YeKyawAungMDY

Clinton to continue visit with Myanmar's Nobel Peace laureate

2011-12-02T23:59:00.003+07:00

ကိုမင္းကိုနိဳင္ေျပာေသာ 7 July အေၾကာင္း

2011-07-08T16:41:00.000+07:00

7 July ႏွစ္ပတ္လည္ (Memory of 7 July, 1962)

2011-07-07T20:54:00.000+07:00

The Reith Lectures Aung San Suu Kyi Lecture 2: Dissent 16:05 Tuesday, 5th July

2011-07-06T08:02:00.000+07:00

2011_reith2

The Statement No-5-2011 of 9 Orgs

2011-07-04T21:13:00.001+07:00

The Statement No-5-2011 of 9 Orgs to China_Burmese Version

The Statement No-5-2011 of 9 Orgs to China_English Version

Joint Statement No.4/2011 and No.5/2011 of 9 Orgs

2011-07-04T21:07:00.000+07:00

The Statement No-4-2011 of 9 Orgs for Peace_Burmese Version

The Statement No-4-2011 of 9 Orgs for Peace_English Version

A Framework for Analyzing Collective Action Events on Twitter

2011-07-01T20:07:00.000+07:00

A Framework for Analyzing Collective Action Events on Twitter

Islamist Mass Movements, External actors, and Political Change in the Arab World

2011-07-01T20:05:00.000+07:00

Islamist Mass Movements, External Actors and Polictical Change in the Arab World

Reply Letter by NLD in Burmese

2011-06-29T19:21:00.002+07:00

58965632 Reply Letter by NLD

Aung San Suu Kyi: Liberty 28 Jun 2011 (Reith Lecture)

2011-06-29T10:50:00.001+07:00

Aung San Suu Kyi discusses what freedom means in the first of her 2011 Reith Lectures, entitled Liberty. The Burmese pro-democracy leader reflects on her own experience under house arrest in Burma, exploring the universal human aspiration to be free and the spirit which drives people to dissent. She also comments on the Arab Spring, comparing the event that triggered last December's revolution in Tunisia with the death of a student during a protest in Burma in 1988.

Stop blogging for 10 days

2011-05-16T21:04:00.001+07:00

STOP BLOGGING FOR 10 DAYS FOR NEWS RELATED BURMA......BE BACK SOON FOR BLOGGING AFTER 10 DAYS....

UN special envoy to Myanmar meets Aung San Suu Kyi despite objections

2011-05-12T21:23:00.000+07:00

May 12, 2011, 13:48 GMT

Yangon - The United Nations special envoy to Myanmar met opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Thursday on an official visit that has been criticised by human rights groups as part of the military-run government's new 'charm offensive.'
After his talks with Suu Kyi, Vijay Nambiar described his visit as 'encouraging,' but cautioned that its outcome 'depends on the government's reaction.'
Myanmar held a general election on November 7 which brought the pro-military Union Solidarity and Development Party to power led by President Thein Sein, a former general.
'The UN and Nambiar should not allow his visit to be misused by the government to shore up its credibility on human rights in the absence of meaningful progress,' said Elaine Pearson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch.
The New York based human rights group had urged UN envoy to push for the freeing of 2,000 political prisoners in Myanmar jails.
'He raised the issue of the political prisoners but the government didn't respond clearly,' Suu Kyi told a press conference after her meeting with Nambiar.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's special envoy was in the Myanmar capital Naypyitaw on Wednesday where he met Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin and other officials but was not granted an audience with Thein Sein.
Over the weekend, Thein Sein pushed for Myanmar to host the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in 2014 in Jakarta. The proposal was widely condemned by human rights groups.
'The chairmanship is not important,' Suu Kyi said of the bid. 'The most important thing is reforms within the country.'
Pearson warned that Myanmar's new regime was 'on a desperate charm offensive to convince the world it's a rights-respecting democracy, despite all evidence to the contrary.'
Thursday's meeting was Nambiar's first face-to-face encounter with Suu Kyi, the 1990 Nobel Peace Prize winner, who was released from six years of house detention on November 13. She has spent about 15 of the past 21 years under house arrest.
The UN special envoy last visited Myanmar five months ago, after the November polls.
The election was generally criticized by Western democracies since it excluded Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy (NLD).
Myanmar has been under military rule since 1962. The NLD won an election in 1990 but was blocked from assuming power by the junta.
The NLD boycotted the November polls after the military passed regulations that would have forced them to expel Suu Kyi from their party in order to contest the elections.

Two Myanmar refugees on murder rap

2011-05-12T19:48:00.000+07:00

Reena Raj

Thursday, May 12th, 2011 11:13:00

KUALA LUMPUR: Two Myanmar refugees were charged on Tuesday with the murder of another Myanmar refugee.
The suspects, Salai Zaw Ki, 27, and Pan Hung, 22, had allegedly murdered Peng Thung on April 27 between 12.30am and 3.20am at Lot 526, Batu 6, Jalan Cheras.
Both suspects were arrested later that same day.
All three had worked as construction workers and no plea was recorded when the charge was made at the magistrate's court here yesterday.
Magistrate Siti Shakirah Mohtaruddin set July 11 for next mention and for a translator to be present.
Both suspects were unrepresented.

Purnomo Yusgiantoro: ASEAN Needs Common Security Standards

2011-05-12T03:09:00.000+07:00

Jimmy Hitipeuw | Kamis, 12 Mei 2011

Reuters A man shows a gold bar to costumers during the ASEAN Jewellery Expo in Jakarta May 5, 2011. Indonesias gross domestic product expanded 6.5 percent in the first quarter from a year ago, in line with expectations and driven by strong consumption and investment in Southeast Asias biggest economy.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro said ASEAN absolutely needs common security standards to create regional stability in support of its member states’ economic growth and bargaining power in global forums.
Purnomo made the remark at a meeting with editors-in-chief here on Wednesday. The meeting was called to explain the agenda of an ASEAN Defence Ministerial Meeting (ADMM) scheduled for May 19 in Jakarta.
The meeting is part of the activities carried out by Indonesia as the current chair of ASEAN. It also serves as the implementation of ASEAN three pillars which put emphasis on development of political, security and economic sectors in the quest for an ASEAN community by 2015.
In essence, the meeting would focus on efforts to create a more stable and peaceful region, he said. "We will focus on practical cooperation such as exchange of regional cooperation, settlement of dispute in the South China Sea, maritime security by realizing code of conduct among ASEAN member states in a clear manner."
Also in the agenda of the meeting would be counter-terrorism programs, informal meetings among defence and military top officials to settle a wide range of problems in the region by observing the ASEAN Charter, he said.
ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations) groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

--- KOMPAS.com ---

Libya: Nato doesn't know if Col Gaddafi is dead or alive

2011-05-11T15:24:00.000+07:00

Nato has admitted that it doesn't know if Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi is dead or alive.

Colonel Muamar Gaddafi Photo: REUTERS

A spokesman for Nato said its air strikes on Tripoli were not aimed at killing him.

"All Nato targets are military targets, which means that the targets we've been hitting are command and control bunkers," Claudio Gabellini said.

"Nato is not targeting individuals."

Asked about the whereabouts of Gaddafi, who has not been seen in public since he reportedly escaped an air strike on April 30 that killed his son, Mr Gabellini said: "We don't have any evidence. We don't know what Gaddafi is doing right now.

"And I tell you the truth we're not really interested in what he is doing,"

Britain to open five new embassies despite cost cutting
11 May 2011
Libya: '800 refugees drowned' trying to escape Gaddafi
10 May 2011
Libya: Gaddafi targeted in series of precision strikes
10 May 2011
Peer on Gaddafi 'peace mission'
10 May 2011
Rape victim escapes Libya with defecting officer
08 May 2011

While the Libyan government insists that Gaddafi is in mourning for his son and will make an appearance in public soon, his absence has led to rumours that he died in the attack, the Guardian reports.
At least two NATO bombs struck the family compound on April 30 while Gaddafi was there, although his supporters said that he had survived "unhurt".
However, he did not attend the funeral of his son Saif al-Arab and three grandchildren who were also reportedly killed in the attack.
Officials blamed security fears for keeping him away and accused Nato of trying to assassinate him.
An FCO spokesman said: "We don't comment on rumour and speculation."
Nato officials, who began the campaign in March, have stepped up the pace of air strikes in Tripoli in recent weeks, aimed at what they described as the regime's military command and communications centres.

---The Telegraph---

Statement From the Family of Osama bin Laden

2011-05-11T15:22:00.002+07:00

Statement from the family of Sheikh Osama bin Laden
I Omar Ossama Binladin and my brothers the lawful children and heirs of the Ossama Binladin (OBL) have noted wide coverage of the news of the death of our father, but we are not convinced on the available evidence in the absence of dead body, photographs, and video evidence that our natural father is dead. Therefore, with this press statement, we seek such conclusive evidence to believe the stories published in relation to 2 May 2011 operation Geronimo as declared by the President of United States Barrack Hussein Obama in his speech that he authorized the said operation and killing of OBL and later confirmed his death.
If OBL has been killed in that operation as President of United States has claimed then we are just in questioning as per media reports that why an unarmed man was not arrested and tried in a court of law so that truth is revealed to the people of the world. If he has been summarily executed then, we question the propriety of such assassination where not only international law has been blatantly violated but USA has set a very different example whereby right to have a fair trial, and presumption of innocence until proven guilty by a court of law has been sacrificed on which western society is built and is standing when a trial of OBL was possible for any wrongdoing as that of Iraqi President Sadam Hussein and Serbian President Slobodan Miloševic'. We maintain that arbitrary killing is not a solution to political problems and crime's adjudication as Justice must be seen to be done.
It is also unworthy of the special forces to shoot unarmed female family members of Binladen killing a female and that of one of his son.
Most importantly, when it is a common knowledge that OBL's family is residing at one place outside KSA, why they were not contacted to receive his dead body. His sudden and un witnessed burial at sea has deprived the family of performing religious rights of a Muslim man.
Finally, now that the operation is concluded we wish the Government of Pakistan to release and hand over all minors of the family and all the family members are reunited at one place and are repatriated to their country of origin, especially female members of the family to avoid further oppression and we seek international support to that effect.
Without agreeing to the ways of OBL as to how he professed, believed and operated, We Omar Ossama Binladin, and my brothers, the lawful children of the Ossama Binladin (OBL) herewith demand an inquiry under UNO to reach to the accuracy of the facts as stated by United States into the fundamental question as to why our father was not arrested and tried but summarily executed without a court of law. We are putting these questions to the United Nations, OIC, President of United States that a necessary evidence is presented to the family in private and or public to make us believe what they claim, and all the remaining family members are repatriated and united after necessary initial investigation.
In making this statement, we want to remind the world that Omar Ossam Binladin, the fourth-born son of our father, always disagreed with our father regarding any violence and always sent messages to our father, that he must change his ways and that no civilians should be attacked under any circumstances. Despite the difficulty of publicly disagreeing with our father, he never hesitated to condemn any violent attacks made by anyone, and expressed sorrow for the victims of any and all attacks. As he condemned our father, we now condemn the president of the United States for ordering the execution of unarmed men and women.
Failure to answer these questions will force us to go to International forum for justice such as International Criminal Court and International Court of Justice and UN must take notice of the violation of international law and assist us to have answers for which we are lawful in seeking them. A panel of eminent British and international lawyers is being constituted and a necessary action may be taken if no answers are furnished within 30 days of this statement.

---The New York Times---

Top UN official visits Myanmar

2011-05-11T15:19:00.002+07:00

YANGON - A TOP aide to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon has arrived in Myanmar on an official visit to meet members of the country's newly elected government and pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
The three-day visit by Vijay Nambiar is the first by a top UN diplomat since a nominally civilian government took over from the ruling junta in March.
Officials said Mr Nambiar was scheduled to meet high-ranking government officials on Wednesday in the remote capital of Naypyitaw.
He was expected to meet Suu Kyi on Thursday in Yangon. The Nobel laureate was released from house arrest after the elections, which her party boycotted.
Critics say Myanmar's election was a charade to ensure continued military domination. -- AP

Report: Asia fails to stop illegal bear bile trade

2011-05-11T15:17:00.000+07:00

Asiatic Black Bear cub

In this Oct. 2, 2010 photo released by TRAFFIC Southeast Asia, an Asiatic Black Bear cub watches from its cage at a bear bile farm in Hanoi, Vietnam. Asian countries are failing to stem the illegal cross-border trade of bear bile amid robust demand for folk remedies harvested from the live animals, an anti-smuggling group said Wednesday, May 11, 2011.

(AP Photo/TRAFFIC Southeast Asia, M. Silverberg)

By SEAN YOONG, Associated Press

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – Asian countries are failing to stem the illegal cross-border trade of bear bile amid growing demand for folk remedies harvested from the live animals, an anti-smuggling group said Wednesday.
The trafficking of bile-based traditional medicine is a key threat to the region's bears, especially Asiatic black bears whose numbers in the wild have declined to as few as 25,000 in recent years, partly because of poaching, TRAFFIC Southeast Asia said in a report.
Digestive juice drained from the gall bladders of live bears has been used for centuries across Asia to treat ailments ranging from sore throats and muscle aches to epilepsy and hemorrhoids.
"The demand for bile is one of the greatest drivers behind (the illegal bear parts) trade and must be reduced if bear conservation efforts are to succeed," said TRAFFIC official Kaitlyn-Elizabeth Foley.
Researchers found bile pills, powders and ointments in more than 50 percent of traditional medicine shops they visited in mainland China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Myanmar and Vietnam over the past year, TRAFFIC's report said.
More than 30 percent of such businesses in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand also sold those products, it said. Other countries, such as Cambodia, Laos and Singapore, had stores selling them but to a lesser extent.
All the territories had a significant amount of bile products that the stores claimed originated from other countries, especially China, TRAFFIC said.
The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species forbids the cross-border trade of bear bile.
In other signs of smuggling, Hong Kong's shops sold bile pills believed to be from Japan, South Korea had products from Russian wild bears and Myanmar had whole bear gall bladders from Laos, the report said.
Bile products come from farms in various nations where thousands of captive bears are legally used for bile extraction. Those products are supposed to be sold only in the country of origin.
TRAFFIC urged Asian authorities to step up enforcement by shutting down medicine outlets that offer bear parts from other nations. It also called for strong penalties against people caught illegally collecting or transporting bear parts.
Over the years, wildlife activists have also voiced concerns that bile collection can cause agony and slow death for bears. Legal methods of bile extraction involve making a permanent hole in a bear's abdomen, but some farms are believed to use more painful measures such as illegally inserting metal catheters and rubber tubes into the bears.
Many farms also do not have captive breeding programs, raising fears that they rely on bears snatched from the wild.

Oil drilling to begin in Burma’s eco-sensitive Hukaung Valley

2011-05-11T15:00:00.000+07:00

Tuesday, 10 May 2011 17:24 Thomas Maung Shwe (Mizzima)

(News Analysis) – Endangered tigers and local villagers are threatened by an oil-drilling venture due to start in a remote area of Burma’s northern Kachin State.

The Hukaung valley is home to rare tigers and other endangered species including leopards, Himalayan bears and elephants. Photo: Wildlife Conservation Society

A Singapore-based joint venture firm Silver Wave Exploration & Production announced last week that it will soon begin drilling for oil on land that includes the ecologically sensitive Hukaung Valley in Kachin state.

Environmentalists and opposition activists worry Silver Wave’s exploitation of the 19,066-sq km block of land could wipe out endangered animals and kick people off their land.

The Hukaung valley, also spelt Hukawang, is home to rare tigers and other endangered species including leopards, Himalayan bears and elephants.

Activists have expressed concern that local villagers and farmers will be driven off their land and made homeless by Silver Wave’s operations.

In 2001, the Burmese military regime in collaboration with the American NGO Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) established the Hukaung Valley Tiger Reserve. Local residents were given no opportunity for input and many critics from Burma’s democratic opposition worried that the reserve was a bogus ploy by the military regime to get foreign funds. The critics also charged that a key backer of the project WCS’s former director of science and exploration, Dr. Alan Rabinowitz, was woefully naïve for working with the Burmese regime and praising the generals.

Tigers in the wild are said to number a mere 3,000 worldwide, according to WCS.

In 2004, the reserve’s total area expanded to include the entire valley of 21,890 square kilometers, creating what was heralded as the largest tiger reserve in the world. Since the reserve’s expansion, the Burmese regime has encouraged logging, gold mining, large scale farms and the building of factories inside what is supposed to be a tiger and nature reserve.

According to a report in the Business Times of Singapore, Silver Wave Exploration & Production was formed recently as a joint venture between Silver Wave Energy Pte Ltd, another Singaporean firm, BFI Holding Pte Ltd, and two firms from Japan, Star Field Corporation and Star Holding Corporation.

A press release issued by BFI Holdings on April 18 stated that Silver Wave Exploration’s drilling programme in the Hukaung valley will begin this year and have a budget of US$ 100 million. The press release also indicated that Silver Wave exploration ‘has acquired all licence rights for exploration and production oil-prospecting acquisitions at Block B (B 2)’ which Silver Wave energy had previously received from state-owned Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE).

The BFI press release said that Block B2 is located in the Hukaung Valley, although several previous MOGE reports including a detailed map made for an Asia Development Bank conference in 2008 placed B2 further south in an area of Northern Sagain Division called Zebyutaung-Nandaw (also spelt Zeebyutaung) in Pinlebu Township. The 2008 MOGE report listed the Hukaung block as PSC-A. The reason for the discrepancy remains unclear.

The red star marks the area of the Hukaung Valley wildlife reserve.

Silver Wave Energy Pte Ltd while based in Singapore is owned by Burmese businessman Min Min Aung (also known as Minn Minn Oung) and is part of his Silver Wave Trading group, a conglomerate known for having close ties to Burma’s generals.

Silver Wave Energy Pte Ltd has been active in both offshore and onshore oil and gas exploration in Burma since at least 2006. Min Min Aung previously joined forces with government officials from the Russian republic of Kalmykia to form Silver Wave Sputnik Petroleum Pte incorporated in Singapore.

Burmese state media reported in March 2007 that Silver Wave Sputnik and Silver Wave Energy signed an agreement with state-owned MOGE to explore for oil in the Hukaung Valley. Boris Chedyrov, the Kalmykia Republic’s Minister for Energy, attended a March 2007 ceremony with Min Min Aung and Burmese government officials.

In September 2008, The New Light of Myanmar reported that MOGE had signed a deal with Russian firm Nobel Oil of the Russian Federation to allow for oil and gas exploration in the Hukaung and U-ru regions. It appears that Nobel Oil let their licenses for these areas expire without renewing them.

Junta land grab in Hukaung Valley makes thousands homeless

According to a report produced by the Kachin Development Networking Group (KDNG) in August of last year, since 2006 the Yuzana Corporation has with the support of central government authorities expropriated more than 809 square km (200,000 acres) of land in the Hukaung valley from local Kachin villagers.

KDNG reports that hundreds of families have been displaced by Yuzana’s land acquisition. As with many other such state approved land grabs in Burma, the displaced families were not adequately compensated and many were forced to say they were moved ‘willingly’.

Yuzana has planted large plantations of cassava root and sugar cane on the contested land. Instead of hiring local people for the massive plantation farms, Yuzana has imported workers belonging to the Burman majority from the south of the country.

Reports from the area indicate that the Yuzana’s operations have created intense resentment among the remaining Kachin residents of the Hukaung Valley. The Burmese military is reportedly giving the Yuzana employees military training to deal with unhappy local residents. Yuzana is headed by Htay Myint, a real estate tycoon said to be close to Burma’s generals.

Water transport protocol with Myanmar soon

2011-05-11T08:05:00.000+07:00

Bss, Dhaka

The government is to sign an Inland Water Transport Protocol (IWTP) agreement with Myanmar to increase connectivity aimed at boosting Dhaka-Yangon trade, a source in the Ministry of Shipping said yesterday.

“We are now at the final stage of signing a river transport protocol agreement with Myanmar. This will be Bangladesh's second river protocol agreement after India,” said M Alauddin, joint secretary of the ministry.

Waterway is a low cost transport mode compared to other ones as Tk 4.50 is required for per kilometre transport cost by road while it costs only Tk 0.98 for waterway, according to a World Bank (WB) report titled 'Revival of Inland Water Transport: Option and Strategies'.

Alauddin said 25 non-conventional Bangladeshi ships will be able to transport goods through the Myanmar rivers under the planned agreement while the same number of Myanmar ships would be plying the Bangladesh rivers.

The government has already formed a joint shipping committee with 11 members each from Myanmar and Bangladesh.

The committee would have representatives from the Ministries of Commerce, Home and Shipping, National Board of Revenue (NBR), Bangladesh Cargo Owners' Association (BCOA), Bangladesh Coastal Ships Association (BCSA) and private bodies, said Alauddin, also convener of the committee.

The committee will visit Myanmar on May 17 to conduct a physical survey to identify suitable ports where Bangladeshi ships to be anchored, he said, adding that a Myanmar delegation would also visit Bangladesh later.

The official said Bangladeshi ships would transport various goods mainly cement and medicines while ships from Myanmar would carry rice and wood. The protocol may be three-year term, he added.

Alauddin said Dhaka-Yangon proposed such a river transport protocol in 2002.

Bangladesh has the Inland Water Transport Protocol signed in 1972 which is being renewed every two years under the article-8 of Bangladesh-India trade treaty.

Foreign Minister Dr Dipu Moni at the 13th Bangladesh India Myanmar Sri Lanka Thailand Economic Cooperation (BIMST- EC) ministerial meeting underlined the importance of direct road, waterways and railway links between the two neighbouring countries.

The bilateral trade between Bangladesh and Myanmar has been taking place under the General Trade Agreement and Border Trade Agreement, signed in 1973 and 1994 respectively.

Dhaka exported goods and commodities worth US$ 9.17 million to Yangon in 2008-09, while its import during the period was US $66.65 million, according to Export Promotion Bureau (EPB).

--- The Daily Star ---

Likely Malay plan refugees are Christian Burmese, and already assess

2011-05-10T22:27:00.000+07:00

Rowan Callick From: The Australian May 10, 2011

THE 4000 refugees likely to come to Australia under the Malaysian solution are mainly Christians.
There are 93,000 asylum-seekers and proven refugees in Malaysia, most of them living in the Klang Valley in and around the capital Kuala Lumpur.
They are not being held in camps, but are living in poor, largely rented, accommodation "in the community" while they await either assessment by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees or, if already assessed as refugees, await placement in another country.
The UNHCR is helping them with training, and to get work, so that they can look after themselves as far as possible. They are free within Malaysia's borders, but mostly lack travel documents to go beyond.
Malaysia's high commissioner to Canberra, Salman Ahmad, said on Sunday that although his country was not a signatory to the UN refugee convention refugees in Malaysia were treated with respect and dignity. He said that while the 800 asylum-seekers to be sent from Australia under the plan would not be placed in detention they would be contactable and monitored by authorities.

Small numbers of asylum-seekers or refugees in Malaysia have come from Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia and Sri Lanka, almost all by plane.
But 92 per cent of them are from Burma. Most of these people have come overland through Thailand with the assistance of people-smugglers.
About 73,000 of them have already been assessed by the UNHCR as refugees, and are awaiting resettlement in third countries, with the alternatives being to return voluntarily to a Burma now run by a civilian government or to become "locally integrated" -- a less likely outcome.
They have escaped Burma for a range of reasons, including constant warfare between the army and hill tribes, and the persecution of regime opponents. They come from many areas of Burmese society, however, the biggest groups represented are Christian Chin (about 36,000), Muslim Rohingya (20,400), Burmese Muslims (9400), Mon (3900) and Kachin (3400).
Amnesty International Australia's refugee spokesman Graham Thom said yesterday that though they lived in the community they had no legal status so were frequently rounded up as part of regular clampdowns on the two million illegal foreign workers believed to be in Malaysia, alongside the two million legally in the country.
That was how asylum-seekers came to be in detention centres, where conditions had been condemned by Amnesty.
"Refugees are copping it every day. Once they are arrested, their documents are often disregarded or destroyed, and they are charged with being illegal and are caned," Mr Thom said.
"Refugee families live in fear that their children may go to the shops and not come back" -- and it was hard for the already stretched UNHCR to find them.

<p>&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;a href="http://video.perthnow.com.au/1915401467/Gillard-remains-firm-on-Malaysia-plan"&amp;gt;VIDEO: Gillard remains firm on Malaysia plan&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;</p>

Chiang Rai shaken by Burma quake

2011-05-10T22:23:00.002+07:00

Residents of Mae Sai district in the northern province of Chiang Rai were early this morning shaken by a 4.6 magnitude earthquake with the epicentre reported in nearby Burma.

People living on the third and fourth floor of buildings in the district felt three separate tremors, starting about 4.16am, said Boontham Thipprasong, president of the Mae Sai district Chamber of Commerce.
The recent repeated earthquakes centred in Burma were worrying local residents, he said.
Adisorn Fungkahchorn, head of the earthquake section of the Meteorological Department’s northern centre, said the epicentre of the latest quake in Burma was only about 45km distant from Mae Sai.
Other nearby districts in the province might also have experienced the quake, he said.

---Bangkok Post---

Jordan’s king to meet with Obama and Britain’s PM Cameron for talks on Mideast turmoil

2011-05-10T17:09:00.003+07:00

By Associated Press, Updated: Tuesday, May 10, 2011

AMMAN, Jordan — Jordan’s royal palace says King Abdullah II will hold talks with U.S. President Barack Obama next Tuesday in Washington.
A statement says the talks at the White House will focus on the uprisings that have engulfed the Mideast. His visit to Washington will be preceded by a meeting in London this Thursday with British Prime Minister David Cameron.

Tuesday’s statement said the resumption of Palestinian-Israeli talks will also figure high in Abdullah’s discussions.
Abdullah has faced protests demanding that he loosen his absolute control over the kingdom. However, they have not demanded his removal.

US Paper 'Sorry' Over Bin Laden Raid Photo

2011-05-10T17:08:00.000+07:00

A US newspaper has apologised for doctoring a photograph of senior White House staff watching the Osama bin Laden mission by editing out the women in the room, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

The women in the room were edited out of the photograph

The original photo, showing Mrs Clinton and President Barack Obama in the Situation Room, has made the front pages of newspapers throughout the world.
The New York-based Yiddish newspaper Der Tzitung explained in a statement it has a long-standing editorial policy to never publish photographs of women, which it says is in keeping with the "laws of modesty" of its Orthodox Jewish readership.
"The readership of the Tzitung believe that women should be appreciated for who they are and what they do, not for what they look like, and the Jewish laws of modesty are an expression of respect for women, not the opposite," the statement said.
The picture, taken by a White House photographer on May 1, shows the US president and his national security team seemingly transfixed as they watch the mission to kill the al Qaeda leader.

We should not have published the altered picture, and we have conveyed our regrets and apologies to the White House and to the State Department

Apology by the editor of Yiddish newspaper Der Tzitung

Mrs Clinton is seen in the foreground, seated, with one hand clasped to her mouth.
But in Der Tzitung's version, there is no trace of her - she is replaced by the digitally reconstituted left shoulder of deputy national security advisor Denis McDonough, whom she had obscured in the original photo.
Audrey Tomason, the director for counterterrorism and the only other woman in the picture, was also removed from the image.
The White House distributed the photograph with the standard proviso that it not be "manipulated in any way."
Der Tzitung, which means "The Newspaper" in Yiddish, said its photo editor, "in his haste", did not read the proviso.
"The guy got carried away in the euphoria of the victory and he wanted to show what he could do in Photoshop," the paper's editor Albert Friedman said.

The situation room was full of people during the raid

Mrs Clinton was, however, mentioned prominently in the text of the story.
"In retrospect, we apologise for any misunderstanding that this might have caused," the paper's statement said.
"We should not have published the altered picture, and we have conveyed our regrets and apologies to the White House and to the State Department."
The newspaper added that it respected Mrs Clinton for her "unique capabilities, talents and compassion for all" and that she had served public office with "great distinction."

read more: Sky News

NATO jets pound Tripoli as fighting intensifies

2011-05-10T17:05:00.000+07:00

Migrants arrive on the tiny island of Lampedusa, Italy, Sunday, May 8, 2011. Italian police and coast guard officials rescued some 400 illegal migrants coming from Libya whose boat was tossed against rocks near port in southern Italy after the steering malfunctioned, officials said. (AP Photo/Francesco Malavolta)

(AP)
TRIPOLI, Libya - NATO warplanes struck Tripoli early Tuesday in the heaviest bombing of the Libyan capital in weeks, hours after an uptick in fighting between rebels and Muammar Qaddafi's forces on a long deadlocked front line in the country's east.
NATO struck at least four sites in Tripoli, setting off crackling explosions that thundered through the city overnight. One strike hit a building that local residents said was used by a military intelligence agency. Another targeted a government building that officials said was sometimes used by parliament members.
Complete coverage: Anger in the Arab World
It was not immediately clear what the other two strikes hit, but one of them sent plumes of smoke over Tripoli. Libyan officials would not say what that strike hit but the smoke appeared to come from the sprawling compound housing members of Qaddafi's family.
Between explosions, an aircraft dropped burning flares. Some residents responded by raking the sky with gunfire and beeping their horns.
The Tripoli bombing came just hours after heavy fighting was reported Monday on the eastern front, south of Ajdabiya, a rebel-held town about 90 miles south of Benghazi, the rebel headquarters in the east.
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Hundreds of rebels gathered at a checkpoint outside Ajdabiya on Monday afternoon, when an AP photographer counted about 100 pickup trucks coming back from the front, each carrying four or five fighters and some with mounted submachine guns.
The rebels, firing their weapons into the air as they shouted and danced, said they had been told that NATO was going to launch air strikes on Qaddafi's forces and they had been ordered to withdraw temporarily from the front.
No overall casualty figures were available. Two ambulances came to the local hospital, and doctors said they carried the bodies of four rebels.
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The cobbled-together rebel army — comprised of some deserters from Qaddafi's forces and many civilians — has been bogged down for weeks in the area around Ajdabiya, unable to move on to the oil town of Brega. The rebels say their weapons cannot reach more than about 12 miles while Qaddafi's forces can fire rockets and shells up to twice that distance. Brega has an oil terminal and Libya's second-largest hydrocarbon complex.
Rebel pleas for heavier arms from abroad have not met any response, although NATO is carrying out air strikes on regime forces as many countries intensify their call for Qaddafi — Libya's autocratic ruler for 42 years — to leave power.
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The rebels now control most of eastern Libya, and Qaddafi most of the west, including the capital, Tripoli. Exceptions in the west include pockets of embattled rebel-held towns along the border with Tunisia, and Misrata on the coast.
Also Monday, Qaddafi's forces shelled a northern Misrata neighborhood where many families from the besieged city center have fled to, said Abdel Salam, who identified himself as a resident-turned-fighter. He said NATO air strikes hit targets on the city's southern edges, one of the areas where government forces have been concentrated after rebels pushed them back.
The fighting was threatening the port area, the city's only lifeline, preventing some aid ships from docking, Abdel Salam said. A ship carrying medical supplies and baby food was able to dock in Misrata on Monday, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross.
It was the first ship to arrive since Wednesday, when Qaddafi's forces fired a barrage of rockets into the port as the International Organization of Migration was evacuating nearly 1,000 people, mainly African migrant workers.
On Saturday, a rocket attack set the city's main fuel depot ablaze, destroying the main supply for vehicles, ships and generators powering hospitals and other key sites in a city darkened by electricity cuts.
The ICRC said it would use the chartered ship as a floating platform as its team works to reduce the danger of unexploded weapons on the streets of Misrata, visit prisoners detained by the rebels and help reunite families that lost contact when the city center was bombed.
The ship brought in 8,000 jars of baby food as well as urgently needed surgical instruments and medical dressings.
The ship docked safely though Qaddafi's forces were seen dropping mines into the port on Saturday from a white helicopter painted with a red cross, according to rebel spokesman Abdel-Hafidh Ghoga and Misrata residents.
The ICRC said it was concerned by those allegations of "a serious misuse of the emblem" designated by the Geneva Conventions to be used solely by people providing medical or other humanitarian aid.
A civilian spokesman for the rebels in Misrata, lawyer Abdulbaset Abumzirig, said Sunday that 30 to 40 people are injured daily and 10 to 15 are being killed by the bombardment. The city has been under siege for two months, and local doctors say the total death toll is more than 1,000.
In Tripoli, government escorts did not allow reporters to come near the site of one building that was hit in the NATO air attack early Tuesday. Local residents said the several-story building, which had buckled from the bombing, was used by a military intelligence agency.
Reporters were shown damage done to a nearby hospital where some windows were smashed and some ceiling vents fell to the ground. A hospital physician, Dr. Mustafa Rahim, said one child was badly injured but would not allow reporters to see him, saying the four-year-old boy was in intensive care.
Another strike targeted a building that two employees said was used by parliament members and housed a library for research into Qaddafi's writings. It was the second time the building had been targeted in the past week, they said.
A hole was punched into what appeared to be its basement and thick blocks of concrete were reduced to dusty rubble.
The handsome pastel-colored building was built by Italians when they ruled Libya in the 1920s. The building, which once served as Italy's naval headquarters, was considered an iconic Tripoli site.
It was not immediately clear what the other strikes targeted. Reporters may not leave their Tripoli hotel without government escorts.
Meanwhile, the U.N. humanitarian chief, Valerie Amos, asked all sides in the fighting for a pause in hostilities to allow food, water, medical supplies and other aid to be delivered to needy populations.
She told the Security Council the pause would also allow humanitarian workers to evacuate people from other countries who still remain in Libya and would give civilians a respite.

Abhisit gives hope to stateless Thais

2011-05-10T16:50:00.000+07:00

By MAHN SAIMON (DVB)

Thai PM Abhisit Vejjajiva speaks to reporters outside the ASEAN summit in Jakarta (Reuters)

Thousands of Thai nationals who for more than a century lived a quasi-legal existence in Burma’s border regions could be officially recognised as Thai citizens, following a recent cabinet meeting of the Abhisit administration.
The ‘stateless’ Thais in question refer to the thousands who ended up on the Burmese side of the border following the joint Thai-British demarcation in 1868. The agreement saw an area running from northern Karenni state in Burma to the southern tip of Tenasserim division, opposite Thailand’s Ranong, designated as British territory.
Although recognised by neither Burma nor Thailand, many began crossing over to Thailand several decades ago. Some were granted hill-tribe residency permits by the Thai government, while around 30,000 now live in Ranong. Some 10,000 are thought to still be in Burma.
The recent meeting voted unanimously to award them full Thai citizenship, but according to Daruni Paisalpanitkul of the Stateless Watch for Research and Development Institute of Thailand (SWIT), this may never be realised, with parliament set to be dissolved and Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva likely to leave office in July.
Surapong Kongjantuek, a stateless persons advocate at the Lawyers Council of Thailand, added that it would be up to the new government to reignite the proposal.
A resident in Kawthaung, the southernmost town in Burma, which lies opposite Ranong, told DVB that what people generally referred to as the town’s Shan population were in fact Thai.
“There has been a population of Thais living here for generations – they make up about 30 percent of the population in Kawthaung,” he said.
Burma became a province of British India in 1885, at a time when the British empire was carving up much of the Southern and East Asia region. Although surrounded by British-owned Malay and Burma, Thailand remained independent.
Attempts at citizenship verification for the stateless Thais have been going on for years, with the Committee to amend the Thailand Citizenship Act formed to act on behalf of those displaced by the colonial demarcation.

---Bangkok Post---

Top UN official to visit Burma

2011-05-10T16:48:00.000+07:00

Top UN envoy, Vijay Nambiar (pictured), will visit Myanmar this week for the first time since the dissolution of the junta and the appointment of a nominally civilian government, an official said Tuesday.

A top UN envoy will visit Burma this week for the first time since the dissolution of the junta and the appointment of a nominally civilian government, an official said Tuesday.

Vijay Nambiar, the chief of staff to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, was expected to meet government figures and opposition figurehead Aung San Suu Kyi, according to a spokesman for her National League for Democracy (NLD) party.
He met Suu Kyi shortly after her release from house arrest on a visit in November, during which he also urged the government to address concerns over the election earlier that month, which was widely dismissed as a sham.
"Mr Nambiar will come to Burma this week. He's likely to meet with government officials and the opposition as well as with political parties," the Burma official told AFP, declining to be named.
Official sources in Naypyidaw said new President Thein Sein was not scheduled to meet with Nambiar, but foreign minister Wunna Maung Lwin would meet him on Wednesday in the capital.
The envoy was set to meet some political parties in Rangoon on Friday, including the National Democratic Force (NDF), a breakaway party from the NLD.
"Our party chairman Dr Than Nyein will go there. We have no idea yet what we have to discuss," said Khin Maung Swe, an NDF leader.
Burma's junta, the State Peace and Development Council, was disbanded at the end of March following the November polls, which were marred by the absence of Suu Kyi and complaints of cheating and intimidation.
The NLD won the previous vote in 1990 but was never allowed to take power.

---Bangkok Post---

Coal transport plan scrapped

2011-05-10T14:57:00.002+07:00

CHIANG RAI : A lignite mining company has scrapped a plan to transport 5,200 tonnes of coal daily from Burma through Mae Fa Luang and Mae Chan districts after fierce local protests.

Saraburi Coal Co representative Pakon Ruamthong told authorities of the decision in a meeting yesterday.
The company tried in vain for two years to convince residents to allow the transportation of the imported coal.
The company planned to use up to 200 six and 10-wheel trucks a day to take lignite from the Mong Kok mine in the eastern Shan State via Ban Mong Kao Lang in Mae Fa Luang and use tambon Pa Sang in Mae Chan as a transit point.
The lignite was to be supplied to cement producing plants in Saraburi.
Protesters, including former beauty queen Preeyanuch Parnpradub, who has a house in Pa Sang, were worried the lignite would pollute the air and water enroute.
The company, an affiliate of Italthai Public Co, had proposed covering the coal in the trucks with canvas and limiting the trucks' speed to 25 kilometres per hour as they pass through communities.
Mr Pakon said the firm will now ask Burmese authorities to allow the lignite to be transported via the town of Tachilek, opposite Mae Sai district in Chiang Rai, instead.

--- Bangkok Post ---

Myanmar president's Indonesia visit further strengthens bilateral relations

2011-05-10T14:56:00.000+07:00

May 10, 2011

The state visit of Myanmar President U Thein Sein to Indonesia, which ended on Monday, has further strengthened the two countries' bilateral friendship and cooperation, observers said here on Tuesday.

During his visit, Thein Sein had comprehensive discussions with his Indonesian counterpart Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on strengthening and promotion of existing bilateral friendship and cooperation, close relations with member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and active participation in international and regional organizations including the United Nations, continued participation in world affairs based on the five principles of peaceful existence and continued cooperation in various sectors as trade partners in pursuit of Myanmar's economic development.

The two countries' delegations, respectively led by Thein Sein and Susilo, also held talks separately with other Indonesia officials.

Indonesian president Susilo underlined Thein Sein's visit as paving the way for creating opportunities to strengthen bilateral relations and boost bilateral cooperation.

He suggested to promote exchange of visits at all levels as part of efforts for maintaining bilateral friendship, expressing Indonesia's firm support for Myanmar's democratization process as part of efforts for political and security cooperation.

Hailing Myanmar's efforts for national unity and perpetuation of national sovereignty, he said that the two countries has aimed a trade volume of 500 million U.S. dollars, anticipating to invest in development projects in Myanmar which he described as having possessed economic prospects.

He also expressed welcome of Thein Sein's suggestion and idea as well as national reconsolidation efforts.

He invited Myanmar to take part in an ASEAN exhibition to promote ASEAN community relations, the proposal of which will be submitted to ASEAN Summit in Bali scheduled for in November.

At the bilateral talks, Myanmar president U Thein Sein expressed Myanmar's belief that the relations and cooperation between the two countries would contribute not only to bilateral interest but also regional peace and development.

He cited January 2011 economic data as saying that the amount of investment of 12 Indonesian companies have made Indonesia take the 10th position among foreign investors in Myanmar, appealing for promotion of both state and private sectors' investment in the country.

He also urged boosting of cooperation in the tourism sector, saying that both countries have historic cultural heritage, beautiful scenery and beaches, adding that plans are underway to launch Yangon-Singapore-Jakarta flights which will be finalized at the second meeting of the joint commission for bilateral cooperation to be held in Myanmar at this year-end.

Noting system change in Myanmar, he invited Indonesian investment in Myanmar's various sectors such as agriculture, mining and oil and gas.

Thein Sein's state visit to Indonesia represented his first overseas trip in a month after he became the president on March 30.

Indonesia is Myanmar's fourth largest trading partner among ASEAN members after Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia, having a bilateral trade with Myanmar standing 173.68 million U.S. dollars in the fiscal year of 2009-10. Indonesia's exports to Myanmar amounted to 136.76 million dollars, while its imports from Myanmar valued at 36.92 million dollars, according to Myanmar official statistics.

Meanwhile, Indonesia's investment in Myanmar has so far reached over 241.49 million dollars since late 1988 when Myanmar opened to such investment, standing the 10th among Myanmar's foreign investors.

During his visit in Indonesia, Thein Sein also attended the 18th ASEAN Summit in the weekend.

Source: Xinhua

Laos to Ask Ch. Karnchang to Finance Mekong River Hydropower Dam Review

2011-05-10T14:45:00.000+07:00

By Daniel Ten Kate - May 10, 2011

Bloomberg Markets Magazine

Laos will ask Bangkok-based Ch. Karnchang Pcl to pay for a review of a $3.8 billion hydropower dam on the Mekong River after downstream countries called for a delay to further study environmental concerns.
The Thai-financed Xayaburi hydropower plant is the first of about 10 dams the government plans to build on the mainstream Mekong, which runs from China’s Tibetan plateau through Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. Laos agreed last month to delay the dam temporarily.

“We are just discussing the process and then requesting the developer to finance the additional review,” Daovong Phonekeo, deputy director general of Laos’s Department of Electricity, said by phone today from Vientiane, the capital. “We are delaying the project, but not permanently,” he said.
Laos wants the study to counter criticism from Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand that the project may disrupt fish catches and rice production downstream. Ch. Karnchang’s shares fell 2.4 percent to 8.05 baht as of the lunch break, set for its lowest close since March 21.
The cost of the review “depends on how many experts we have to hire” and should take “something like” six to 12 months to complete, Daovong said. Vietnam recommended last month that all planned hydropower projects on the Mekong be delayed for a decade.
“It will not take 10 years” to complete the study, Daovong said.

No Request

Ch. Karnchang, Thailand’s third-biggest construction company by market value, owns a 57 percent stake in the 115 billion baht ($3.8 billion) project. The company hasn’t received a request from Laos to finance the review, Supamas Trivisvavet, an executive vice president, said by phone today.
“At this moment, we haven’t heard,” she said. “But I think it’s the Laos government acquiring the independent consultant to do the review.”
The Mekong and its tributaries provide food, water and transportation to about 60 million people in those four countries. A technical review last month by the intergovernmental Mekong River Commission found that the dam may lead to the extinction of species like the Mekong giant catfish.
“Gaps in knowledge” mean the full extent of the downstream impact on fisheries is hard to estimate, it said.
Laos wants its own study to verify the findings of the commission’s work, which served as the basis for riparian countries to object to the dam, Daovong said.

Thai Demand

Thailand agreed in December to buy 95 percent of the electricity from the plant, which will have a capacity of 1,285 megawatts. PTT Pcl (PTT), Thailand’s biggest energy company, has a 25 percent stake in the project, while Bangkok-based Electricity Generating Pcl (EGCO) owns 12.5 percent, according to company filings.
China has already built four hydropower dams on the Mekong, completing the first one in 1993 without consulting its downstream neighbors. It plans to build four more as part of efforts to almost double its hydropower capacity to at least 300 gigawatts by 2020.
Southeast Asia’s smallest economy aims to use its resources to boost incomes for its 6 million citizens who comprise Asia’s youngest population. Hydropower and mining projects are set to underpin gross domestic product growth that may reach 7.7 percent this year, the Asian Development Bank said in an April 7 report.

UN special envoy to visit Myanmar

2011-05-10T12:37:00.000+07:00

Yangon - United Nations special envoy to Myanmar Vijay Nambiar is to visit the country this week, a government official said Tuesday.
'Nambiar will visit here on Thursday,' an official who requested anonymity told the German Press Agency dpa. 'He will stay in Myanmar for three or four days and is scheduled to meet both government and opposition figures.'
Nambiar is expected to meet Myanmar's new president, Thein Sein, and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, according to the official.
It would be Nambiar's first meeting with Suu Kyi, who was only released from six years of house detention on November 13. She has spent about 15 of the past 21 years under house arrest.
The UN special envoy last visited Myanmar five months ago, following the November 7 general election which brought the pro-military Union Solidarity and Development Party to power.
The polls were generally slammed by Western democracies as a sham, since they excluded democracy heroine Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy (NLD) party.
Myanmar has been under military rule since 1962. An election in 1990 was won by the NLD but they were blocked from assuming power by the ruling junta.
The NLD boycotted the November polls after the military passed regulations that would have forced them to drop Suu Kyi from their party in order to contest the elections.

Burma’s New President Is No Moderate

2011-05-10T06:37:00.002+07:00

by David Scott Mathieson

Published in:

The Jakarta Globe

May 9, 2011

The Asean summit that starts on Saturday is a debut for Burma's new President Thein Sein and the now ostensibly civilian, but still tightly military-controlled government formed on March 30.
Since the elections of Nov. 2010 and the release of dissident Aung San Suu Kyi, many governments in Asia and the West have intensified their search for moderates in Burma's new military-parliamentary complex, in order to increase engagement with the government. Thein Sein's inaugural speech is being lauded as a blueprint for a new moderate government, with his emphasis on tackling corruption, promoting the role of the media, and emphasizing health and education. But these are just words; there has been no discernible improvement in the human rights situation of Burma at all since the elections, no release of political prisoners, no letup in fighting in ethnic conflict zones or granting basic freedoms to Burma's 59 million citizens.
It is thus disquieting to hear many informed observers on Burma refer to Thein Sein as "Mr Clean." Without questioning the commentators' standards of hygiene, it is safe to say that the former Lt. Gen. Thein Sein is actually a ruthless loyalist with a well-established past in command positions during some of Burma's darker and most corrupt periods.
It is a matter of public record that Thein Sein was the commander of the Triangle Region Military Command from 1997 to 2001. This is the area infamously known as the Golden Triangle, long a redoubt of drug lords and warring ethnic and Communist armies. During his tenure, there was a decline in opium and heroin production in his area of operations, but there are two main reasons for this - neither necessarily due to a firm commitment to drug eradication.
First, Afghanistan heroin production was booming at the end of the 1990s, so Burmese syndicates such as the massive United Wa State Army couldn't compete on global markets because of the more labor-intensive production of opium in Burma, and overwhelming new supply. Second, the main drug producers were actually branching into massive methamphetamine production, which was proving easier to manufacture, supply, and sell. The UWSA's central narco-financier, Wei Hsueh-kang, has been under indictment by the United States since 1998, with a $2 million price tag on his head (eight other senior leaders were indicted in 2005).
Neighboring Thailand paid the highest price for the surge in meth exports, which was the main catalyst for then-Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's murderous domestic "war on drugs" in 2003. The new town of Mong Yawn close to the Thai border was the lynchpin in the UWSA's strategy to increase drug supply into Thailand. To help Mong Yawn grow, the UWSA forcibly relocated nearly 100,000 civilians from northern Shan State from 1999 to 2001, ostensibly to break their dependence on opium cultivation. As the Lahu National Development Organization (an ethnic community development NGO from Burma), and numerous Western and Thai journalists who covered the operation reported, in this draconian transmigration hundreds are suspected to have died from abuses and disease, including an anthrax outbreak. I lived in this area in 2003, with ethnic Shan, Lahu and Akha refugees, who could see their seized land on the other side of the valley, occupied by relocated ethnic Wa, guarded by UWSA and Burmese army camps. Thein Sein's headquarters in the town of Kengtung was right in the middle of this nearly year-long relocation.
What Thein Sein's specific role was in the Mong Yawn project is not known, but he could not have been unaware of it, nor could he have been unwitting to the explosion of drug money in his area of operations. At the time, senior Thai army commanders claimed that Thein Sein not only knew the drug plants were there, but was actively protecting them: then Third Army Commander Lt. Gen. Wattanachai Chaimuenwong and Thai army commander Gen. Surayud Chulanont raised this fact on a regular basis, during frequent border skirmishes between Burmese and Thai forces during this period due to massive drug smuggling being protected by units within Thein Sein's command area. According to Bertil Lintner, a noted expert on the regional drug trade, and numerous academics and researchers on Burma's military such as Mary Callahan, Burma's regional commanders have long been suspected to be sitting on top of a corrupt patronage system that maintains order through regulating rackets and illicit trade, not interdicting them.
Thein Sein's recent past suggests no grounds for optimism either. Following his stint in the Golden Triangle, Thein Sein was the military adjutant general and then secretary no. 1 of the ruling State Peace and Development Council. He has since been a senior member of the regime, including serving as prime minister when scores of protesters were killed on the streets of Rangoon in a peaceful uprising in September 2007. He was in charge of the government when Western relief agencies were denied access to Burma following the devastating Cyclone Nargis in 2008. Instead of giving priority to aid for the sick and injured, the government focused on its sham constitutional referendum that is the blueprint for continued authoritarian rule. Perhaps most disturbing, since he became prime minister in 2007, the number of political prisoners doubled to more than 2,200.
The search for "pragmatists over hard-liners" within the ruling elite has been a central fault-line in the speculative trade of Burmese political analysis for years. Many Western journalists, academics, aid workers and diplomats believed former Prime Minister and military intelligence chief Lt. Gen. Khin Nyunt was the pragmatic player who was negotiating between his intelligence faction, Suu Kyi and the West to broker a deal for democratic reforms. This apocryphal glasnost was ruptured in October 2004 when Khin Nyunt and his intelligence clique, more than 800 officers, were rounded up by the so-called hard-liners. Most are in prison or under house arrest.
It remains unclear why Khin Nyunt was considered to be a moderate given his long years of ruthless repression of the opposition, widespread use of torture against dissidents and lucrative cease-fire deals with drug lords. Perhaps it was because he would talk about possible reform with outsiders, yet his vision was of a Burma no longer ostracized by the rest of the world, not a free and democratic country. The Burmese academic Kyaw Yin Hlaing in a recent article disputed the view of Khin Nyuint as a clandestine liberal: "He was only liberal to the extent that being liberal served his interest."
Since the November 2010 elections, most Asian and some Western countries have adopted a "glass half-full" view of Burma, seeing the release of Suu Kyi as a key concession and searching for avenues of enhanced interaction. Pragmatic policy makers may well subscribe to this Ouija-board political analysis, but in the absence of hard evidence of the new government's sincerity to engage in reforms, including improving the rights situation, they should also take a glance at the ruthless past of these fledgling faux-democrats.
Admitting that many of Burma's power-holders have a brutal past does not suggest that the rest of the world doesn't have to deal with them: Asean and its dialogue partners must increase engagement on a number of fronts. However, engagement is best approached with some basic principles in hand and a clear view of whom you are dealing with, not who you would like them to be.
David Scott Mathieson is a senior researcher in the Asia Division of Human Rights Watch.

Australia rejects criticism of asylum seeker plan

2011-05-09T23:23:00.000+07:00

Asylum seekers staging protest

File photo shows asylum seekers staging a protest at Villawood Detention Centre in Sydney. Australia has rejected criticism of its plan to send 800 asylum seekers to Malaysia for processing, insisting it is not a return to a disputed policy of banishing boat people to poor Pacific nations.

(AFP/File/Greg Wood)

SYDNEY (AFP) – Australia on Monday rejected criticism of its plan to send 800 asylum seekers to Malaysia for processing, insisting it was not a return to a disputed policy of banishing boat people to poor neighbours.
It also cited the fact that it was taking in 4,000 refugees in exchange as evidence that the deal announced on Saturday would deter asylum seekers as part of a plan it hopes will lead to a regional solution to people smuggling.
But the arrangement was slammed by human rights groups who drew comparisons with the "Pacific Solution" of Australia's previous right-wing government, under which boat people were sent to Pacific island detention centres.
"I don't think it looks anything like that at all," Deputy Prime Minister and Treasurer Wayne Swan told reporters in Canberra.
He insisted the plan was a regional solution under the Bali framework on tackling people smuggling and would involve the UN refugee agency, which was not involved in former prime minister John Howard's Pacific Solution.
"Nothing would contrast more than that with the previous approach of the previous government," Swan said as the government defended its decision.
Rights groups say Malaysia, which has not ratified the United Nations Refugee Convention, has a poor record in its treatment of asylum seekers.
The plan has been compared in the media with the Pacific Solution, which was branded as "inhumane" by human rights groups before it was repealed by Prime Minister Julia Gillard's centre-left Labor Party in 2007.
Under that policy, asylum seekers were transferred to detention centres on the tiny state of Nauru and Manus island in Papua New Guinea, which Gillard's government is now in talks with over reviving its detention centre.
The 4,000 people who will move to Australia from Malaysia, many of whom have reportedly fled military-run Myanmar, have been deemed to be refugees by the United Nations for resettlement.
"Malaysia has very clearly indicated that asylum seekers will be treated with dignity and respect," Immigration Minister Chris Bowen told ABC Radio on Monday.
"If people think that the situation for asylum seekers in Malaysia is difficult, they should endorse the fact that Australia is taking 4,000."
Lawyers for Liberty, a Malaysia-based rights and law reform group, also urged Canberra to abandon the deal, saying it was shocked Australia planned to "outsource" its international duty to refugees.
"Malaysia has a horrendous track record -- infamous for its ill and brutal treatment of refugees and other undocumented migrants and has been consistently ranked as one of the world's worst place for refugees to be in," it said.
The group said that refugees and asylum seekers in Malaysia were treated as undocumented migrants and subjected to harsh laws and policies and often lived in poverty.
An armada of asylum seeker boats arriving on the Australian coast from Asia in recent years has become a sensitive political issue for Gillard's government, which has been accused of not doing enough to deter them.

The True Spirit of Jihad

2011-05-09T22:35:00.002+07:00

by Sarah Ahmad

"The believers are those only who believe in Allah and His Messenger, then they doubt not, and struggle hard with their wealth and their lives in the way of Allah. Such are the truthful ones" (49:15).

Jihad is an Islamic institution that is widely misunderstood. The non-Muslims fearfully regard it as an Islamic practice that aims to wage 'Holy War' against all disbelievers, to convert them to Islam or to kill them. To the common western mind, the word 'Jihad' is synonymous with 'terrorism' and Islam is a 'militant' religion. One of the allegations against the Founder of the Ahmadiyya Movement is that he abrogated the doctrine of jihad. In my speech, I will attempt to present the real meaning of jihad in Islam, as taught by the Holy Quran and practiced by the Holy Prophet Muhammad and his Companions, and revived in this age by the Promised Messiah.
The word 'jihad' is derived from the root 'jahd' or 'juhd' whose meaning is given by Imam Raghib as ability, exertion or power and 'jihad' and 'mujahida' mean the exerting of one's power in repelling the enemy. He then goes on to say:

"Jihad is of three kinds; viz., the carrying out of a struggle against : 1. a visible enemy, 2. the devil, 3. one's self (nafs)."

Thus, in a broader sense, jihad means striving to the utmost extent of one's ability and power by exerting oneself spiritually in the way of Allah and doing one's best to preach the message of Islam to others. This is the jihad that a Muslim can carry out for Islam throughout his life. When used in the narrower sense of fighting against a visible enemy, jihad means fighting only in self-defense, when the initiative of attack is taken by the other party.
Let us consider the sense in which the word is used in the Quran. Verse 69 of Chapter 29 (The Spider), which is an early Makkan revelation, reads as follows:

"And those who strive hard (the word used is jahadu) for Us, We shall certainly guide them in our ways, and Allah is surely with the doers of good."

A similar injunction occurs in 22:78 :

"And strive hard for Allah with due striving".

The jihad referred to here is clearly jihad bil nafs -- the spiritual exertion to curb one's lower desires and evil inclinations and to try to increase in the doing of good in order to attain nearness to Allah. I believe this form of jihad against one's own self is perhaps the most difficult of all. It would have been easy enough if jihad had only meant the defence of Islam by fighting against an enemy bent upon the extermination of the Muslims when the occasion so demanded; but to be constantly engaged in fighting against one's inner demons, to guard against all sorts of temptations and greed and never to allow oneself to weaken for a moment lest one be overcome is by far more arduous a struggle. Yet when a believer sincerely tries to purify his soul and asks help from his Creator, he finds Him nigh and God guides him in his efforts.
Let us now take a look at the Quranic injunction of jihad-bil-saif or jihad with the sword, which is the most commonly understood meaning of jihad. Consider the circumstances under which the first permission to fight is given to the faithful. The Muslims had patiently borne the most ruthless persecution at the hands of the Quraish for thirteen years in Makkah. The flight to Madinah, however, had further fanned the fire of the wrath of the Quraish since the Muslims were now out of their reach. With individual persecution no longer possible, they now planned the extinction of the Muslims as a nation. They would either annihilate the Muslims or compel them to return to unbelief. In these circumstances came the earliest permission to fight, in verses 39 and 40 of chapter 22, which read:

"Permission (to fight) is given to those on whom war is made, because they are oppressed. And surely Allah is able to assist them - Those who are driven from their homes without a just cause except that they say: Our Lord is Allah. And if Allah did not repel some people by others, cloisters and churches and synagogues and mosques, in which Allah's name is much remembered, would have been pulled down. And surely Allah will help him who helps His cause".

Indeed, war with such a pure motive as to establish the principle of religious liberty was truly a jihad, a struggle carried on simply with the object that truth may prosper and that freedom of conscience may be maintained.
The second verse giving the Muslims permission to fight runs as follows:

"And fight in the way of Allah against those who fight against you, and be not aggressive; surely Allah loves not the aggressors" (2:190).

Here again the condition is plainly laid down that the Muslims shall not be the first to attack. They had to fight - it had now become a duty - but only against those who fought against them; aggression was expressly prohibited. The words fi sabili-llah (in the way of Allah) are misinterpreted by most Western writers as meaning for the propagation of Islam, when nothing could be further from the truth since the Muslims were not fighting to force Islam on others, rather they were being fought to force them to renounce their faith. Moreover, verse 256 of chapter 2, which says :

"There is no compulsion in religion"

was revealed after the permission for war had been given, and it is therefore certain that fighting had no connection with the preaching of religion.
The fifth verse of chapter 9 of the Quran is mistakenly called by some people "the verse of the sword", as if it inculcated the indiscriminate massacre of all idolators or unbelievers. The misconception is due to the fact that the words are taken out of their context and a significance is forced on them which the context cannot bear. The words of the fifth verse are:

"So when the sacred months have passed, slay the idolators wherever you find them, and take them captive and besiege them and lie in wait for them in every ambush. But if they repent and keep up prayer and pay the poor-rate, leave their way free. Surely Allah is Forgiving, Merciful".

It is asserted that this verse offers to the disbelievers the alternative of the sword or the Quran. Nothing is farther from the truth. As the title of this chapter and the opening verses show, the Muslims are granted 'Immunity' from their obligations with such of the idolatrous tribes as had repeatedly broken their engagements with the Muslims and repeatedly dealt telling blows to the Muslims whenever they had an opportunity of doing so. The injunction in the fifth verse to wage war is clearly against these idolators who repeatedly violated their agreements with the Muslims, while clear exceptions are made with regard to those idolatrous tribes who adhered to their treaties and those who sought the protection of the Muslims. The latter were to be conveyed the message of Islam but in case they did not accept it, they were to be safely conveyed to their homes. This clearly shows that the reason why the Muslims were fight against the idolators, as mentioned in v. 5, was not because they were idolators but because they repeatedly violated the trust of the Muslims and invited them to war.
Nowhere does the Quran give the Muslims permission to enter on an unprovoked war against the whole world. Conditions are also laid down as to when war should cease. Says verse 193 of Chapter 2 (The Cow) :

"And fight with them until there is no more persecution, and religion should be only for Allah".

The words 'religion should be only for Allah' are sometimes misinterpreted as meaning that all people should accept Islam. This misconception, however, is soon dispelled upon comparison with another verse which carries very similar words.

"And fight with them until there is no more persecution and all religions are for Allah" (8:39).

This clearly shows that both the expressions 'religion should be only for Allah' and 'all religions are for Allah' carry the same significance, namely that religion is a matter between man and his God, in which nobody has a right to interfere. This teaching was supported by the practice of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) who gave full religious liberty to a people who had been subjugated in war. A well-known example is the occasion of the conquest of Makkah.
Far from being a militant creed, Islam is such a peace-loving religion that the Muslims are enjoined to accept peace even in the middle of war if the enemy so desires:

"And if they incline to peace, incline thou also to it and trust in Allah; surely He is the Hearer, the Knower. And if they intend to deceive thee - then surely Allah is sufficient for thee" (8:61, 62).

Over here, peace is even recommended when the enemy's sincerity may be doubtful, and there was good cause to doubt the intentions of the Arab tribes who attached no value to their agreements. Yet the Prophet was always ready to make peace even, as on the occasion of the Hudaibiya truce, taking the position of the defeated party - although he had never been defeated on the battlefield - and accepting terms which his own Companions looked upon as humiliating to Islam. Such remained the practice of the Prophet throughout his life and he never led an aggressive attack. The last of his expeditions was that of Tabuk in 9 A.H., in which he led an army of 30,000 against the Romans. But when he found on reaching the frontier, after a very hot and tedious journey, that the Romans did not contemplate an offensive, he returned without attacking them.
Emphasis by the Ahmadiyya Movement on the point that the sword had nothing to do with the propagation of Islam has led many people to believe that Ahmadiyyat has abrogated the doctrine of Jihad. This charge is absolutely baseless. Unlike other Muslims who generally consider some of the Quranic verses to have been abrogated by others, the Ahmadis firmly believe in every single word of the Quran. When the doctrine of jihad forms a part of the Quran, how could the Ahmadis adjudge it as being abrogated? It is true that Ahmadiyyat did not agree with the significance that jihad had come to hold, viz. that fighting against all disbelievers was a 'holy war'. This abhorrent picture was drawn by Christian missionaries in order to create hatred against Islam among the people. The Western domination in the world helped in the spread of this view. In India the Arya Samaj helped the Christians in propagating such calumnies against Islam. On the other hand, the Muslims themselves did not mend matters by eagerly awaiting the advent of a Mahdi who would wield the sword for the spread of Islam, and by believing that the killing of an unbeliever was a jihad that entitled the perpetrator to be called a ghazi. It was concerning this concept of jihad that the Founder of the Ahmadiyya Movement said in one of his poetic verses:

'Put the idea of jihad out of your minds, O friends;
War and killing in the name of religion are now forbidden'

Hazrat Mirza Sahib made it clear that fighting in Islam was allowed only in self-defense or to establish religious freedom. Since the British rule in India allowed full liberty of religion and conscience and there was peace and justice under their reign where before there had been lawlessness and anarchy, there was simply no reason to take up arms against the government and to do so would amount to rebellion and not jihad. Thus, Hazrat Mirza Sahib addressed the Muslim world in an Arabic letter and said:

"There is not the least doubt that the conditions laid down for jihad are not to be met with at the present time and in this country; so it is illegal for the Muslims to fight for religion and to kill anyone who rejects the Sacred Law, for God has made clear the illegality of jihad when there is peace and security." (Tohfa-i-Golarwiya, Supplement, p.30)

[Note by Webmaster: Go here for a detailed treatment of the subject of Jihad and Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad.]

Note the words, at the present time and in this country; this clearly shows that jihad may be legal in another country in which exist the necessary conditions laid down in the Quran, or even here when the conditions have changed. Hazrat Mirza Sahib was not alone in praising the British rule; all the writers of that time considered it their duty to give vent to similar expressions of loyalty and thankfulness. Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, who occupies a much venerated position among the Muslims of the Subcontinent, wrote in exactly the same strain as did Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad.
The Founder of the Ahmadiyya Movement directed the attention of the Muslims towards the greatest jihad of all, as Allah says in the Quran:

"So obey not the disbelievers, and strive against them a mighty striving with it" (25:52).

Every exertion to spread the Truth is, according to this verse, a jihad; nay, it is called jihad kabir - the Great Jihad. The personal pronoun 'it' in the verse unquestionably refers to the Quran. Thus the greatest jihad which a Muslim can carry on is by means of the Quran. This verse is well-known to every Ahmadi for it was this jihad-bil-Quran in which the Founder of our Movement remained engaged throughout his life and this was the mission that he entrusted to his jamaat. I read a fine description of our mission that I would like to share with you. Jihad bil Quran, for the propagation of Islam, was the great jihad of the Makkan life of the Holy Prophet Muhammad, when the permission to fight had not been given. As we all know, the Makkan period of his life was the manifestation of his name Ahmad. Thus, it is jihad with the Quran for which the Ahmadiyya Movement stands today. As jihad with the sword stands in need of a strong and loyal army, so is a strong and loyal jamaat needed for the carrying on of jihad with the Quran and it is for this purpose that an oath of allegience is taken. When a person takes a pledge to do something, his determination is not shaken by happenings in times of trial. The keywords of our pledge are 'I will hold religion above the world', which mean that all those who enter the Movement should be willing to sacrifice their all for the sake of Islam. The formation of an organization and the taking of a pledge is thus in accordance with the need for the great mission of jihad bil Quran, which Ahmadiyyat is to carry out in the world.
Allah says in the Holy Quran:

"O you who believe, shall I lead you to a merchandise which will deliver you from a painful chastisement? You should believe in Allah and His Messenger, and strive hard in Allah's way with you wealth and your lives. That is better for you, did you but know! He will forgive you your sins, and cause you to enter Gardens wherein rivers flow, and goodly dwellings in Gardens of perpetuity - that is the mighty achievement - and yet another (blessing) that you love: help from Allah and victory near at hand; and give good news to the believers." (61:10-13)

May Allah have mercy on us all, and give us the strength to fight against our own selves to overcome our weaknesses, and to fulfil our duty in carrying out the Great Jihad entrusted to us. Ameen.

source: http://www.muslim.org/islam/jihad.htm

Car Carrying Illegal Immigrants Trapped In Hospital Compound

2011-05-09T21:55:00.002+07:00

KANGAR, May 9 (Bernama) -- A local agent and nine illegal immigrants from Myanmar were detained by an Anti-Smuggling Unit team after the car carrying them got caught in the Tuanku Fauziah Hospital (HTF) compound, here, early Monday.

Perlis commander of the unit, Deputy Supt Zakaria Abdul Rahman, said the local man in his 30s drove the Proton Wira carrying the illegals into the hospital's compound at about 4am after realising they were being followed by the unit's patrol car.

However, their vehicle failed to find its way out through the rear gate of the hospital which was closed, and the agent tried to run away but was injured after falling into a drain.

He was arrested and taken to the hospital to receive 16 stitches for his injury, and three of the illegals were nabbed while trying to escape by climbing over the fence.

Six other illegals who remained in the car were also arrested.

Zakaria said the illegals between 16 and 21, including a female, were earlier packed into the car with the rear seat removed after they were picked up from Padang Besar and travelling for two hours to the south.

He said they were believed to have squeezed through the "rat hole" of the Malaysia-Thai border fencing near a Chinese cemetery.

"The agent is believed to be paid RM60 for each illegal immigrant to be brought to Penang," he added.

All the illegals were handed over to the Immigration Department for further action.

-- BERNAMA

Car crash ‘rescuer’ freed, wife remains

2011-05-09T20:53:00.000+07:00

By NAW NOREEN (DVB)

Cars are seen weaving through the streets of Rangoon (Reuters)

A man handed a one-year sentence last May after he and his wife came to the aid of a car crash victim in Rangoon division has been released from Insein prison.
Zaw Min Htun, a member of the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD), walked free on 6 May. His wife, Sandar, also an NLD member, will however be forced to see out her 18-month sentence in the remote Putao prison near Burma’s far-northern border with China.
They were arrested after becoming embroiled in an argument with a doctor at the hospital in Tontay township, southern Rangoon division, following the hospital’s refusal to treat the car crash victim, Thidar Win.
Doctors there had demanded Thidar Win pay the cost of fuel for a generator to power the x-ray machine, which she claimed she could not afford. She was then kicked out of the hospital.
Zaw Min Htun was charged with ‘disturbing government officials’, while Sandar was given an additional charge of ‘intimidation’. Subsequent appeals by their daughter were dismissed by judges.
Thidar Win’s family had attempted to sue the hospital, but the case was rejected. The victim said she was then coerced into joining the prosecution team as a witness, but defected to the defence side during the initial trial in February 2010.
The release comes as a petition circulates Burma’s urban hubs calling for the release of the country’s nearly 2,100 political prisoners, although reports have surfaced of campaigners being harassed by police.
Burma’s judicial system has been criticised for its apparent lack of independence from the ruling regime, as well as its outright targeting of opposition figures.

EU-Asean FTA Set For Revival, Says Mustapa

2011-05-09T20:51:00.000+07:00

By Tengku Noor Shamsiah Tengku Abdullah

SINGAPORE, May 9 (Bernama) -- The European Union-Asean Free Trade Agreement (EU-Asean FTA) is set to be revived following the positive political climate in Myanmar, says International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed.

The proposal was made at the just-concluded first Asean-EU Business Summit in Jakarta.

Mustapa said seven recommendations were made at the summit, which included among others, for both Asean and EU to speed up the process of bilateral FTA and to work towards the conclusion of a future trade agreement.

"We talked about the possibility of reviving the EU-Asean FTA. We have the European Union talking to Asean, but because of the Myanmar issue, the agreement was put on hold," he told reporters after the Europe Day celebration luncheon here Monday.

Earlier, Mustapa shared his views and insights with members of the European Chamber of Commerce Singapore (EuroCham) on the ongoing economic transformation and investment opportunities available for European companies in Malaysia.

Economic relations between the European Union (EU), Singapore and Malaysia is poised to strengthen further following the ongoing EU FTA negotiations.

On Myanmar, Mustapa said many changes were taking place within the country and this augured well for reviving FTA negotiations between Asean and EU.

In April 2007, the European Commission (EC) was given the mandate by European member states to negotiate an FTA with Asean as part of the commission's Global Europe strategy.

Independent research commissioned by the EC suggested that the likely economic benefits for both Asean and the EU were considerable.

Touching on Malaysia-EU free trade agreement, Mustapa said he was confident the agreement would be signed by the third quarter of next year.

He said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak has indicated that the agreement should be concluded within 18 months.

"The European Union is a very important trading partner and you know very well that it is the number one investor in Asean.

"Although, EU is a vast market, European companies are still keen to invest in Asean," he said.

For Malaysia, he said EU was a major trading partner and investor.

Total trade between the two countries amounted to US$38 billion last year.

-- BERNAMA

He's coming to get you: The day Osama Bin Laden sat glued watching TV of Barack Obama, the man who had him killed

2011-05-09T16:20:00.000+07:00

By Daily Mail Reporter

Last updated at 4:54 PM on 8th May 2011

Five 'home videos' released by U.S. shows Bin Laden's life in the compound
Footage shows Bin Laden in a gold robe and forgetting his lines as he speaks to the camera in propaganda video outtakes
Vanity of terror chief who dyed grey beard black before recording videos
Also shows him flipping through satellite channels trying to find coverage of himself on TV
Intelligence officer describes evidence at compound at 'single largest collection' of senior terrorist material ever
Other, shaky footage shows litter-strewn compound in barely habitable state
House worth no more than $250,000 say experts

It was always suspected that somewhere, somehow, he was watching - but this extraordinary footage is the proof.
As American forces desperately hunted high and low for Osama Bin Laden, the terror chief was sitting on the floor of a compound in Pakistan - watching footage of President Barack Obama on the news.
These astonishing home videos, seized by Navy SEALs after Bin Laden was killed on Sunday and released today, show the Al Qaeda head watching coverage of the the man who would eventually give the order that resulted in his death.
The five movies also show the terror leader watching himself on television as, even from behind the walls of the compound, he continued to manipulate his image.
SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEOS

Creature comforts: A detailed image shows the objects around Osama Bin Laden in his Abbottabad compound, including TVs, a PC, digital decoder... and a boster pillow

Eerie: The footage shows several scenes of Mr Obama at a news conference. It is not yet clear when the footage was filmed

Image-obsessed: In video one of the five, Osama Bin Laden can be seen sitting on the dirty floor of the compound watching video footage of himself on television

The footage offers the first public glimpse at Bin Laden's life behind the walls of his compound in suburban Pakistan.
The government-selected clips also provide an opportunity for the U.S. to paint Bin Laden in an unflattering light to his supporters.
The videos include outtakes of his propaganda films, showing the terror chief flubbing his lines.
Taken together, they portray him as someone obsessed with his own image and how he is portrayed to the world - even from the confines of the compound.
The videos, released by U.S. intelligence officials Saturday, were offered as further proof that Navy SEALs killed the world's most wanted terrorist this week.

Pay attention: A detail of the video shows that Bin Laden, left, with a grey beard and, right, footage of himself on Al Jazeera television

Channel choices: A close-up of Bin Laden's TV shows that his favourite channel list, include Al Jazeera and the BBC Arabic channels

But they also served to show Bin Laden as vain, someone obsessed with his portrayal by the world's media.
One of the movies shows Bin Laden, his unkempt beard streaked in grey, sitting on the floor, wrapped in a brown blanket and holding a remote control.

He flipped back and forth between what appears to be live news coverage of himself. The old, small television was perched on top of a desk with a large tangle of electrical wires running to a nearby control box.

In another, he has apparently dyed and neatly trimmed his beard for the filming of a propaganda video.

The video, which the U.S. released without sound, was titled Message To The American People and was believed to be filed some time last autumn, a senior CIA official told reporters today.
The videos were seized from Bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan.

Video Two: In another of the released videos, Bin Laden is wearing a gold robe and his beard has been dyed black in what appears to be a propaganda video outtake

Video Three: Bin Laden, his beard dyed again, stands in front of what was described as a wooden armoire. Intelligence officials say they found the same armoire in the compound. The video has not been dated

Video Four: The terror chief, wearing a white shirt with a T-shirt underneath, is standing against a brown background. Once again, there is no date on the video, and the U.S. did not release the audio accompaniment

Video Five: In the fifth video released by the White House, Bin Laden is back in his gold robes but the backdrop is now a less impressive un-ironed white sheet

Officials said the clips shown to reporters were just part of the largest collection of senior terrorist materials ever collected.
The evidence seized during the raid also includes phone numbers and documents that officials hope will help break the back of the organisation behind the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Intelligence officials have known that Bin Laden and Al Qaeda monitored the news. But for years, when it was assumed that he was living in Pakistan's rugged, mountainous tribal region, some believed he might not be able to get real-time news.
After the CIA discovered Bin Laden's suburban compound, they realised that a satellite dish provided a television feed to Bin Laden's compound.
The video also reveals that Bin Laden had a computer in his home, though officials say there were no Internet or phone lines running from the house.
They emerged today as other video footage leaked to Al Jazeera showed the terror leader had been living in virtual squalor in Abottabad.

Strewn with rubbish and with paint peeling off the walls, the dirt-infested compound appears barely habitable and is a far cry from initial claims the compound was a sophisticated $1million hideaway.
The ramshackle structure resembles a building site and the pictures of the outside show steel rods protruding from the roof, suggesting it may have been incomplete.
Of course, some damage would have been caused during the American Navy Seal mission to capture the 9/11 mastermind, but the footage is still very revealing.
It was released today on the Al Jazeera English website and gives a shaky tour of what appears to be the inside of the main house, a few outbuildings and a small fruitless orchard.
The stash is part of a wealth of information collected during the U.S. raid that killed Bin Laden and four others last week.

The information suggests Bin Laden played a strong role in planning and directing attacks by al Qaeda and its affiliates in Yemen and Somalia, two senior officials said.

Worth $250,000: The Bin Laden compound in Abbottabad in Pakistan was said to be worth $1 million. But local experts put the figure much lower, and footage shows it in a run-down state

Rubbish-strewn: With paint peeling off the walls, the dirt-infested compound appears barely habitable and is a far cry from original claims the compound was a sophisticated £1m hideaway

Squalid: It seems hard to believe the mastermind of 9-11 and countless other terrorist atrocities lived in such conditions

Information collected in the haul also suggests that top al Qaeda commanders and other key insurgents are scattered throughout Pakistan, not just in the rugged border areas as previously though, and are being supported and given sanctuary by Pakistanis.
Despite protests from Pakistan, defeating al Qaeda and taking out its senior leaders in Pakistan remains a top U.S. priority, demonstrated by the failed attempt to take out the man tipped to replace Bin Laden, Anwar al-Awlaki, in Yemen on Thursday.

The U.S. remains defiant despite complaints from Islamabad that the raid on Bin Laden's compound violated the country's sovereignty, an anonymous senior defence official said yesterday.

Glimpse: The wife of Osama Bin Laden, Amal al-Sadah, pictured right, says she lived with her husband in the same room for the past five years

But the U.S. is bracing itself for retaliation following Bin Laden's death, with the Taliban in Afghanistan warning that the killing of the al Qaeda leader would only boost morale of insurgents battling the U.S. and its Nato allies.

Al Qaeda itself vowed revenge, confirming Bin Laden's death for the first time but issuing a chilling warning that Americans' 'happiness will turn to sadness'.

Following last week's raid, the U.S. has already launched a drone strike into Pakistan as well as the one in Yemen, in the days since Bin Laden was killed.

The strikes have been carried out by pilotless CIA drones as U.S. military and intelligence officials attempt to take advantage of the data they swept up in the raid before insurgents have a chance to change plans or locations.

The raid on Bin Laden's compound deep inside the Pakistan border has further eroded already strained relations between Washington and Islamabad, and angry Pakistani officials have said they want the U.S. to reduce its military presence in their country.

The Pakistani army, while acknowledging it failed to find Bin Laden, said it would review cooperation with the U.S. if there is another similar attack.

Pakistani officials have denied sheltering Bin Laden, and they have criticised the U.S. operation as a violation of their country's sovereignty.

Barely habitable: The ramshackle structure resembles like a building site and the grounds of the compound, shown here, appear to have been dug up and is littered with unidentifiable objects

But a senior defence official said recent protests by Islamabad about the raid would not stop the U.S. from moving against terror leaders that threaten American security.

President Obama has made it clear that the U.S. will take action wherever necessary to root out al Qaeda, which has declared war on the United States and has been using Pakistan as a base to plot and direct attacks from there and other insurgent locations around the world.

The official also said there are no plans to scale back U.S. training of the Pakistani frontier corps and army. But the decision is up to Pakistan.

U.S. administration leaders have been careful not to directly accuse the Pakistani government of being complicit in the existence of sanctuaries that have cloaked Bin Laden and his lieutenants.

But it strains credibility that the most wanted man in the world could have been hiding there in a large compound without Pakistani officials knowing.

Terror lair: The revealing pictures come as it emerged that home videos and propaganda tapes found in the compound may be released which show Bin Laden strolling around his secret lair

Counter-terrorism officials have debated how big a role Bin Laden and core al Qaeda leaders were playing in the attacks launched by affiliated terror groups, particularly al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which is based in Yemen, and al-Shabab in Somalia.

According to officials, information gathered in the compound suggests that Bin Laden was much more involved in directing al Qaeda personnel and operations than analysts had thought.

It also suggests Bin Laden was 'giving strategic direction' to al Qaeda affiliates in Somalia and Yemen, the source said.

Assassination: This picture appears to show a stain, perhaps blood. The images come as Al-Qaeda confirmed Bin Laden's death for the first time, vowed revenge

Officials say they have already learned a great deal from Bin Laden's cache of computers and data, but they would not confirm reports that it yielded clues to the whereabouts of al Qaeda deputy Ayman al-Zawahri.

Al-Zawahri is a leading candidate to take Bin Laden's place as the leader of the terror group.
On Friday, President Obama with the U.S. commandos who killed Bin Laden.

'Job well done,' the president declared, addressing roughly 2,000 troops after meeting privately with the full assault team - Army helicopter pilots and Navy SEAL commandos - who executed the dangerous raid.

Their identities are kept secret.

New satellite image shows where the U.S. helicopter crashed during the Bin Laden raid

Meanwhile, the house - which the U.S. government described as as a $1m mansion in an 'extraordinarily unique compound' in an 'affluent suburb' - is in fact worth no more than $250,000 say local experts.
It can be added to the mounting descriptions which have proved incorrect, such as that Bin Laden was armed when killed, and that he had used one of his wives as a human shield.
Two property professionals in Abbottabad said that - based on the size of the plot and the house, which was built in 2005, and using recent property sales as a guide - it was worth a quarter of the original estimate at best.
'Twenty million rupees, maximum,' said property dealer Muhammad Anwar, a 22-year veteran of the local market, at his Abbottabad office. 'No swimming pool. This is not a posh area. We call it a middling area.'

In Burma, reporting is a crime

2011-05-09T16:00:00.003+07:00

Elizabeth Hughes From: The Australian
May 09, 2011

IT'S a Burmese tragedy with a cast of 17 brave characters. They are all journalists with the Democratic Voice of Burma -- the exiled media organisation that broadcasts uncensored television and radio into Burma. And, for the crime of reporting the news, they have been immured in some of the nation's most isolated prisons, mostly for years on end, and sometimes for decades.
Last week, one day after the UN's World Press Freedom day, DVB launched a Free Burma VJ (video-journalists) campaign in an attempt to push for their release, publicly conceding for the first time that the total of DVB reporters behind bars had reached the alarming total of 17. The new information means Burma is the third-most oppressive jailer of journalists in the world, after China and Iran, with a total of about 25 incarcerated.
Only five of the DVB 17 have been named, because the Burmese authorities usually treat journalists even more harshly than other prisoners. DVB wants to maintain some discretion to avoid even more punitive conditions. It remains unclear how the unnamed 12 were captured, what they were charged with and how long their prison sentences were.

DVB's video-journalists are a trained and dedicated group, says DVB's Thailand bureau chief Toe Zaw Latt. "In Burma, if Big Brother is watching you, OK, your small brother is watching you back with a small camera," he adds.
But critics say not all the journalists are professionally trained, and they wonder if the risk of lengthy jail terms is worth the rewards. They note that although DVB maintains it is now an independent and professional organisation, with an audience of as many as 10 million people, it grew from political roots. DVB employs more than 100 journalists in various locations in Burma, Toe Zaw Latt says, and as well as providing the raw material for DVB broadcasts, their footage is sometimes used by foreign media organisations, and even in an Oscar-nominated documentary titled Burma VJ.
Two of the DVB journalists most recently arrested are a young man and his father. Sithu Zeya, 21, was arrested in April last year while filming the aftermath of a grenade attack that left nine dead and hundreds injured in Rangoon.
DVB says he was interrogated for five days, tortured and denied food for two days. He was finally sentenced last December to eight years in prison, for having ties to an unlawful organisation.
"Sithu Zeya had been forced to reveal under torture that his father, Maung Maung Zeya, also served as an undercover DVB reporter," the organisation says.
Maung Maung Zeya, 57, who also worked with DVB, was arrested at his home in Rangoon, soon after his son was detained.
A poet and essayist, he was eventually sentenced to 13 years in prison, and is now incarcerated in Hsipaw prison, hundreds of kilometres from Rangoon. Toe Zaw Latt says Maung Maung Zeya was doped during his interrogation, and another of his sons has been forced to flee.
Military intelligence officers arrested 48-year-old Win Maw in November 2007, in a Rangoon tea shop, soon after he had visited an internet cafe. DVB says he was accused of being the "mastermind" of DVB's news coverage of the 2007 anti-government Saffron revolution led by Buddhist monks and students. Win Maw was originally sentenced in 2008 to seven years in prison for sending "false" information to DVB. The next year, he was sentenced to an extra 10 years for violations of the Electronics Act. He is in the remote Sandoway prison in Arakan state.
These journalists are just a few among the crowds of political prisoners locked up by the Burmese regime: activists, lawyers, writers, poets -- anyone, in short, with the temerity to express a view or which differs from the official line.
Nearly 2100 prisoners of conscience remain incarcerated in Burma, despite international diplomatic efforts to wrangle an amnesty from the nation's new and nominally civilian government.
"Reporting the truth is not a crime," said Toe Zaw Latt. "Someone should not be jailed 20 years for being a journalist."

ASEAN should not decide simply on chairmanship to Burma

2011-05-09T15:59:00.000+07:00

By Zin Linn May 09, 2011

A communiqué issued at the end of the two-day ASEAN leaders’ summit in Jakarta said: “We considered the proposal of Myanmar (Burma) that it would host the ASEAN summits in 2014, in view of its firm commitment to the principles of ASEAN.”
It also emphasized that ASEAN leaders supported the “steady progress and political developments in Myanmar” after it held general elections and formed a new government in March, calling the ballot “successful.” But, ASEAN leaders overlook the true story about the 7-November election which unfairly allowed the junta-backed party to rig the votes.
The election, Burma’s first in 20 years, was severely criticized by the oppositions and the Western Democracies as undemocratic polls for not allowing watchdogs and media.
The Asian Network For Free Elections (ANFREL) released a statement dated 9 November calling attention to ballot counting procedures that made by the Union Election Commission (UEC). It said the counting process was not made transparent to the public and the media beginning with the first advance voting period.
Moreover, ethnic nationalities in Burma that fight for self-determination were prevented from participating in the election. More than 3,000 villages in ethnic nationality areas have also been excluded from the electoral exercise because of continuing armed conflict.
Thus, calling the ballot “successful” means ASEAN supports an undemocratic vote-rigging election in Myanmar (Burma).
Southeast Asian leaders have no objection to Burma or Myanmar’s request to chair the 10-member ASEAN bloc in 2014, as long as it continues making progress towards democracy, Indonesia’s president said on Sunday after the group’s latest summit.
“ASEAN leaders do not object in principle,” Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said at his closing news conference. “But Myanmar, which is a focus of world attention, is expected to continue progress on democracy so when it becomes chair it does not generate negative views.”
However, the Thein Sein government has been reinforcing its troops in several areas where ethnic armed groups that did not follow the border guard force (BGF) plan are based, according to ethnic sources. Armed reinforcements have been reported in southern Karen State and in central and southern Shan State in eastern Burma since early this year.
Sporadic armed clashes has been going on recently between the junta’s troops and armed ethnic groups such as the Karen National Union (KNU), the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) Brigade 5, the Shan State Army–North (SSA-North) and Shan State Army-South (SSA-South).
So, Burma Army has been going on with war against the ethnic minorities who are defending their basic civil rights including self-determination. If ASEAN leaders consider offering the chair to Burma (Myanmar) in 2014, they should pressure Thein Sein government to stop the unjust war on the ethnic people. They ought to take facilitator role to stop the civil war in Burma. In this civil war, Burmese soldiers have been committing lots of crimes – lootings, rapes, burnt down villages, destroying the crops, killing innocent ethnic villagers, forced-labor and forced conscription.
Moreover, Thein Sein government still detains over 2,000 political prisoners including important ethnic leaders. To take the ASEAN chair, Burma must not keep political prisoners who really are committing no crime but expose their political beliefs.
In addition, Thein Sein government must allow ‘Freedom of Expression’ and ‘Free Press’. Burma is one of the most autocratic and covered up countries in the world, due to both its restrictive press laws and its practice of punishing journalists. In recent elections, the Burmese junta did not allow press freedom for both Burmese and international news media.
It was a significant hindrance to Burma becoming a free society. So, the analysts state that in the absence of media freedom Burma (Myanmar) should not act as ASEAN chair since there will not be accountability and transparency.
Reporters Without Borders released its annual press freedom report in October 2010, ranking Burma 174th out of 178 countries. On October 18, Burma announced that foreign journalists would not be granted access to Burma to cover the news on elections.
Looking at the fact on the ground in Burma, there is more belligerences in these days, more military attacks in the ethnic minority areas, more forced labors, more child soldiers, more political prisoners, more refugees, more restrictions toward media, more control on Internet users and civil societies.
So, ASEAN needs to be very cautious and to put more pressure on Burma until the fundamental benchmarks for chairmanship are carried out before 2014.

--Asiancorrespondent--

Visa on arrival hopes dashed

2011-05-09T15:46:00.001+07:00

By SHWE AUNG (DVB)

Published: 9 May 2011

A Dutch tourists rides his adapted bike on the streets of Rangoon (Reuters)

Burma will not be bringing back the visa-on-arrival scheme anytime in the near future because of a lack of improvement in tourism infrastructure, the tourism minister has stated.
The announcement dashes hopes of a reintroduction of the popular scheme that saw tourism numbers to the isolated country hit record highs last year, despite it only being active for four months.
A businessman who attended a recent meeting with Hotel and Tourism Minister Tint Hsan said it would instead be a step by step process.
“He [Tint Hsan] said it would be embarrassing if we open the visa on arrival when our country is not yet ready [to service tourists],” he said. “Last year, big crowds of tourists came in and it got out of control. We need to prepare a lot.”
Hotel and tourism business owners also reportedly urged the minister to appoint a ‘Visit Myanmar Year’ as it did in 1996, although that was roundly seen as a failure.
Burma remains Southeast Asia’s least travelled country, largely due to the controversy surrounding much of the tourism industry: rights groups claim that the money spent by tourists lines the pockets of the ruling regime, which has been known to use slave labour in the development of tourism infrastructure.
Numbers of visitors are rising however, with figures for last year showing a 33 percent increase on 2009. Still, however, the 300,000-odd that visited in 2010 pale ni comparison to the roughly 14 million that hit Thailand each year.
The visa scheme was halted in September last year after managing to attract 80,000 visitors in the four months of its existence. Observers speculated that it had been stopped to prevent journalists entering under the guise of tourists to cover the November elections.

Obama: Bin Laden raid was 'a 55/45 situation'

2011-05-09T12:08:00.000+07:00

By the CNN WIre Staff

May 9, 2011 -- Updated 0310 GMT (1110 HKT)

Obama on raid: "Had (Osama bin Laden) not been there, then there would have been some significant consequences."

Tune in to "Piers Morgan Tonight" at 9 ET Monday night for more on what the new bin Laden videos tell us and what could be next for the terror network he leaves behind.

Washington (CNN) -- Sending U.S. troops on a dangerous mission to get Osama bin Laden was worth the risks, even though it was not certain the al Qaeda leader was in the Pakistani compound, U.S. President Barack Obama said in a "60 Minutes" interview Sunday on CBS.
"This was still a 55/45 situation," Obama told CBS. "I mean, we could not say definitively that bin Laden was there. Had he not been there, then there would have been some significant consequences."
"Obviously, we're going into the sovereign territory of another country and landing helicopters and conducting a military operation," he said. "And so, if it turns out that it's a wealthy, you know, prince from Dubai who's in this compound and, you know, we've sent special forces in, we've got problems."
It's been a whirlwind week since bin Laden's death

But the president says he did not lose sleep over "the possibility of taking bin Laden out."
"Justice was done," Obama said. "And I think that anyone who would question that the perpetrator of mass murder on American soil didn't deserve what he got needs to have their head examined."
The president's biggest worry was that "Murphy's Law applies and something happens," he said. "Can we still get our guys out?"
One of the helicopters crashed early in the raid, but Obama said there was "a backup plan."

Obama and his closest advisers gathered in the White House Situation Room to monitor the mission in real time, he said.
"And it was the longest 40 minutes of my life, with the possible exception of when Sasha got meningitis when she was three months old, and I was waiting for the doctor to tell me that she was all right," he said. "It was a very tense situation."
The mission was a closely held secret, with only a few presidential staffers in the loop, Obama said. "I didn't tell my own family."
The president defended his decision not to inform anyone in the Pakistani government that U.S. forces were raiding the compound north of Islamabad.
Risks of retaliation?

"If I'm not revealing to some of my closest aides what we're doing, then I sure as heck am not going to be revealing it to folks who I don't know," he said.
Bin Laden likely had a group of supporters within Pakistan helping to keep him secure for years, despite a U.S.-led international manhunt that extended for nearly a decade with Islamabad's ostensible support, Obama said.
Top U.S. officials insist Pakistan remains a critical U.S. ally in the fight against terrorism, but are demanding answers to troubling questions about bin Laden's presence in that country over the course of the past six years.
"We think that there had to be some sort of support network for bin Laden inside of Pakistan," Obama said. "But we don't know who or what that support network was."
The president said U.S. officials "don't know whether there might have been some people inside of government (or) people outside of government, and that's something that we have to investigate."
"More importantly," he added, "the Pakistani government has to investigate."
Pakistani authorities have "indicated they have a profound interest in finding out what kinds of support networks bin Laden might have had," Obama noted. "But these are questions that we're not going to be able to answer" immediately after the raid on bin Laden's compound.
Obama: Bin Laden had support network in Pakistan

"It's going to take some time for us to be able to exploit the intelligence that we were able to gather on site," he said.
Pakistani leaders insist they didn't take part in either the establishment or the maintenance of bin Laden's safe haven, and have promised a full examination of the circumstances that allowed him to spend years in Abbottabad, a city with a heavy military presence located a mere 30 miles north of the country's capital.
In the interview taped Wednesday, Obama defended his decision not to release a death photo of bin Laden as proof of the mission's success.

"There's no doubt that bin Laden is dead," he said. "Certainly there's no doubt among al Qaeda members that he is dead. And so, we don't think that a photograph in and of itself is going to make any difference. There are going to be some folks who deny it. The fact of the matter is, you will not see bin Laden walking on this earth again."

Myanmar ‘must continue progress’ before taking lead

2011-05-09T09:39:00.002+07:00

Dina Indrasafitri and Sri Wahyuni, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Mon, 05/09/2011

Myanmar’s bid to chair ASEAN in 2014 remains open amid controversies surrounding the country.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said Sunday after closing of the 18th ASEAN Summit that the leaders of ASEAN “do not object to the idea” of Myanmar assuming the position.

“However, Myanmar must continue its democratization progress to avoid negative perceptions from other nations,” he said.

It recently held its first elections in 20 years and released political prisoner and democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi. However, the UN question the fairness of the polls.

Myanmar was expected to chair ASEAN in 2005, but the plan was scuttled after the nation skipped the grouping’s summit in Vientiane, Laos, in 2004 following pressure from the international community on its slow progress on national reconciliation and human rights issues.

Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said the matter was discussed “quite thoroughly” at the summit. “Some member states conveyed their support openly, some nations, such as Indonesia, stated that the matter required certain processes,” he said.

As current chair of ASEAN, Indonesia was requested to conduct a visit to analyze Myanmar’s current development, Marty added.

Ade Padmo Sarwono, the Foreign Ministry’s director for ASEAN cooperation in politics and security, said the matter would be discussed more deeply at the ministerial level and could be on the agenda in November’s summit.

He said that to become chair, both infrastructure and political development were required.

Indonesia expects a “genuine democracy and reconciliation that involves all parties in Myanmar,” Ade said.

Human rights activist Indah Suksmaningsih welcomed the idea, saying it could benefit the people of Myanmar. She said there existed a culture among ASEAN member states that they liked to dress themselves up when expecting honorable guests. Assuming that this is also true with Myanmar, she said, the country will have a lot of its infrastructure built ahead of hosting the summit.

“This could benefit the people,” Indah, the director of the Institute for Global Justice, said.

She expressed hope that Myanmar would not just mend and improve its physical infrastructure, but also its record on human rights and allow engagement of society in the policy-making process.

Burma not confirmed as chair in 2014

2011-05-09T09:32:00.002+07:00

JAKARTA : Asean failed to resolve the issue of Burma's chairmanship yesterday, the last day of the bloc's 18th summit in Jakarta.

A statement from the current chair, Indonesia, only reiterated support for the steady progress and political development in Burma following a general election and the formation of a new government.
"We considered the proposal of Myanmar to host the Asean summit in 2014, based on its commitment to the principles of Asean," the statement said.
While the news was welcomed by some exiled Burmese dissidents, their concerns have not yet been rebutted as the majority of Asean members including Thailand have expressed support for Naypyidaw.
Previously, senior officials and foreign ministers had consented to Burma's request to assume the rotating chair, which it agreed not to take up in 2005 to pursue domestic political reform.
However, Indonesia reasserted that the question of Burma as chair was not urgent and could be discussed at the next Asean summit in October in Bali, sources said.
Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya said Thailand had no objection to Burma assuming the chair as its November election was a critical turning point.
Asean has also stipulated that whenever Burma had a new government, it could resume the chair, he added.
However, Burma should also undertake appropriate steps including the release of political prisoners, freer mobility for the people and liberalisation towards democracy, Mr Kasit said.
"These components could seal Burma's stronger chairmanship of Asean. It's like a score-card," he said.
Khin Ohnmar, from Burma Partnership, said it was a huge relief that Burma's formal request for the chair of Asean was not approved.
But she noted that Asean should not fall into the same trap as when they accepted Burma as a member in the hope that engagement would help bring about democratic change.
"Asean should start engaging with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, ethnic representatives, the National League for Democracy and others to support the national reconciliation process," she said.
Aung Myo Min, director of the Human Rights Education Institute of Burma, said allowing Burma to take the chair of Asean in 2014 would jeopardise the bloc's community goal in 2015.
"How can a country with no respect for dialogue, for political and peaceful solutions, strengthen regional peace as a whole?" he said.

--Bangkok Post--

ASEAN Picture

2011-05-08T23:19:00.000+07:00

From left to right, Myanmar's President Thein Sein, Philippine's President Benigno Aquino III, Singapore's Senior Minister S. Jayakumar, Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, the wife of Vietnamese Prime Minister Tran Thanh Kiem, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, the wife of Indonesian President Kristiani Yudhoyono, Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen, Brune's Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, Lao's Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong, the wife of Malaysian Prime Minister Rosmah Mansor, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, the wife of ASEAN Secretary General Alisa Pitsuwan and ASEAN Secretary General Surin Pitsuwan observe a moment of silence for the victims of Saturday's plane crash in Papua province prior to a gala dinner at the 18th ASEAN Summit in Jakarta, Indonesia, Saturday, May 7, 2011.

(AP Photo/Romeo Gacad, Pool)

Myanmar junta cannot lead Asean

2011-05-08T23:17:00.000+07:00

Gulf News editorial: Country's military is renewing its efforts to take over the rotating chair of the group

Leaders from the Asia-Pacific region gathered in Jakarta for the annual summit of the Association of South East Asian Nations. Normally, these meetings focus on trade and economics.
This time round, however, the summit was concerned with the border dispute between Cambodia and Thailand which has erupted into bloody skirmishes over the past two months.
But alarmingly, the military regime in Myanmar is renewing its efforts to take over the rotating chair of the Asean group.
In 2005, Myanmar was passed over for the rotating chair because of its deplorable record on human rights and the suppression of its people. It now wants to head the group in 2014.
The reality is that if Asean wants to be credible, the generals in Myanmar cannot lead it.
The recent election in Myanmar was a sham, window dressing on repression. Asean should not lend credibility to the junta.

ASEAN open to giving Myanmar chairmanship in 2014

2011-05-08T21:11:00.000+07:00

ASEAN open to giving Myanmar chairmanship in 2014 (Reuters)

JAKARTA (Reuters) - Southeast Asian leaders have no objection to Myanmar's request to chair the 10-member ASEAN bloc in 2014, as long as it continues making progress towards democracy, Indonesia's president said on Sunday after the group's latest summit.
"ASEAN leaders do not object in principle," Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said at his closing news conference. "But Myanmar, which is a focus of world attention, is expected to continue progress on democracy so when it becomes chair it does not generate negative views."
A communique issued at the end of the two-day ASEAN leaders' summit in Jakarta said: "We considered the proposal of Myanmar that it would host the ASEAN summits in 2014, in view of its firm commitment to the principles of ASEAN."
It added that ASEAN leaders supported the "steady progress and political developments in Myanmar" after it held general elections and formed a new government in March, calling the ballot "successful".
A previous draft communique said ASEAN had already "consented to the proposal" to chair the bloc in 2014. The final draft, and Yudhoyono's comments, suggest a final decision will be made at a later date.
Myanmar held elections earlier this year to switch from military to civilian rule, leading the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) to push the United States and Europe to drop sanctions against it.
But many observers dismissed the election as a sham that has kept the generals in power behind the scenes.
Any decision to allow Myanmar to chair ASEAN would provoke protests from Western governments and rights groups, and would complicate efforts by ASEAN to work more closely with the United States and the European Union.
Rights group Human Rights Watch sharply criticized ASEAN's apparent readiness to allow Myanmar's 2014 presidency.
"This is unfortunately a decision of political convenience over political principle, and indicates once again that human rights is not a priority for ASEAN," Phil Robertson, the HRW's Asia deputy director, told Reuters.
(Reporting by Olivia Rondonuwu and Aditya Suharmoko; Editing by Andrew Marshall)

Myanmar Literature Talk (Singapore)

2011-05-08T18:49:00.002+07:00

Myanmar Literature Talk (Singapore)
သတင္းထူးပါခင္ဗ်ာ.. ကၽြန္ေတာ္တုိ႕ ယခုပြဲတြင္ အသံသြင္းထားေသာ အသံဖုိင္မ်ားကို Download လုပ္ကာ နားဆင္ႏုိင္ရန္ http://www.mediafire.com/?2lbk72ls0cikz သုိ႕ သြားၾကပါရန္ ေမတၱာရပ္ခံအပ္ပါတယ္ ခင္ဗ်ာ။

Audioboard မွ Direct output ကိုယူကာ အသံသြင္းထားသည့္အတြက္ ဆရာမ်ား၏ အသံကို အနားမွာရွိသကဲ့သို႕ ၾကားႏုိင္မွာျဖစ္ပါေၾကာင္း...

http://www.facebook.com/sarpaymyatnoethumyar

Libya: Will Gaddafi use mustard gas?

2011-05-08T16:19:00.000+07:00

Sunday 08 May 2011

Following Osama bin Laden's death, defence analyst Anthony Tucker-Jones says there are rising concerns over the fate of Libya's chemical weapons.

After the killing of Osama bin Laden there are increasing fears that a cornered Colonel Gaddafi will lash out with his remaining chemical weapons as Saddam Hussein once did against the Iranians and Kurds.
Just days before the death of the world's most wanted terrorist, General Abdul Younis, the Libyan rebels' chief of staff was warning Nato of the danger. The former Libyan Justice Minister Mustafa Abdel Galil issued a similar warning at the end of February.
In addition, the beleaguered defenders of Misrata have been calling for gas masks following rumours that local Gaddafi forces have been issued with them.
The UK's Porton Down, formerly the UK Chemical and Biological Defence Establishment (under the aegis of DSTL - Defence Science and Technology Laboratory), is now on standby in case Gaddafi resorts to such drastic measures.
DSTL's Counter-Terrorism Centre has been advising the SAS and the Joint Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Regiment (JT CBRN Regt) on possible locations and options. The latter is a unique and highly specialised British WMD unit.

Likewise DSTL's chemical weapons EOD experts are on alert should they be needed in-country.
A DSTL source said, "We would certainly like to get our hands on Libya's mustard gas, as this would be an important intelligence windfall."
As part of Libya's rapprochement with the West, Gaddafi formally took responsibility for the 1988 Lockerbie bombing in 2003 and subsequently renounced his WMD programme.
Reportedly Gaddafi had 100 tons of mustard gas, had been seeking to enrich uranium and develop biological weapons. The destruction of his chemical weapons was being overseen by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons; unfortunately the process was never finished - though his delivery systems, long range missiles and mortar bombs were destroyed.

"We should not be complacent about the threat and we are planning for every contingency." Porton Down source

Mustard gas is a particularly unpleasant blistering agent that attacks the eyes, respiratory tract and moist parts of the body. When delivered by bomb, rocket or shell the vapour is always indiscriminate and affected by the prevailing winds. Used in Libya it would cause horrific civilian casualties and result in an international outcry.
According to the DSTL source: "It is estimated that he has about 10 tons of mustard gas precursors remaining from stocks already destroyed." These are believed to be stored at the Rabta Chemical Weapons Production Facility - one of the largest of its kind in the Developing World.
"The condition of his CW stocks is hard to gauge, as is his ability to weaponise it," the source added. "But we should not be complacent about the threat and we are planning for every contingency."

Increased security
US intelligence reported security has been stepped up around the remaining agents required for chemical weapons. This will have been done for three reasons: to protect them from the rebels, to protect them against Coalition air strikes or ready for deployment.
If Gaddafi went down this road it would be short-lived in the face of retaliatory Coalition air strikes. If called to assist with any detection or clear up work, the British Army has its dedicated JT CBRN Regt (based at RAF Honington, Suffolk - elements have seen service in Afghanistan, Irag and Kuwait). This unit deploys the state of the art Fuchs NBC reconn vehicles which came into service during the first Gulf War.
Likewise Porton Down could assist making any located stocks safe through their advice or specialist teams. Porton Down has considerable experience in handling mustard gas, having been involved with the UN's Chemical Destruction Group in Iraq during the 1990s.
An incinerator was built at Muthana to handle Saddam Hussein's mustard gas, destroying a total of 34,000 munitions (which included 122mm rockets and 155mm shells filled with mustard gas).
By then, the damage had already been done. Saddam used 100,000 "special" munitions during the Iran-Iraq War - Iran lost 44,000 troops to chemical attacks and 100,000 soldiers and civilians were exposed. Some 20,000 Iraqi Kurds were subsequently killed or injured at Halabja.
After the death of bin Laden, Gaddafi will now be convinced he is being targeted by US Special Forces - under such circumstances who knows what he will do?
His armoury still includes Soviet-supplied Scud missiles and artillery shells that could be converted to take mustard gas or other agents. He may be asking himself: What price political power?
One can only hope the voice of reason prevails within Gaddafi's inner circle.

Anthony Tucker-Jones is author of ‘The Rise of Militant Islam' and a correspondent for Intersec - The Journal of International Security and defencemanagement.com

--Channel 4 News--

Official: Pakistan is still holding bin Laden’s 3 wives, children for questioning

2011-05-08T16:11:00.000+07:00

By Associated Press, Updated: Sunday, May 8

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan’s foreign ministry says government officials are still holding the wives and children of Osama bin Laden for questioning and that so far, no country has sought their extradition.
Pakistan gained custody of bin Laden’s three wives and eight children on Monday after a covert U.S. operation killed the al-Qaida chief at his hideout in the northwestern city of Abbottabad.

Among them was bin Laden’s Yemeni-born wife, Amal Ahmed Abdullfattah.
She has told Pakistani investigators that she moved to the home in 2006 and never left the compound.
On Sunday, a Pakistan foreign ministry spokeswoman, Tahmina Janjua, said that neither Yemen or any other country had asked for the extradition of bin Laden’s relatives.

Bin laden 'was actively involved' in plots

2011-05-08T16:09:00.000+07:00

By Tom Lawrence, PA

Sunday, 8 May 2011

Osama bin Laden was still actively involved in planning and directing al-Qa'ida's terror plots at the time he was killed, US officials have said.

The claims were made as a number of candid videos seized at the secret Pakistani compound where the terror mastermind was shot dead were released by the Pentagon.

The five short clips show a hunched, unkempt bin Laden wrapped in a blanket watching newscasts of himself on a small television, and preparing a video message addressed to the US.

They were amongst a treasure trove of material - including computer disks, hard drives and hand-written notes - collected by Navy Seals after last Monday's raid at the compound in Abbottabad.

CIA director Leon Panetta said the haul was a clear indication that bin Laden was still directing the terror network responsible for the murder of thousands of innocent civilians.

"The material found in the compound only further confirms how important it was to go after bin Laden," said Mr Panetta.

"Since 9/11, this is what the American people have expected of us. In this critical operation, we delivered."

The notes and computer material confirmed that bin Laden's compound was a command and control centre for al-Qa'ida, and he stayed in contact with affiliates around the world through a network of couriers, the intelligence official said.

It is believed to be largest collection of senior terrorist materials ever collected.

Intelligence officials hope the information will bring al-Qa'ida, who claimed responsibility for the attacks on September 11, 2001, to its knees.

As well as images of the unkempt-looking bin Laden, the videos show "out-takes" of an al-Qa'ida propaganda video, apparently intended for public release, entitled "Message to the American People".

Bin Laden has not issued a video since 2007, and officials were not sure why this one had not been released.

Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee Peter King said the footage shattered the image of bin Laden as a powerful terror leader.

"It showed that bin Laden was not the superhero he wanted his people to think," he said.

One video shows bin Laden choosing and changing channels with a remote control, which he points at what appears to be a satellite cable box.

The US government released the videos without sound claiming it did not want to disseminate a terrorist message.

A CIA taskforce is working through the material around the clock to find clues to plots that might already be under way.

Analysts are scouring the intelligence so quickly it has not even been catalogued or counted, according to officials.

The US launched air strikes in Pakistan and Yemen this week, but the US official would not confirm whether the bin Laden intelligence has already led to attacks.

Al-Qa'ida has confirmed the death of its founder, but did not announce a successor.

--The Independent--

YeKyawAungMDY

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Libya: Will Gaddafi use mustard gas?

Official: Pakistan is still holding bin Laden’s 3 wives, children for questioning

By Associated Press, Updated: Sunday, May 8

Bin laden 'was actively involved' in plots