running, which featured the likes of Burmese businessman Serge Pun, and local companies such as Kanbawza Bank and A1 Construction.

Asian multinational telecoms companies such as India's Airtel, the world's third biggest mobile operator, and Singapore's Singtel, the fourth biggest, failed to win one of the two licenses, after speculation that at least one Asian winner would emerge. Ninety companies had initially expressed an interest in setting-up a mobile network in Burma, where over 90 percent of the estimated 60 million population do not own phones or sim cards—offering a possible goldmine for the eventual winners. That list was narrowed down to 12, then 11, when a joint bid by the world's two biggest mobile operators—Vodafone and China Mobile—was dropped in still-murky circumstances.

The licenses will be ready by September, the Burmese government says, despite the absence of some relevant legislation, though the government's statement on Thursday said it expects the new telecoms law to be adopted during the current sitting of Burma's Parliament in the administrative capital Naypyidaw.

Reacting to the announcement of the license winners, Kyaw Zaw Maung, head of the Directorate of Investments and Company Administration (DICA), part of the Ministry of National Planning and Economic Development, told The Irrawaddy that "we are late compared with our neighboring countries to develop the telecoms sector, so the foreign companies will help and be welcome for this."

Telenor, which works in five Asian countries, said on Thursday afternoon after hearing of its license win, that "a full range of mobile services, both voice and data, will be commercially launched as the initial offering, anticipated to happen in 2014."

The past year has seen bouts of deadly anti-Muslim violence in Burma and the rise of an anti-Muslim boycott campaign fronted by U Wirathu, an outspoken Buddhist monk, meaning the Qatari company Ooredoo could encounter commercial difficulties if faced with the same boycott affecting some of Burma's Muslim-run businesses. Ye Htut's Facebook announcement of the license winners prompted a number of comments decrying the awarding of a license to Ooredoo, which "is owned by Qatar and they are Islamic. So,don’t like …….." went one remark.

Farmers Across Burma Ask Thein Sein for Help

Posted: 27 Jun 2013 05:47 AM PDT

A man works in a rice field in Dala township, near Rangoon, in 2011.

MANDALAY—A movement among farmers to win back confiscated land has spread widely across the country, with protesters in Burma's biggest city and several other divisions urging President Thein Sein to step in and help.

In downtown Rangoon, more than 200 landowners gathered at Sule Pagoda on Thursday and called on Thein Sein to give back land that was confiscated by the government more than two decades ago. The protesters, mostly from Thingangyun and Mayangone townships, outside the city, said they were displaced by a housing project undertaken by the government in 1991.

"The government said they would build housing as upgrades for people living in small huts, that they would provide modern housing," a protester told The Irrawaddy. "But in reality, we were forcibly moved to the Pegu mountain region. We want justice, we want our homes and our land back."

Protesters also came from farther north in Mandalay, Burma's second-biggest city, after homes in the city's Myayeenandar Quarter were bulldozed by the municipal committee and land in the Shwe Kyat Yat area was seized by the government's department of construction.

On Wednesday in Mingalardon Township, north of Rangoon, more than 100 farmers staged a protest urging a land investigation commission in Naypyidaw to probe the seizure of 800 acres of land since 2010 for an industrial zone. They say they did not receive enough notice or proper compensation when the land was taken by Zaykabar Company, a major Burmese conglomerate.

"The company said they gave compensation, but only a few people have received it," a farmer from Shwe Nan Thar village, where the land was seized, told The Irrawaddy.

In Mandalay Division, nearly 30 farmers have submitted an appeal to the president and the government's land investigation commission after their land was seized for one of the army's science and technology bases.

"One hundred and twenty five acres of land have been confiscated since 2006," said Soe Naing, a farming leader. "At the time, the army allowed us to work with a loan, but now we've been ordered to leave our land forever. They said we'll be shot if we enter the land.

"If we can't work on the land, how can we survive? We haven't received any compensation or substitute land. That's why we want the president to take action."

Farmers from the area were once allowed to work on the land if they paid seven baskets of rice per acre to the army. That arrangement changed later, with the farmers paying the monetary equivalent of seven baskets of rice. But starting this month, farmers were ordered not to work on the land at all.

Meanwhile, 60 farmers from Minhla Township, Magway Division submitted a report to Naypyidaw urging an investigation of land grabs. More than 300 acres of land in the division were confiscated by an army arms factory.

In east Burma's Shan State, about 200 farmers and locals gathered outside a police station in Naung Cho Township on Wednesday, urging the release of farmers who were detained for trying to clear bushes on confiscated land. The detained farmers were released with bail after negotiations between the crowd and local authorities.

According to the farmers, more than 40,000 acres of land in Naung Cho have been confiscated by various departments of the government and army.

"It's very hard for a farmer to survive if he loses his land without compensation or substitute land," said a farmer from the area. "It's very unfair to detain a farmer working on his land. We want the president and the responsible authorities to know our situation."

About 40 farmers in Pegu Division's Nattalin Township who plowed on confiscated land were also threatened by local authorities.

"The police and authorities watch and disturb us, saying we'll be arrested if we don't leave the land," Yin Kyi, a farmer leader, told The Irrawaddy. "Since we didn't listen and continued working until all the land had been plowed, they told me to come to the police station alone."

Over 100 acres of lands owned by more than 57 farmers were confiscated 16 years ago separately by a local army base and Nattalin police station. Farmers started plowing the land in the first week of this month. Three outside activists who went to the plowing area to show their support were detained afterward, for allegedly participating in illegal associations.

"We are the landowners, so we believe we have a right to work on our land," said a farmer who participated in the plowing. "If they want to arrest us, let them. But we can't give our land."

"Calling Ko Yin Kyi alone to the police station is nonsense," he added. "If they want to call, call all 57 of us."

In Sagaing Division, farmers from Kantbalu area also submitted a report to the president regarding 14,000 acres that have been confiscated by Myanma Economic Cooperation (MEC) since 1999.

"Only 260 acres were given back after we submitted a form some years ago," said Thein Maung, from Nyat Pyaw Daw village, where some of the land was taken. "We complained to MEC but they said the case was handed over to the township's land commission. When we asked the township land commission, we were told the actual amount of land areas had not reached them yet, so who can we rely on? We just want our land back."

Earlier in June, opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi said at a public meeting in Pyin Oo Lwin, a hilltown in Mandalay Division, that her party had received many complaint letters from farmers and landowners who had lost their land. She said poor rule of law had encouraged land grabs in the country.

"Without rule of law, land is seized from farmers and families are displaced," she told the crowd, which include many farmers and displaced land owners who carried placards reading, "Mother Suu, please help people who have lost their land."

Burma’s Military Chief Observes Fighter Jet Production in Russia

Posted: 27 Jun 2013 05:32 AM PDT

Burma's commander-in-chief of defense services, Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing, third left, holds talks with Russia's defense minister general of the Army, Sergey K Schoigu, on Monday. (Photo: New Light of Myanmar)

Burma's commander-in-chief of defense services, Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing, on Monday visited a Russian fighter jet plant to observe the production process, according to a state-run news source.

The New Light of Myanmar, a government-controlled English-language daily, reported on Wednesday that the commander-in-chief and an accompanying military delegation made an observational trip to the JSC RAC MiG plant in Lukhovitsy, a town located 135 kilometers southeast of the capital Moscow.

Apart from observing the fighter jet production process, Min Aung Hlaing was provided with a test flight demonstration of Russia's newly upgraded MiG-29 M fighter, the newspaper said.

The Burmese Air Force's fleet currently consists of aircraft models from China, the United States and several European nations, including Mikoyan MiG-29 fighters and other attack helicopters from the Russian Federation.

Speculation has arisen that the Air Force may be looking to upgrade to newly made Russian aircraft as a result of the commander-in-chief's official visit, which began on June 23, to the formerly communist Soviet Union.

However, Maj Aung Linn Htut, a former Burmese intelligence officer who currently lives in the United States, said he did not think that the trip by Min Aung Hlaing was intended to buy new military equipment. He said it was instead to secure more spare parts and supplies for Russian-made aircraft and weapons currently in service in Burma, and to bolster relations between the two armed forces.

"Since Burma is in an early stage of military cooperation with the US, I think it has to go to Russia to counterbalance its relations," said the ex-spy. "I also think that his trip is to settle contracted deals between Russia and the previous military regime, which were signed by Vice Snr-Gen Maung Aye, the then second in command of Burmese junta."

A controversial Burma-Russia nuclear research center deal and scholarships for Burmese military personnel are among the issues to be resolved between the two countries, he added.

The New Light of Myanmar also reported that Min Aung Hlaing held talks on Monday with the Russian defense minister general of the Army, Sergey K Schoigu, concerning a number of matters, including promoting relations between the two armed forces and Burmese military scholars in Russia.

When Burma was ruled by the military junta, the country more or less relied on Russia and China for military equipment and other political support. Naypyidaw, however, has resumed and extended its relations with the United States and other Western countries under the current quasi-civilian government.

Last month, Defense Minister Lt-Gen Wai Lwin accompanied President Thein Sein in his state visit to the United States and reportedly tried to re-establish official relations between the Burmese and US armed forces.

So far, the extent of that military-to-military re-engagement has been limited. Burma was allowed to observe the US-led "Cobra Gold" exercise, the largest annual multi-national military exercise in Asia, in February, and a US military delegation visited Naypyidaw in October of last year.

Translation of Lintner’s ‘Outrage’ Sheds Light on ’88 for Burmese Readers

Posted: 27 Jun 2013 03:49 AM PDT

A reader holds a Burmese-language copy of Bertil Lintner's 'Outrage: Burma's Struggle for Democracy.' (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy)

RANGOON — Over the last two decades, any young Burmese who wanted to learn about the historic 1988 popular uprising that nearly toppled the country's dictatorship was hard-pressed to do so.

One way would have been to Google it, but for most of the Internet age in Burma, there was nothing easy or convenient about accessing information via the search engine giant. The snail's pace of the country's Internet connection was one hurdle to overcome, and use of proxy servers—one of the only ways to access censored exile media and other content related to the 1988 democracy protests—required technical know-how.

For many from younger generations, oral accounts from those involved in the uprising were the most credible and accessible. The events of 1988 took on an almost ahistorical quality; the stuff of fables and favorite bedtime stories.

But now, with the release of a Burmese-language translation of "Outrage: Burma's Struggle for Democracy" inside the country this month, another curtain has been pulled back.

Penned by Bertil Lintner, a veteran journalist who has written six books on Burma, the tome covers the period leading up to the nationwide pro-democracy movement, widely known as the '88 Uprising, which broke out on Aug. 8, 1988, and in ensuing weeks saw the Burmese military brutally crack down on the protests, killing several thousand peaceful demonstrators.

"I've just made the most of the country's ongoing democratic transition and the demise of literary censorship," said Lwin Oo, the Burmese publisher of the book, adding that he didn't dare publish a book like "Outrage" five years ago, when the oppressive military regime was in power and its draconian press scrutiny board was active.

Lwin Oo said he published the book in honor of the students and other pro-democracy activists who were involved in the uprising, many of whom sacrificed their lives or lost years to political imprisonment.

Coincidently, the book hits shelves as political activists in the country are gearing up to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the uprising in August of this year.

"I really appreciate the publisher's effort to make the book see the light of day in advance of the '88 Silver Jubilee," said Jimmy, a member of the 88 Generation Peace and Open Society (formerly known as the 88 Generation Students group), an activist group made up of former students who were actively involved in the uprising.

The author Lintner, for years banned from entering Burma due to his coverage of the country, told The Irrawaddy via e-mail that he was glad Burmese readers would have the chance to learn about the historic protests in their native tongue.

"It's very important that the young generation gets to know what happened in their country 25 years ago," he said.

"The 1988 uprising changed Burma forever, and is an important event in Burmese history that should not be forgotten," the former Far Eastern Economic Review correspondent added.

In the wake of the '88 Uprising and government crackdown that followed, thousands of students fled to border areas. Some sought shelter at the Swedish journalist's home in Bangkok, giving him a chance to widely discuss the events with dissidents who would sleep in his living room, according to his new introduction to the Burmese printing of "Outrage." Lintner also interviewed more than 100 Burmese refugees in Thai-Burmese border camps.

"The people who told me their stories were the major drivers to write 'Outrage,'" the 60-year-old journalist recalled.

"I felt I had to give them a voice, to let them tell others what they had been through. The book is based entirely on first-hand accounts of the events of 1988," he added.

In the acknowledgements of "Outrage," Bertil writes that he was frequently told by Burmese people during his research for the book that he should "tell it as we saw it," since the junta in Rangoon was actively working to re-write history in the wake of the uprising. Lintner said he had followed "this advice as much as possible."

"I'll leave it up to the readers to decide which account of the events of 1988 is the most accurate," he said.

The publisher Lwin Oo said he chose "Outrage" for its vivid portrayal of the uprising and the credibility of its author.

"Every time I read the book, I can visualize the scenes, and I feel I am in 1988 again," he said.

"Another thing is that Bertil knows Burma and its people very well. He is one of the people who made the '88 Uprising internationally well known."

The Burmese publisher said Lintner did much to help make the Burmese translation possible, granting publishing permission, providing pictures and asking for nothing in terms of royalty payments.

"Because I felt it was more important that the book was published in Burmese, for Burmese people, than for me to earn some royalties from it," Lintner said.

Meanwhile, another book by the journalist, "The Rise and Fall of the Communist Party of Burma," has also been translated into Burmese and is now being serialized in The Voice daily newspaper. Lintner told The Irrawaddy that it will be published as a full book later this year.

"One day I would also like to see a Burmese translation of 'Land of Jade,' which I think would help the Burmese people to get a better understanding of what is happening, and what has happened, in the country's frontier areas," he said.

Slowly but Surely, Suu Kyi Opens Up for Local Documentary

Posted: 27 Jun 2013 03:13 AM PDT

Burmese film director Min Htin Ko Ko Gyi, left, with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi on the first day of filming in July last year. (Photo: Myo Myint Swe)

RANGOON — The first Burmese film director to make a documentary about Aung San Suu Kyi has run into a slight problem: the Lady's busy schedule.

"I asked for 10 interviews—each an hour in length—but so far I've only had two interviews," Min Htin Ko Ko Gyi, who started filming the feature-length documentary last year, told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday. "I asked for one interview each month … but after the first interview, I had to wait another 10 months for the second, so the production period will be longer than I planned.

"But I understand," he added. "She is very busy."

The 51-year-old director, screenwriter, filmmaker and poet, who organized an international human rights film festival earlier this month in Rangoon, is the first native Burmese director to ever portray the life of the 68-year-old democracy icon, who was elected to Parliament last year and has since announced her ambition to be the country's next president.

He says it took several months to win Suu Kyi's trust, after meeting her for the first time a month after she was released from house arrest under the former military regime in November 2010. He went to her office with a copy of his award-winning documentary "The Floating Tomatoes," about the environmental damage to Inle Lake in east Burma, and asked if she would be willing to be his next subject.

"She said she would watch my documentary and then she would consider it," said the filmmaker, who studied film and video production while working as an engineer in Singapore.

The next summer he got in touch with Suu Kyi again, after being invited to attend an international poetry festival in Colombia. "Before I went, I asked the Lady to give me a poem to recite there, along with my own poems. She composed a poem and gave it to me," he said. "When I came back, I had a chance to meet her again and ask about the documentary, and at that time she said, 'OK, you can proceed.'"

The director and his crew started shooting last July at Suu Kyi's residence in Rangoon, but they have also traveled as far as Europe to capture her in action. In addition to filming the opposition leader on the campaign trail before parliamentarian by-elections, Min Htin Ko Ko Gyi flew to Norway in June last year when she collected her Nobel Peace Prize. He hopes to wrap up production by 2015, after initially estimating that the entire project would take only one or two years to complete.

Although Burma's film censorship board has not yet been disbanded, film production is much easier now than it was under the former military regime, which handed power to a nominally civilian government in 2011. While filming "The Floating Tomatoes" in 2009, Min Htin Ko Ko Gyi had to be subtle with his camera.

"If authorities approached us, we couldn't say we were filming. We just said we were there [at the lake] to sightsee and take some shots," said the director, who started making films in Burma after returning to the country in 2003. "This is how we survived under the military government. Now it's very easy. We can take our cameras anywhere—we don't need to hide."

Min Htin Ko Ko Gyi's documentary about Suu Kyi comes after French director Luc Besson's 2011 release of "The Lady," which became a popular bootleg DVD purchase in Burma but was never shown in the country's movie theaters.

Min Htin Ko Ko Gyi offered some criticism for Besson's biopic, which he watched at a film festival in neighboring Thailand. "As a feature film, based on our national leader, I felt that the director didn't do proper research. He made a lot of historical inaccuracies," he said.

The Burmese director said he could not compare "The Lady" with his own documentary, since they were two different categories of films. But he said he aimed to offer an emotional, personal look into the democracy icon's life with his own project.

"She always tries to cover up her heart, her real heart. But my documentary takes a look at her heart," he said. "Everyone knows about her political activities, so I didn't want to make that kind of documentary about her."

He said Suu Kyi was skeptical in the beginning but has proven to be more open than expected. "Before the first interview, she told me, 'If I don't want to answer, I will not,'" he said with a laugh. "But so far, she hasn't declined to answer any of my questions."

The filmmaker, however, is keeping a few secrets of his own for now. He said he had not yet selected a title for the film, and when asked what kinds of questions he was posing to the Lady, he offered little more than another laugh.

"For that," he said, "I think I should wait and not say anything before my documentary is released."

Media Freedom Group Slams Govt, Distributor For Time Magazine Ban

Posted: 27 Jun 2013 12:30 AM PDT

Journalists in black caps and t-shirts gather outside a courtroom in Dagon Township, Rangoon, in August 2012, where the Voice Weekly journal faced charges of defaming the Ministry of Mines. (Photo: Jpaing / The Irrawaddy)

RANGOON — Reporters Without Borders has denounced the Burmese government's decision to ban the July 1st issue of Time magazine Asia due to controversy over its cover. It also condemned Inwa Publications' decision to voluntarily scrap the distribution of the issue in Burma.

The France-based media freedom group said on Wednesday that it was "extremely disturbed" by the ban and it called on the government to rescind its decision.

"At a time when Burma's media law is still being drafted, it reflects an attitude that is completely contrary to the fundamental principles that should govern media law reform," the group said in a statement.

The cover of Time's July 1 issue features a photo of radical monk U Wirathu with the headline "The Face of Buddhist Terror." The cover story describes the rise of aggressive, nationalist teachings among Buddhist monks in Burma and other parts of Asia, and their role in instigating unrest between groups of different faiths.

In Burma, the radical monks have been accused of stirring up anti-Muslim sentiment that led to bloody inter-communal violence between Buddhists and Muslims in the past year.

Time's July 1 cover offended many in Burma because they feel it couples the country's Buddhist tradition and its revered monks with terror.

On Tuesday, Inwa Publications, the sole distributor of Time magazine in Burma, decided to cancel sales of approximately 600 copies of Time's July issue because it offended their Buddhist faith. The firm said it was also scrutinizing the content of the publications it distributes, because the government censor had stopped controlling media content last year.

Reporters Without Borders slammed the firm's decision.

"Inwa Publications went far beyond its role as a distributor and abusively assumed politically-motivated censorship powers, going so far as to argue that this was justified by the recent closure of the government office for prior censorship," the group said.

"As Time magazine's sole distributor in Burma, this privately-owned company is violating media freedom and the Burmese public's right to information."

On Wednesday, President Thein Sein's office announced a ban on sales, reproduction, distribution or possession of the July issue, claiming the English-language article could lead to "misunderstandings" and "jeopardize" Burma's communal harmony. A day earlier, it had issued a statement defending Burma's "noble" Buddhist tradition from any association with violence.

Reporters Without Borders said the decision shows that little progress has made in improving media freedom in Burma under President Thein Sein's reformist government.

"There has been no change in the government's desire to control news and information and to assume the right to apply prior censorship whenever it deems this to be necessary," the group said. "This is an unacceptable step backwards for media freedom in Burma."

Since assuming office 2011, Thein Sein's nominally civilian government has lifted some of the draconian media restrictions that were enforced under the previous military regime. It disbanded the government censorship board last year, released jailed journalists and on April 1 the publication of daily newspapers was allowed for the first time in decades.

A new media law is due to be discussed in Parliament in the coming months and is being closely watched by Burmese media organizations.

CP Workers’ Woes Highlight Concerns about Big Agriculture in Burma

Posted: 27 Jun 2013 12:23 AM PDT

Burmese rice farmers in the Irrawaddy Delta. (Photo: WikiMedia)

Burmese rice farmers in the Irrawaddy Delta. (Photo: WikiMedia)

The billionaire boss of the giant Thai conglomerate Charoen Pokphand Group (CP), Dhanin Chearavanont, is on record saying he runs his businesses on Buddhist principles. But Burmese migrant workers employed in his seafood-processing factories in Thailand might have reason to question those principles after their experiences at the hands of exploitative subcontractors CP has, until now, used as go-betweens in its dealings with non-Thai employees.

CP's practices were thrust into the limelight this week after it fired 160 Burmese at a factory in Mahachai on the coast just south of Bangkok. The grounds for their dismissal were vague, as with other firings of Burmese in the past, and may have contravened Thai labor law. But this time the Burmese embassy in Bangkok intervened and CP has agreed to give the workers their jobs back, and to look into the subcontracting methods.

The treatment of Burmese workers in Thailand by CP does not bode well for the company's declared plans to invest US $550 million in Burma, on large-scale rice and maize farms, milling plants and meat processing factories.

"Myanmar's [Burma's] economy is growing since the government has opened the door for foreign investors. We believe that it will create business opportunities for us," CP Vice-Chairman Adirek Sripratak said last year.

The Thai giant has established some agricultural business in Burma but, according to some observers, the investment has brought mixed blessings.

"CP already has operations here in Myanmar growing, amongst other things, corn for animal feed. Issues around the CP model for corn production with high levels of inputs has drawn criticism and if this model is replicated across the country then negative consequences for production sustainability will likely result," Tobias Jackson of the Food Security Working Group (FSWG) in Rangoon told The Irrawaddy on June 26.

"Agri-business investments across the Mekong region have a very mixed track record. Large-scale, monoculture, industrial agriculture plantation investments stand accused in many cases of land grabbing and displacing communities and farmers from their land and of increasing rather than reducing poverty," said Jackson.

The FSWG is an umbrella organisation of Burmese and international NGOs working to improve farming and the lives of farming communities.

Bangkok-based CP has mushroomed from its original family seed supply business to become an international conglomerate ranging from processed packaged foods to telecommunications, motorbike manufacture and insurance.

CP today employs 280,000 people, many of them in China, and operates the world's third-largest 7-Eleven stores chain franchise, according to Bloomberg business news agency.

Chairman Dhanin, whose hobbies include cock fighting, was listed by Bloomberg at the end of 2012 as having personal wealth of $6.1 billion.

CP was unable to comment for this report, or to provide any details of its proposed new investments in Burma which were outlined when Adirek visited Naypyidaw and had a one-to-one meeting with President Thein Sein.

"Generally, there are major concerns over the weaknesses in the land laws for farmers in Myanmar, including the absence of protection for traditional shifting cultivation practices, and there are consistent reports of powerful interests, including companies and Myanmar state agents confiscating land from farmers with no or little compensation for agribusiness projects," Paul Donowitz of the US-based NGO EarthRights International told The Irrawaddy.

"While we have no direct information on CP, companies invested in, or considering investing in the agribusiness sector who have poor track records on labor and other core human rights issues are a serious concern, and their investments should be closely scrutinized."

The Bangkok-based Burmese migrants right group Human Rights and Development Foundation said the 160 workers fired by CP at the Mahachai seafood factory had been told by one manager that their Thai language skills were not good enough. However, they had been campaigning to be paid part wages after their working week was reduced due to a fish shortage.

"[Agribusiness investments] also stand accused of negative environmental impacts and of illegal logging associated with concession development. Contract farming engagements between companies and farmers offer some potential for poverty reduction but are often implemented without sufficient respect for farmers' rights and without farmers having sufficient knowledge, which results in exploitative contracts," said Jackson

"CP employs both these production systems in their operations in the region and so one can infer that they will employ these systems in Myanmar with the potential associated negative consequences as described above," he added.

Dhanin, whose family arrived in Thailand as poor Chinese migrants in the early 20th century, has top political connections in China where CP operates over 200 companies and employs more than 80,000 people.

The future may be brighter for Burmese farmers if Dhanin holds true to his Buddhist principles.

"People who feed the country shouldn't be poor," he was quoted by Bloomberg as saying last December when it listed his multi-billion dollar wealth.

Telecoms License Awards to Go Ahead as Planned

Posted: 26 Jun 2013 11:05 PM PDT

A man talks on mobile phone along a street side in Rangoon in February 2013. (Photo: Reuters)

RANGOON—Despite a decision by Burma's Parliament to postpone the awarding of telecoms licenses to two foreign companies or consortia, the body overseeing the bidding process says the license winners will be announced as planned on Thursday.

Set Aung, chairman of the Telecoms Tender Committee and deputy minister for national planning and economic development, said the committee had already selected two winners out of 11 bidders and would publicly announce them on Thursday.

"We are going to announce the winners today, he told The Irrawaddy on Thursday morning.

"We have to treat international and local companies fair and square," he said. "If not, we will be disgraced in the international community. I agree that we should favor local companies, but we shouldn't take the wrong direction in doing so."

Burma's lower house of Parliament said on Wednesday that the licensing awards would be delayed until lawmakers passed a new telecommunications law, which is still in the drafting process. This move in Parliament to delay the awarding came after a member of Parliament's telecoms committee submitted an emergency statement to lawmakers urging them to favor local joint ventures in the selection of telecoms operators.

Ingraining the 969 Ideology

Posted: 26 Jun 2013 11:02 PM PDT

Wimala Biwuntha shows a 969 logo during the introduction speech ceremony in a monastery in Rangoon, April 22, 2013. (Photo: Reuters)

RANGOON — Wimala Biwuntha is a pint-sized monk with boyish features who could barely see over the lectern during his recent sermon to a mesmerized crowd at a Rangoon monastery. Yet his stature in Burma grows daily, thanks to his stark message to fellow Buddhists: "We are digging our own graves."

Wimala’s sermon in the low-rent suburb of Insein was billed as an "introduction to the Buddhist logo". To warm up the crowd, a catchy pop tune called "Song to Whip Up Religious Blood" was played at high volume on a continuous loop on the monastery’s loudspeakers. "Buddhists should not stay calm anymore," ran the lyrics.

Wimala hails from Mon, a coastal state near Rangoon. The Mon pride themselves on being Burma’s earliest converts to Buddhism. In October, with violence raging in Arakan, he and fellow Mon monks set up the "Gana Wasaka Sangha" network to propagate 969 teachings.

It distributes a map showing Burma surrounded by Muslim-majority countries where Buddhism once flourished, such as Indonesia. "If necessary," runs its slogan, "we will build a fence with our bones."

Wimala arrived for his sermon barefoot, his shaven head shielded from the searing pre-monsoon sun by white umbrellas held aloft by disciples. His sermon was filmed by two cameramen, who later burned it onto DVDs that are distributed across Burma. Now that junta-era controls on the Internet have gone, 969 speeches are also widely disseminated on Facebook and YouTube.

Wimala’s preaching style is by turns intimate and hectoring. He cracks jokes. Often, he closes his eyes and intones like a revivalist preacher. Unfurling a poster of the 969 logo, he led the audience through the first of many renditions of the movement’s catechism.

"When you eat?" he asked.

"Nine six nine!" shouted his followers.

"When you go?"

"Nine six nine!"

"When you buy?"

"Nine six nine!"

"When you wake up?"

"Nine six nine!"

"When you sleep?

"Nine six nine!"

Afterwards, Wimala spoke approvingly of monks in Karen State who fine Buddhists caught buying from Muslims.

The Mon monks have delivered dozens of sermons in known sectarian trouble-spots. Wimala’s speech in the Pegu farming town of Minhla in February was followed by rising communal tensions, Muslim residents told Reuters. Four weeks later, a Buddhist mob destroyed mosques and Muslim houses in the town. Many of Minhla’s 500 Muslims fled.

In an interview, Wimala said 969 might have inspired followers to commit anti-Muslim violence. But they were an ill-educated minority whose actions had been exaggerated by "Muslim-owned media", he said.

Emboldened, Wimala wants to reach a younger audience. He and other abbots are promoting compulsory religious education for Buddhist children.

The Mon monks plan to teach 60,000 children at more than 160 schools in Rangoon and Moulmein, said Yin Yin Htwe, 34, a Wimala donor and disciple who runs a jewelry business. "I want children to learn the dhamma (Buddhist teachings), improve their manners and protect the nation and religion," she said.

Outside, waiting to greet Wimala, are dozens of primary schoolchildren with 969 logos pinned to their shirts.

Burma Govt Gives Official Blessing To Anti-Muslim Monks

Posted: 26 Jun 2013 10:58 PM PDT

Myanan Sayadaw U Thaddhamma (Photo : JPaing / The Irrawaddy)

RANGOON — The Buddhist extremist movement in Burma, known as 969, portrays itself as a grassroots creed.

Its chief proponent, a monk named U U Wirathu, was once jailed by the former military junta for anti-Muslim violence and once called himself the "Burmese bin Laden."

But a Reuters examination traces 969's origins to an official in the dictatorship that once ran Burma, and which is the direct predecessor of today's reformist government. The 969 movement now enjoys support from senior government officials, establishment monks and even some members of the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD), the political party of Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

U Wirathu urges Buddhists to boycott Muslim shops and shun interfaith marriages. He calls mosques "enemy bases."

Among his admirers: Burma's minister of religious affairs.

"Wirathu's sermons are about promoting love and understanding between religions," Sann Sint, minister of religious affairs, told Reuters in his first interview with the international media. "It is impossible he is inciting religious violence."

Sann Sint, a former lieutenant general in Burma's army, also sees nothing wrong with the boycott of Muslim businesses being led by the 969 monks. "We are now practicing market economics," he said. "Nobody can stop that. It is up to the consumers."

President Thein Sein is signaling a benign view of 969, too. His office declined to comment for this story. But in response to growing controversy over the movement, it issued a statement Sunday, saying 969 "is just a symbol of peace" and U Wirathu is "a son of Lord Buddha."

U Wirathu and other monks have been closely linked to the sectarian violence spreading across Burma, formerly known as Burma. Anti-Muslim unrest simmered under the junta that ran the country for nearly half a century. But the worst fighting has occurred since the quasi-civilian government took power in March 2011.

Two outbursts in Arakan State last year killed at least 192 people and left 140,000 homeless, mostly stateless Rohingya Muslims. A Reuters investigation found that organized attacks on Muslims last October were led by Arakan nationalists incited by Buddhist monks and sometimes abetted by local security forces.

In March this year, at least 44 people died and 13,000 were displaced – again, mostly Muslims – during riots in Meikhtila, a city in central Burma. Reuters documented in April that the killings happened after monks led Buddhist mobs on a rampage. In May, Buddhists mobs burned and terrorized Muslim neighborhoods in the northern city of Lashio. Reports of unrest have since spread nationwide.

The numbers 969, innocuous in themselves, refer to attributes of the Buddha, his teachings and the monkhood. But 969 monks have been providing the moral justification for a wave of anti-Muslim bloodshed that could scuttle Burma's nascent reform program. Another prominent 969 monk, Wimala Biwuntha, likens Muslims to a tiger who enters an ill-defended house to snatch away its occupants.

"Without discipline, we'll lose our religion and our race," he said in a recent sermon. "We might even lose our country."

Officially, Burma has no state religion, but its rulers have long put Buddhism first. Muslims make up an estimated 4 percent of the populace. Buddhism is followed by 90 percent of the country's 60 million people and is promoted by a special department within the ministry of religion created during the junta.

Easy Scapegoats

Monks play a complex part in Burmese politics. They took a central role in pro-democracy "Saffron Revolution" uprisings against military rule in 2007. The generals – who included current President Thein Sein and most senior members of his government – suppressed them. Now, Thein Sein's ambitious program of reforms has ushered in new freedoms of speech and assembly, liberating the country's roughly 500,000 monks. They can travel at will to spread Buddhist teachings, including 969 doctrine.

In Burma's nascent democracy, the monks have emerged as a political force in the run-up to a general election scheduled for 2015. Their new potency has given rise to a conspiracy theory here: The 969 movement is controlled by disgruntled hardliners from the previous junta, who are fomenting unrest to derail the reforms and foil an election landslide by Suu Kyi's NLD.

No evidence has emerged to support this belief. But some in the government say there is possibly truth to it.

"Some people are very eager to reform, some people don't want to reform," Soe Thein, one of President Thein Sein's two closest advisors, told Reuters. "So, regarding the sectarian violence, some people may be that side — the anti-reform side."

Even if 969 isn't controlled by powerful hardliners, it has broad support, both in high places and at the grass roots, where it is a genuine and growing movement.

Officials offer tacit backing, said Wimala, the 969 monk. "By letting us give speeches to protect our religion and race, I assume they are supporting us," he said.

The Rangoon representative of the Burmese Muslim Association agreed. "The anti-Muslim movement is growing and the government isn't stopping it," said Myo Win, a Muslim teacher. Myo Win likened 969 to the Ku Klux Klan.

The religion minister, Sann Sint, said the movement doesn't have official state backing. But he defended U Wirathu and other monks espousing the creed.

"I don't think they are preaching to make problems," he said.

Local authorities, too, have lent the movement some backing.

Its logo – now one of Burma's most recognizable – bears the Burmese numerals 969, a chakra wheel and four Asiatic lions representing the ancient Buddhist emperor Ashoka. Stickers with the logo are handed out free at speeches. They adorn shops, homes, taxis and souvenir stalls at the nation's most revered Buddhist pagoda, the Shwedagon. They are a common sight in areas plagued by unrest.

Some authorities treat the symbol with reverence. A court in Pegu, a region near Rangoon hit by anti-Muslim violence this year, jailed a Muslim man for two years in April after he removed a 969 sticker from a betel-nut shop. He was sentenced under a section of Burma's colonial-era Penal Code, which outlaws "deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings".

Quasi-Official Origins

The 969 movement's ties to the state date back to the creed's origins. Wimala, U Wirathu and other 969 preachers credit its creation to the late Kyaw Lwin, an ex-monk, government official and prolific writer, now largely forgotten outside religious circles.

Burma's former dictators handpicked Kyaw Lwin to promote Buddhism after the brutal suppression of the 1988 democracy uprising. Thousands were killed or injured after soldiers opened fire on unarmed protesters, including monks. Later, to signal their disgust, monks refused to accept alms from military families for three months, a potent gesture in devoutly Buddhist Burma.

Afterwards, the military set about co-opting Buddhism in an effort to tame rebellious monks and repair its image. Monks were registered and their movements restricted. State-run media ran almost daily reports of generals overseeing temple renovations or donating alms to abbots.

In 1991, the junta created a Department for the Promotion and Propagation of the Sasana (DPPS), a unit within the Religion Ministry, and appointed Kyaw Lwin as its head. Sasana means "religion" in Pali, the liturgical language of Theravada Buddhism; in Burma, the word is synonymous with Buddhism itself.

The following year, the DPPS published "How To Live As A Good Buddhist," a distillation of Kyaw Lwin's writings. It was republished in 2000 as "The Best Buddhist," its cover bearing an early version of the 969 logo.

Kyaw Lwin stepped down in 1992. The current head is Khine Aung, a former military officer.

Kyaw Lwin's widow and son still live in his modest home in central Rangoon. Its living room walls are lined with shelves of Kyaw Lwin's books and framed photos of him as a monk and meditation master.

Another photo shows Kyaw Lwin sharing a joke with Lieutenant General Khin Nyunt, then chief of military intelligence and one of Burma's most feared men. Kyaw Lwin enjoyed close relations with other junta leaders, said his son, Aung Lwin Tun, 38, a car importer. He was personally instructed to write "The Best Buddhist" by the late Saw Maung, then Burma's senior-most general. He met "often" to discuss religion with ex-dictator Than Shwe, who retired in March 2011 and has been out of the public eye since then.

"The Best Buddhist" is out of print, but Aung Lwin Tun plans to republish it. "Many people are asking for it now," he said. He supports today's 969 movement, including its anti-Muslim boycott. "It's like building a fence to protect our religion," he said.

Also supporting 969 is Kyaw Lwin's widow, 65, whose name was withheld at the family's request. She claimed that Buddhists who marry Muslims are forced at their weddings to tread on an image of Buddha, and that the ritual slaughter of animals by Shi'ite Muslims makes it easier for them to kill humans.

Among the monks Kyaw Lwin met during his time as DPPS chief was Wiseitta Biwuntha, who hailed from the town of Kyaukse, near the northern cultural capital of Mandalay. Better known as U Wirathu, he is today one of the 969's most incendiary leaders.

U Wirathu and Kyaw Lwin stayed in touch after their 1992 meeting, said Aung Lwin Tun, who believed his father would admire U Wirathu's teachings. "He is doing what other people won't – protecting and promoting the religion."

Kyaw Lwin died in 2001, aged 70. That same year, U Wirathu began preaching about 969, and the US State Department reported "a sharp increase in anti-Muslim violence" in Burma. Anti-Muslim sentiment was stoked in March 2001 by the Taliban's destruction of Buddhist statues in Bamiyan, Afghanistan, and in September by al Qaeda's attacks in the United States.

Two years later, U Wirathu was arrested and sentenced to 25 years in jail for distributing anti-Muslim pamphlets that incited communal riots in his hometown. At least 10 Muslims were killed by a Buddhist mob, according to a State Department report. The 969 movement had spilled its first blood.

969 Versus 786

U Wirathu was freed in 2011 during an amnesty for political prisoners. While the self-styled "Burmese bin Laden" has become the militant face of 969, the movement derives evangelical energy from monks in Mon, a coastal state where people pride themselves on being Burma's first Buddhists. Since last year's violence they have organized a network across the nation. They led a boycott last year of a Muslim-owned bus company in Moulmein, Mon's capital. Extending that boycott nationwide has become a central 969 goal.

Muslims held many senior government positions after Burma gained independence from Britain in 1948. That changed in 1962, when the military seized power and stymied the hiring and promoting of Muslim officials. The military drew on popular prejudices that Muslims dominated business and used their profits to build mosques, buy Buddhist wives and spread Islamic teachings.

All this justified the current boycott of Muslim businesses, said Zarni Win Tun, a 31-year-old lawyer and 969 devotee, who said Muslims had long shunned Buddhist businesses. "We didn't start the boycott – they did," she said. "We're just using their methods."

By that she means the number 786, which Muslims of South Asian origin often display on their homes and businesses. It is a numerical representation of the Islamic blessing, "In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate and Merciful". But Buddhists in Burma – a country obsessed by numerology – claim the sum of the three numbers signifies a Muslim plan for world domination in the 21st century.

It is possible to understand why some Buddhists might believe this. Religious and dietary customs prohibit Muslims from frequenting Buddhist restaurants, for example. Muslims also dominate some small- and medium-sized business sectors. The names of Muslim-owned construction companies – Naing Group, Motherland, Fatherland – are winning extra prominence now that Rangoon is experiencing a reform-era building boom.

However, the biggest construction firms – those involved in multi-billion-dollar infrastructure projects – are run by tycoons linked to members of the former dictatorship. They are Buddhists.

Buddhist clients have canceled contracts with Muslim-owned construction companies in northern Rangoon, fearing attacks by 969 followers on the finished buildings, said Shwe Muang, a Muslim MP with the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party. "I worry that if this starts in one township it will infect others," he said.

"Our Lives Are Not Safe"

For Zarni Win Tun, the 969 devotee, shunning Muslims is a means of ensuring sectarian peace. She points to the Meikhtila violence, which was sparked by an argument between Buddhist customers and a Muslim gold-shop owner. "If they'd bought from their own people, the problem wouldn't have happened," she said.

Her conviction that segregation is the solution to sectarian strife is echoed in national policy. A total of at least 153,000 Muslims have been displaced in the past year after the violence in Arakan and in central Burma. Most are concentrated in camps guarded by the security forces with little hope of returning to their old lives.

A few prominent monks have publicly criticized the 969 movement, and some Facebook users have launched a campaign to boycott taxis displaying its stickers. Some Rangoon street stalls have started selling 969 CDs more discreetly since the Meikhtila bloodbath. The backlash has otherwise been muted.

Wimala, the Mon monk, shrugged off criticism from fellow monks. "They shouldn't try to stop us from doing good things," he said.

In mid-June, he and U Wirathu attended a hundreds-strong monastic convention near Rangoon, where U Wirathu presented a proposal to restrict Buddhist women from marrying Muslim men.

In another sign 969 is going mainstream, U Wirathu's bid was supported by Dhammapiya, a U.S.-educated professor at the International Theravada Buddhist Missionary University in Rangoon, a respected institution with links to other Buddhist universities in Asia.

Dhammapiya described 969 as a peaceful movement that is helping Burma through a potentially turbulent transition. "The 969 issue for us is no issue," Dhammapiya told Reuters. "Buddhists always long to live in peace and harmony."

No Mosques Here

The only mass movement to rival 969 is the National League for Democracy. Their relationship is both antagonistic and complementary.

In a speech posted on YouTube in late March, U Wirathu said the party and Suu Kyi's inner circle were dominated by Muslims. "If you look at NLD offices in any town, you will see bearded people," he said. Followers of Wimala told Reuters they had removed photos of Suu Kyi – a devout Buddhist – from their homes to protest her apparent reluctance to speak up for Buddhists affected by last year's violence in Arakan. Suu Kyi's reticence on sectarian violence has also angered Muslims.

The Burmese Muslim Association has accused NLD members of handing out 969 materials in Rangoon.

Party spokesman Nyan Win said "some NLD members" were involved in the movement. "But the NLD cannot interfere with the freedoms or rights of members," he said. "They all have the right to do what they want in terms of social affairs."

Min Thet Lin, 36, a taxi driver, is exercising that right. The front and back windows of his car are plastered with 969 stickers. He is also an NLD leader in Thaketa, a working-class Rangoon township known for anti-Muslim sentiment.

In February, Buddhist residents of Thaketa descended upon an Islamic school in Min Thet Lin's neighborhood which they claimed was being secretly converted into a mosque. Riot police were deployed while the structure was demolished.

A month later, Wimala and two other Mon monks visited Thaketa to give Buddhists what a promotional leaflet called "dhamma medicine" – that is, three days of 969 sermons. "Don't give up the fight," urged the leaflet.

Today, the property is sealed off and guarded by police. "People don't want a mosque here," said Min Thet Lin.

As he spoke, 969's pop anthem, "Song to Whip Up Religious Blood," rang over the rooftops. A nearby monastic school was playing the song for enrolling pupils.

Manila Plans Air, Naval Bases at Subic with Access for US: Officials

Posted: 26 Jun 2013 10:47 PM PDT

Members of the Philippine Marines take their oath of allegiance during the Philippine Navy's 115th anniversary celebrations in Fort San Felipe, Cavite city, southwest of Manila, on May 21, 2013. (Photo: Reuters / Erik De Castro)

MANILA — The Philippine military has revived plans to build new air and naval bases at Subic Bay, a former US naval base that American forces could use to counter China's creeping presence in the disputed South China Sea, senior navy officials said.

The proposed bases in the Philippines, a close US ally, coincides with a resurgence of US warships, planes and personnel in the region as Washington turns its attention to a newly assertive China and shifts its foreign, economic and security policy toward Asia.

The bases would allow the Philippines to station warships and fighter jets just 124 nautical miles from Scarborough Shoal, a contentious area of the South China Sea now controlled by China after a tense standoff last year.

The Philippine navy, whose resources and battle capabilities are no match for China's growing naval might, has yet to formally present its 10-billion-peso ($230 million) base development plan to President Benigno Aquino.

But senior officials say they believe it has a strong chance of winning approval as Aquino seeks to upgrade the country's decrepit forces.

The Philippine Congress last year approved $1.8 billion for military modernization, with the bulk going to acquisition of ships, aircraft and equipment such as radar. The military had raised the plan in the past, but is now pushing it with more urgency following a series of naval standoffs with China.

"The chances of this plan taking off under President Aquino are high because his administration has been very supportive in terms of equipment upgrade," said a senior military officer who asked not to be identified.

"The people around him understood our needs and more importantly, what our country is facing at this time."

Subic, a deep-water port sheltered by jungle-clad mountains 80 km (50 miles) north of Manila, has been a special economic zone since US forces were evicted in 1992, ending 94 years of American military presence in the Philippines and shutting the largest US military installation in Southeast Asia.

Since then, American warships and planes have been allowed to visit the Philippines for maintenance and refueling.

US military "rotations" through the Philippines have become more frequent as Beijing grows more assertive in the South China Sea, a vast expanse of mineral-rich waters and vital sea lanes claimed entirely by China, Taiwan and Vietnam and in part by Malaysia, Brunei and the Philippines—one of Asia's biggest security flashpoints.

A 30-hectare (74-acre) area has been identified for the bases, which would station fighter jets and the Philippines' biggest warships that patrol the disputed sea, including two Hamilton-class cutter ships it acquired for free from the United States.

The plan has taken on added urgency since a tense two-month standoff last year between Chinese and Philippine ships at the Scarborough Shoal, which is only about 124 nautical miles off the Philippine coast. Chinese ships now control the shoal, often chasing away Filipino fishermen.

US and Philippine navy ships begin war games near the shoal on Thursday.

The South China Sea dispute will again loom large over regional diplomacy next week when US Secretary of State John Kerry joins his counterparts from Southeast Asian nations and China among other countries for an annual meeting in Brunei.

The Philippines plans to raise the issue of Chinese ships' "encroachment" near another disputed coral reef where Manila recently beefed up its small military presence, diplomatic sources told Reuters. China in turn has accused the Philippines of "illegal occupation" of the reef, which is a strategic gateway to an area believed to be rich in oil and natural gas.

Rise in US Navy Visits

There is no plan to allow the United States to rebuild its old bases, a sensitive issue in the Philippines where a nationalist backlash against the US military helped lead to the 1992 closure of Subic and Clark Air Base.

New Philippine air and naval bases, however, would give visiting US warships more security to launch operations in the South China Sea and elsewhere in Southeast Asia. A Visiting Forces Agreement, ratified by the Philippine Senate in 1999, allows US forces full access to Philippine bases.

Roberto Garcia, chairman of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA), which oversees the Subic Bay Freeport, confirmed the plan to build the new bases, saying he had shelved plans in the area for a theme park to make way for it.

"I don't see any problem if the government wants to build an air and naval base in the Freeport area," Garcia said, noting the increase in the number of US military port calls to Subic.

This year alone, 72 US warships and submarines visited Subic, compared with 88 for all of 2012, 54 in 2011 and 51 in 2010, according to official data.

The Philippine military also wants to revive an airstrip that once handled some of the largest military aircraft in the US arsenal. The former Cubi Point Naval Air Station, carved out of a mountain adjoining Subic, served FedEx Corp cargo plans after the US forces withdrew.

But FedEx ceased operations at the airstrip, now called Subic Bay International Airport, in 2009. Two senior air force officers told Reuters the military had proposed to Aquino to convert parts of the airstrip into an air base.

Another Philippine navy officer said the arrival in a few weeks of a second Hamilton-class cutter from the United States would put pressure on the navy to find a suitable port for large warships.

Since 2002, US forces helping fight al Qaeda-linked Islamist militants in the southern Philippines have shared several bases with Philippine troops. US Navy surveillance planes are allocated spaces in a local air force base at Clark.

"We've seen a lot of similar 'joint use' arrangement. The US does not want bases, only access," a Philippine navy captain familiar with the Subic proposal told Reuters.

"We will share our bases with them and I am sure the US would love them."

Additional reporting by Greg Torode in Hong Kong.

Rotting Corpses Spark Fears of Epidemic amid India Floods

Posted: 26 Jun 2013 10:39 PM PDT

A security personnel opens a gate covered in posters of missing people affected by flash floods and landslides in India, at the Indian Air Force base in Dehradun, in the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand on June 26, 2013. (Photo: Reuters / Danish Siddiqui)

NEW DELHI — Rotting corpses contaminating water sources and poor sanitation amid devastating floods in northern India could lead to a serious outbreak of diseases such as cholera and dysentery, aid groups warned on Wednesday.

The floods, triggered by heavy monsoon rains more than 10 days ago, have killed at least 822 people in the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand and forced tens of thousands from their homes. Officials say the death toll may cross 1,000 and thousands are still reported missing.

Authorities have so far been focusing on rescuing thousands of pilgrims who visit the region for its sacred Hindu temples and shrines, but aid agencies, struggling to get past roads choked by landslides to local villagers, warned of another disaster unfolding in form of an outbreak of diseases.

Aid workers said they were concerned that a combination of heavy rains and corpses lying out in the open would contaminate streams and rivers.

"We are getting reports from the field that there are rotting bodies lying around, many of them semi-buried in soil and rubble that came down from the mountains," said Zubin Zaman, Humanitarian Manager for Oxfam India, which is working in Rudraprayag, one of the worst affected districts.

"There are also carcasses of livestock in rivers and streams and this has, of course, contaminated so many of their water sources. But people are desperate and are being forced to consume water they wouldn't otherwise."

Zaman said he was concerned of outbreaks of water-borne diseases such as cholera, diarrhea and dysentery, adding that he had received reports that 400 people were admitted to a medical camp in Sonprayag.

The disaster—the worst floods India has witnessed since 2008 when around 500 died in the eastern state of Bihar—has swept away buildings, washed away farmland and destroyed major roads and bridges.

The floods and landslides have been dubbed a "Himalayan tsunami" by the Indian media due to the torrents of water unleashed in the hilly region, which sent mud crashing down, burying homes and other buildings.

Heavy rains over the last two days have hampered rescue operations by the army and air force who have been air lifting survivors marooned in and around the four temple towns of Kedarnath, Badrinath, Gangotri and Yamunotri since June 15.

Television channels broadcast dramatic pictures of desperate pilgrims scrambling to get aboard dozens of military helicopters that have been ferrying people to safety. Around 96,500 people have so far been evacuated by land and air, according to media reports.

An air force rescue helicopter crashed on Tuesday, killing 20 people on board. The air force said the helicopter was delivering wood for the mass cremation of bodies found in and around the temple town of Kedarnath.

South Korean President in Beijing for Summit with Xi

Posted: 26 Jun 2013 10:33 PM PDT

South Korean President Park Geun-hye arrives at the airport in Beijing on June 27, 2013. (Photo: Reuters / Kim Kyung-Hoon)

BEIJING — The South Korean president's visit to China's capital brings together North Korea's arch-rival and its biggest ally for meetings that will put Pyongyang under greater pressure to rejoin nuclear disarmament talks.

President Park Geun-hye arrived in Beijing on Thursday for a four-day visit that marks the first formal discussions between Park and the new Chinese administration led by President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang.

Park, a self-taught Mandarin speaker, has said she is keen to enlist the Chinese leaders in the drive for new North Korean denuclearization discussions that also would include the United States, Russia and Japan.

"I will try to make cooperation between the two countries more substantial and harden Korea-China cooperation for the sake of attaining the goal of North Korea's denuclearization so as to make North Korea come forward for sincere talks," Park was quoted as saying earlier this week by South Korean media.

The China-hosted talks have been stalled since 2009 over how to verify North Korea is fulfilling its commitments to dismantle its nuclear facilities.

Teaming up with China offers some hope for success, with Beijing showing signs of frustration with its neighbor and longstanding communist ally. China was angered by the North's long-range rocket launch and carrying out of a third nuclear test earlier this year, leading Beijing to back tightened UN sanctions, crack down on North Korean banking activity, and urge Pyongyang to return to disarmament talks.

"We hope all sides involved can continue to work toward returning to the six-party talks and make concrete efforts to resolve the relevant issues, achieve denuclearization, preserve peace and stability in the peninsula through dialogue and negotiation within the framework of the six-party talks," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said Wednesday.

While China is North Korea's biggest source of diplomatic and economic support, their trade and other interactions dwarf those which China maintains with the South. Ordinary Chinese are also big fans of South Korean pop culture and high-tech wares, and there is a growing sentiment among urban intellectuals that China should not sacrifice international credibility for the sake of coddling Pyongyang.
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