Archive for February 2008
US envoy sees dark future for Burma regime
The ruling Burmese junta faces a “bleak” future if it continues to reject the national reconciliation process being pushed by United Nations Special Envoy Ibrahim Gambari, a senior US diplomat warned Friday.
“The future of that regime is bleak, so they should try to respond,” Christopher Hill, assistant secretary of state for East Asia and Pacific affairs, told a seminar in Bangkok.
Gambari, who is seeking an international consensus on how to handle Burma, is due to visit the country next month after being denied a visa for weeks.
Since 1962, Burma has been ruled by a military regime that has earned itself one of the world’s worst human rights records after two brutal crackdowns on pro-democracy movements in 1988 and more recently in September 2007. It has arrested thousands of political dissidents including Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who has spent 12 of the past 18 years under house arrest.
The regime has promised to hold a referendum this year to approve a new constitution, which will institutionalize military rule, and elections in 2010, but there is great skepticism that the processes will be free and fair.
Instead, many within the international community are hoping that Gambari will succeed in persuading the military to open a genuine political dialogue with opposition figures such as Suu Kyi and ethnic groups to forge a national reconciliation process that could lead to a genuine democracy.
“There is a good political process out there with Gambari, and it behooves the Burmese government to try to meet him,” Hill said.
The senior diplomat, addressing an audience at Chulalongkorn University, warned that the US would continue to put diplomatic pressure on Burma, including sanctions, until a legitimate solution to the country’s problems is found.
“So let’s see if the Burmese authorities understand that we have a have a lot of options for dealing with Burma, but we do not have the option of turning our backs and forgetting the problem,” he said. (dpa)
http://www.bangkokpost.com/breaking_news/breakingnews.php?id=126236
World Focus on Burma (29 Feb 08)
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NLD Dismisses Referendum
The Irrawaddy News Magazine, Thailand -
By SAW YAN NAING Burma’s main opposition party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), has dismissed the national referendum on the draft constitution, … -
Referendum law excludes monks and bans dissent
Democratic Voice of Burma, Norway -
The Referendum Law for the Approval of the Draft Constitution of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar of 26 February 2008 sets out the conditions for the … -
Myanmar democracy party says government’s referendum plan hurts …
PR-Inside.com (Pressemitteilung), Austria -
Myanmar, also called Burma, has been under international pressure to make democratic reforms, especially after it crushed peaceful mass protests last … -
Burma’s allure places travelers in ethical dilemma
Catholic Online, CA -
A decade ago, when visa restrictions to Burma (Myanmar) were relaxed and the government had launched its “Visit Myanmar” campaign, the site, on the banks of … -
Reform Jewish Leader Calls on Burmese Government to Release Pro …
Religious Action Center (press release), DC -
By violating the human rights of Myanmar’s most popular and respected supporter of democracy, the Burmese junta’s actions have yet again undermined their … -
Myanmar voters ‘cannot accept’ junta’s charter: Suu Kyi’s party
AFP -YANGON, Feb 28, 2008 (AFP) — The party of Myanmar’s detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi said Thursday that the junta’s proposed constitution …
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Wildlife Trade Booming in Burmese Casino Town
National Geographic, DC -
In a rundown casino town in northern Myanmar (Burma) market-goers can find everything from bear paws to tiger parts—evidence of a booming wildlife trade. … -
Bush vows to press China on rights at Olympics
AFP -I’ll talk about Darfur and Iran and Burma,” as Myanmar is called in the United States, said Bush. Human rights groups and activists have accused China of …
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Burmese Regime’s Referendum Law Continues Climate of Intimidation
US Department of State, DC -
Burma’s military regime continues exacerbating the climate of fear and intimidation leading up to the May constitutional referendum. … -
US urges ‘inclusive and transparent’ vote in Myanmar
AFP -… and Burma’s democratic and ethnic minorities leading to a transition to democracy.” Those reforms have been urged not only by Myanmar’s citizens, …
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Group raising awareness of human rights violations ahead of China …
Daily News Tribune, MA -
… issues like China’s support of Burma, renamed Myanmar by a military junta accused of abuses, and of Sudan, widely condemned for its actions in Darfur. … -
Africa: UN Inaction Threatens “Mass Killings
AllAfrica.com, Washington -
In Asia, MRG singles out three countries — Burma (Myanmar), Afghanistan and Pakistan — as potentially dangerous, while Iraq is described as the “most … -
Today is my day as prime minister : Samak
Nation Multimedia, Thailand -
Hill also gave Samak a message to deliver from the United States to the ruling military junta in Myanmar, Thailand’s neighbour and a key trading partner, … -
Britain tells China don’t fear action on problem states
Guardian, UK -
A country he suggested China could help with was Myanmar, whose military violently put down pro-democracy protests late last year. “Burma is on your border. … -
A Big-time Burmese Drug Trafficker’s Singaporean Connection
Asia Sentinel, China -
In a letter to the magazine the Singapore embassy in the US said that GIC was a passive investor in the Myanmar Fund and was not involved in investment … -
US, Britain urge Myanmar to include Aung San Suu Kyi in polls
Tolerance.ca, Canada -
Meg Munn, a British foreign office minister, told reporters in Bangkok that the referendum in the country formally know as Burma must be a “genuine process” … -
ASEAN told to be stronger, asked to take lead
Mizzima.com, India -
ASEAN should “look to set standards for human rights and democracy that will give Burma no chance” but to adapt, added the Ambassador. … -
Tachilek residents urged to register for ID cards
Democratic Voice of Burma, Norway -
People in Burma are required to register for an identity card at the age of 12, which should then be replaced with an adult card when they reach 18 years of … -
UN Envoy For Myanmar Leaves Japan After Completing Asian Consultations
AHN -
… Gambari visited Beijing, Jakarta and Singapore and he will return to New York before heading to Burma, officially known as Myanmar, next week. … -
Burma’s Referendum—‘History is Repeating Itself’
The Irrawaddy News Magazine, Thailand -
By WAI MOE The lack of official tolerance of dissidents in Burma and of openness gives rise to concern that the planned constitutional referendum will not … -
Junta continues to quash Burma’s media
United Press International, Asia, China -
By ZIN LINN BANGKOK, Thailand, The latest attack on Burma’s media took place Feb. 15, when the military junta raided offices of the Myanmar Nation weekly … -
Ion Microprobe Zircon U-Pb Age and Geochemistry of the Myanmar …
RedOrbit, TX -
Cretaceous-Cenozoic tectonic events in the western Myanmar (Burma) Assam region. Journal of the Geological Society, London, 150, 1089-1102. … -
Prison for anyone handing out leaflets during referendum campaign
AsiaNews.it, Italy -
Yangon (AsiaNews) – The referendum law adopted by the Myanmar government last Tuesday bars members of religious orders, prison inmates and Myanmar citizens … -
Human Rights group to use Marathon route to protest
MetroWest Daily News, MA -
Gigliotti said the movement has come to include other groups and individuals concerned with issues such as China’s support of Burma, renamed Myanmar by a …
နအဖ ေရးတဲ့ ႏိုင္ငံဖြဲ႔စည္းပံု အေျခခံဥပေဒနဲ႔ ေရြးေကာက္ပြဲကို ဆန္႔က်င္ၾက
Source: Lin Let Kyal Sin’s email
World Focus on Burma (28 Feb 08)
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Burmese delegation likely to attend Indian Trade Fair |
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Referendum law excludes monks and bans dissent |
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Operation Jupiter rains on fake antimalarials |
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Burmese authorities charge detained editor, manager, for … |
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UN envoy wants ‘credible’ Myanmar democracy roadmap |
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In Myanmar, a resistance hero on the run |
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Growing up in a dangerous world |
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Burma’s faux democracy |
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Burma opposition condemns rebel killing |
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Myanmar referendum law allows free voting, open counting of votes |
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Burmese Authorities Close Weekly Magazine |
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Reporters on the Job |
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An American in Pyongyang |
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City Commissioner Robert Stuart visits Boone to talk about … |
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Treasury Sanctions On Myanmar Traffickers Implicate CNOOC |
A ‘final courtesy call’ on the junta
ANALYSIS / BURMA : UN MEDIATION EFFORTS
Wednesday February 27, 2008
A ‘final courtesy call’ on the junta
Burma’s generals have agreed to let the UN envoy visit again but there is little likelihood of anything being achieved
By LARRY JAGAN
The United Nations Special Envoy to Burma, Ibrahim Gambari, is expected to return to the country in a few days’ time to discuss the military regime’s plans for political change. The junta had originally told the envoy they could not host him until after the middle of April. But in the past two weeks the Burmese government has finished drafting the country’s new constitution, and announced plans to hold a referendum in May and new elections in 2010.
This appears to leave the envoy with little left to do while he is there _ though he will certainly press for the release of detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Mr Gambari is expected to arrive in Rangoon on the weekend after visiting Tokyo, according to UN sources who do not wish to be identified. The Burmese authorities have agreed to allow Mr Gambari to visit Burma in the first few days of March, according to a Chinese diplomat in the region. Mr Gambari himself remains coy about the forthcoming visit, but told journalists in Jakarta last week that he was hopeful of visiting Burma in the first week of March.
”Beijing and Delhi have both been pushing the Burmese leaders to allow Gambari back as soon as possible,” an Indian diplomat told the Bangkok Post recently on condition of anonymity. ”The generals couldn’t really ignore the strong advice of their two biggest neighbours,” he said.
Last week Mr Gambari held discussions in Beijing with senior Chinese officials, including the foreign minister, on Burma and was assured of their support.
But the military government’s recent announcement that it plans to hold democratic elections in two years’ time, after conducting a referendum on the new constitution in May, effectively puts an end to Mr Gambari’s mission.
”It’s easy for the junta to agree to Gamabri’s visit now, as he really has nothing to talk about,” said a Bangkok-based diplomat close to the international mediation efforts with the Burmese military.
”Than Shwe’s decision to set a timetable for the roadmap was a strategic move to block both Maung Aye _ his deputy _ from assuming power later and the international community, especially Gambari, from playing a role in the process,” he added.
When Mr Gambari visited Burma last time, in November, he had a three-pronged approach. He asked to the be involved in a constitutional review process after the National Convention had completed drawing up the guidelines; he wanted to encourage the regime to make the national reconciliation process more inclusive and involve pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and the National League for Democracy; and to set up a Poverty Alleviation Committee.
Mr Gambari is currently on a trip to the region in preparation for his forthcoming visit to Burma. The envoy has been encouraged by the response of India, China, Indonesia and Singapore.
”What is important is for us is to work together with them [the military government], with the neighbouring countries, with Asean and the international community to enhance the credibility of this constitutional process, and to make national reconciliation more inclusive,” Mr Gambari said in Jakarta after meeting the Indonesian president and foreign minister.
At best, Mr Gambari has now been left with a limited role _ possibly in helping with economic reform. ”The junta will ask him to approve the new constitution that has just been finalised, and give it credibility in the hope of deflecting further international pressure,” a government source said. ”That’s what they would see his role as in any constitutional review process.”
Mr Gambari is likely to be shown a copy of the new constitution, which so far has been difficult to find. Diplomats and opposition politicians contacted by the Bangkok Post last week said they had been unable to obtain one.
The government officially announced the constitution was now ready for the referendum two weeks ago.
”The drafting committee completed the constitution in mid-December,” said a Burmese government source. But it had been held under wraps while Senior General Than Shwe mulled over what to do next.
It is very clear now that Gen Than Shwe has never had any intention of making the national conciliation process inclusive. There was never a role for Aung San Suu Kyi or the NLD. So any efforts by Mr Gambari on this issue are destined to be rebuffed entirely, despite the envoy’s insistence that this must be a key part of his next mission.
”We have been very consistent in saying that the recent announcement by the authorities of the referendum on the government constitution in May, and elections that will lead to a multi-party democracy in 2010, are a potentially significant step,” Mr Gambari told journalists in Jakarta.
”But all the same, this process has to be credible and has to be all-inclusive. This will continue to be stressed in our conversation with the authorities in Myanmar,” Mr Gambari told a press briefing after meeting Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
In reality the key issue that remains unresolved and which Mr Gambari may be able to help in, is the question of Aung San Suu Kyi’s release. When will the opposition leader be released from house arrest? In previous discussions between Mr Gambari’s predecessor, the UN envoy Razali Ismail, the prime minister and military intelligence chief (General Khin Nyunt at the time) it was believed she would be freed after the constitution was ratified, according to sources close to Mr Razali at the time.
Mr Gambari is expected to push for a renewed commitment from the junta that she will be released soon after the referendum in May. In Indonesia, Mr Gambari told reporters he would certainly raise the issue of Daw Suu Kyi’s continued detention and her participation in the proposed elections in 2010.
The main problem for the UN envoy is that he is likely to be given access only to lower level officials.
”Than Shwe is still furious at Gambari because he smuggled out a letter from Aung San Suu Kyi [which he made public in Singapore on his way back to New York to report to the UN secretary-general] last time,” the Chiang Mai-based Burmese academic Win Min said. ”He didn’t see Gambari then, and Than Shwe is even less inclined to meet him this time.”
This is something sources close to the UN envoy admit is almost certain to be the case again. It is even possible he will be denied access to Daw Suu Kyi and the opposition.
”As long as Gambari is able to stress the international community’s concerns to the generals _ and Than Shwe hears it, even if it’s second hand _ that will be an important measure of whether this forthcoming trip is a success or not,” said Zin Linn, spokesman for the Burmese opposition abroad.
The planned referendum must be ”free and fair” and international election monitors allowed to observe the process, he said. Daw Suu Kyi must be freed as soon as possible and allowed to participate in the forthcoming elections; and the NLD must be allowed to stand in the elections without restrictions or harassment.
”The junta must be under no illusions; only a credible vote will satisfy the international community,” according to a Rangoon-based Western diplomat.
The Asean foreign ministers at their retreat in Singapore earlier this month stressed the same message. ”Nyan Win [the Burmese foreign minister] was told in no uncertain terms that while the referendum was considered a domestic matter _ it was essential that is was a credible process,” according to a Southeast Asian diplomat who was at the meeting.
But Mr Gambari may find even delivering this message hard going. The Burmese junta has hinted in several ways that the UN envoy and the UN as a whole has no further role to play in Burma’s national reconciliation process or the proposed political reforms.
But the UN envoy remains upbeat and insists his job is to continue to push ahead even in the face of overwhelming obstacles.
”Sometimes, I myself am frustrated that the tangible results are not faster or we have not achieved more, but we have to build on what we have and continue to press for more results,” Mr Gambari said.
While the envoy remains optimistic, the signs from the regime are that Mr Gambari’s next trip to Burma is likely only to be a final courtesy call.
World Focus on Burma (27 Feb 08)
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Myanmar Allows Public Vote Counting in Referendum, Xinhua Says
Bloomberg - Myanmar’s military, which has ruled the country formerly known as Burma since 1962, announced this month it will hold the referendum, followed by elections … |
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JUNTA CONTINUES TO ATTACK MEDIA
IFEX, Canada - Police carried out a search of their office and confiscated documents, including a copy of UN Special Rapporteur Paula Sergio Pinheiro’s report on Burma, … |
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Myanmar enacts law setting procedures for constitutional referendum
JURIST - [JURIST] The military government of Myanmar [BBC backgrounder; JURIST news archive] Tuesday announced that it has enacted a law to govern the May referendum … |
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A ‘final courtesy call’ on the junta
Bangkok Post, Thailand - By LARRY JAGAN The United Nations Special Envoy to Burma, Ibrahim Gambari, is expected to return to the country in a few days’ time to discuss the military … |
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Digest: D-Rays discuss signing Bonds
The Wenatchee World Online, WA - Myanmar is also known as Burma. The 88 Generation Students joined a growing group of critics urging an Olympic boycott over complaints ranging from … |
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UMCOR Hotline for February 26, 2008
Reuters AlertNet, UK - Moe Aung, his wife Naw and their three children fled their home in Myanmar (Burma) to a refugee camp in Thailand where they stayed for five years. … |
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Feb 27, 1889 – Burma opens railroad from Rangoon to Mandalay
Sify, India - In 1889, Burma – now Myanmar – opens railroad from Rangoon to Mandalay. In 1901, Russia’s minister of propaganda is murdered to avenge repression of student … |
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Quick Take: CNOOC and the Junta
Motley Fool - … oil and gas concern has operations in the country formerly known as Burma. You probably also know that “Myanmar” is a miserable place run by tyrants. …  CEO |
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Fire in Burma’s Rangoon Leaves 21 Injured, Nearly 3000 Homeless
FireFighting News.com - Two major fires in military- ruled Myanmar [Burma] on Monday left at least 21 people injured, nearly 3000 people homeless and some 1500 businesses destroyed … |
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Myanmar announces law on constitutional referendum, sets up …
570 News, Canada - Myanmar, also known as Burma, has been under international pressure to make democratic reforms, especially since it violently crushed peaceful mass protests … |
The Australian, Australia -
BURMA’S military rulers announced overnight they have set up a 45-member commission to oversee a constitutional referendum slated for May, …
Investor’s Business Daily (subscription) -
BY TRANG HO When Aung San Suu Kyi heard her mother had a stroke, she made a beeline from England to Burma. Little did she know that the Southeast Asian …
Monsters and Critics.com -
‘We are both encouraged that political changes in Myanmar (Burma) are on course’ said Steinmeier after a meeting with Wirajuda in the Indonesian capital …
Aljazeera.net, Qatar -
Myanmar , formerly known as Burma , has been under international pressure to introduce concrete after the military violently crushed peaceful mass protests …
AFP -
JAKARTA (AFP) — Indonesia wants to see democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi included in the political process in military-ruled Myanmar, Foreign Minister Hassan …
The Associated Press -
Myanmar, also known as Burma, has long been under international pressure to make democratic reforms, particularly since it violently crushed peaceful mass …
Jakarta Post, Indonesia -
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia wants Myanmar to allow detained pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi to participate in the military junta’s planned referendum and …
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Myanmar changes referendum law to allow free voting
Thaindian.com, Thailand - Yangon, Feb 27 (Xinhua) Myanmar’s constitutional referendum law has made provisions for transparency in voting and vote counting to ensure a free and fair … |
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Junta’s referendum law lacks independent monitoring
Mizzima.com, India - The announcement also released on Wednesday’s Burmese language New Light of Myanmar newspaper, said the law states that the votes will be counted in the … |
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Myanmar to Jail Referendum Disrupters
The Associated Press - Myanmar, also known as Burma, has long been under international pressure to make democratic reforms, particularly since it crushed peaceful mass protests … |
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Junta allows extension of ILO office in Rangoon
Mizzima.com, India - Burma’s state-owned newspaper, the New Light of Myanmar, on Wednesday said, “As Myanmar has pledged to eradicate the activities of forced labour, … |
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China’s Stand on Burma and Darfur Spurs Boycott Call
The Irrawaddy News Magazine, Thailand - “The policy is conducive to the democratic process of reconciliation and peace in Myanmar [Burma]. I hope relevant organizations could have a correct … |
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ILO Extends “Understanding” with Burmese Regime
The Irrawaddy News Magazine, Thailand - By VIOLET CHO Burma’s military regime has agreed to extend a “supplementary understanding” with the International Labor Organization (ILO) one year after … |
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Law puts to rest question of referendum’s fairness
Mizzima.com, India - Tuesday night’s announcement of the 2008 Myanmar Referendum Law will do little to assuage the widespread condemnation of the military’s constitutional … |
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US & WORLD
Fort Worth Star Telegram, TX - Myanmar, also known as Burma, has not had a constitution since 1988, when the current junta took power after violently suppressing mass pro-democracy … |
BosNewsLife, Hungary -
… home in the border town of Mae Sot, Thailand, on Valentines Day, apparently by assailants linked to the military junta of Burma, also known as Myanmar. …
World Focus on Burma (26 Feb 08)
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US slaps more sanctions on supporters of Myanmar regime
AFP - “Concerted international pressure is needed to achieve a genuine transition to democracy in Burma,” Bush said in a statement on Monday, referring to Myanmar … |
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Myanmar opposition calls on world to boycott Beijing Olympics
CBC.ca, Canada - Myanmar is also known as Burma. The 88 Generation Students joined a growing group of critics urging an Olympic boycott over complaints ranging from … |
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Bush urges international pressure on Myanmar
AFP - “Concerted international pressure is needed to achieve a genuine transition to democracy in Burma,” Bush said in a statement. “We encourage Burma’s … |
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Treasury Penalizes Myanmar Supporters
The Associated Press - … Law and his father, Lo Hsing Han, whom the department called “two key financial operatives” of the repressive junta in Myanmar, also know as Burma. … |
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Statement by the President on Burma
Whitehouse.gov (press release), DC - The situation in Burma remains deplorable. The regime has rejected calls from its own people and the international community to begin a genuine dialogue … |
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Fire guts five-story market in Myanmar
Times of India, India - YANGON: Fire gutted a popular five-storey market on Monday, injuring 15 people in Myanmar’s second largest city of Mandalay, an official and residents said. … |
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Myanmar timber prices reflect market’s resiliency
Lesprom Network, Russia - In Myanmar (Burma, Southeast Asia) prices for sawn quality log grades (SG4, SG5, SG6 and SG7) have been going down steadily, ITTO reported. … |
Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Bush administration, seeking to ratchet up pressure on Myanmar over human rights abuses, on Monday announced more economic …
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Big Jump Forecast In Health Spending
Washington Post, United States - … Lo Hsing Han, whom the department called “two key financial operatives” of the repressive junta that controls Burma, also known as Myanmar. … |
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Rambo’s Serious Side
Pajamas Media, CA - Strangely, “Rambo” is the first major motion picture to highlight the persecution of the Karen hill tribes inside Myanmar—and continuing role of American … |
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Massive Mandalay market fire destroys 1500 shops
Reuters India, India - YANGON (Reuters) – A huge fire which raged for 13 hours through a big market building in Mandalay, Myanmar’s second city, injured 21 people and destroyed … |
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Bush urges pressure on Myanmar
United Press International - Bush called on the international community to put additional pressure on the military regime in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, which has rejected calls … |
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BURMA: US Expands Sanctions Against Junta Supporters
Inter Press Service (subscription), Italy - … and individuals tied to Burma’s military rulers and urged stronger international pressure for democratic change in the country, also known as Myanmar. … |
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US Imposes More Sanctions on Burmese Firms
Voice of America - By VOA News The United States has imposed new sanctions on businesses and individuals linked to Burma’s military leaders. The US Treasury Department said … |
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UN Plans to Resume Capital Punishment Debate
OneWorld.net, UK - … China, North Korea, Japan, Burma (Myanmar), Thailand, Uganda, Singapore, and Zimbabwe. “This note verbale, signed by 58 delegations, underscores once … |
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Treasury slaps more sanctions on Myanmar firms
Reuters - “The situation in Burma remains deplorable,” US President George W. Bush said in a statement, and called for concerted international pressure on Myanmar to … |
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US beefs up sanctions against Myanmar
Xinhua, China - 25 (Xinhua) — The United States is imposing more economic sanctions against businesses and individuals linked to Myanmar, the US Treasury Department said … |
Bangkok Post, Thailand - Tay Za’s hotel chain’s Aureum Palace Hotels & Reorts and Myanmar Treasure Resorts were also singled out. The move freezes assets held by the parties in US …
The Irrawaddy News Magazine, Thailand -
The state-owned newspaper The New Light of Myanmar reported on Tuesday that 201 houses were destroyed in the fire and 2900 people, from 765 households, …
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China slams ‘meddling’ after Myanmar boycott call
Guardian Unlimited, UK - … and continuous resistance by the people of Burma, because of China’s support”, the group said in a statement, referring to Myanmar by its former name. … |
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Sports Sunflashes
Toronto Sun, Canada - BANGKOK, Thailand — Pro-democracy activists in Myanmar called for the world to boycott this year’s Beijing Olympics over what they said was China’s … |
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Louis OK after campus shooting
Sun-Sentinel.com, FL - Pro-democracy activists in Myanmar called for the world to boycott this year’s Beijing Olympics over what they said was China’s continuing support of … |
Mizzima.com, India -
In the latest sanctions directed at the economic assets of Burma’s junta, the United States has targeted former drug kingpin Lo Hsing-Han and his family. …
Washington Post, United States -
Myanmar, also known as Burma, has been under international pressure to make democratic reforms, especially since it violently quashed peaceful mass protests …
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Weekly Myanmar Times to go daily
editorsweblog.org - From the source article, Democratic Voice of Burma, it’s unclear whether the Myanmar Times will be switching from weekly or if the publisher will start a … |
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US imposes new Myanmar sanctions
MWC News, Canada -  By Agencies The US has announced new economic sanctions against businesses and individuals it says are linked to Myanmar’s military leaders. … |
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Singaporean, 10 firms under US Myanmar sanctions
AFP -  “Steven Law joined his father’s drug empire in the 1990s and has since become one of the wealthiest individuals in Burma.” Ng could not be immediately … |
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US widens sanctions against junta associates
Democratic Voice of Burma, Norway - In a statement announcing the sanctions, US president Bush said the situation in Burma remained “deplorable” and condemned the regime’s ongoing human rights … |
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New Report Exposes Abuse of Burmese Refugees in Malaysia
Christian Post - The US State Department has labeled Myanmar, the official name of Burma under the junta government, a “country of particular concern” – the worst religious … |
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Fire devastates Yadanabon market building
Democratic Voice of Burma, Norway - The market building also houses the Skywalk shopping mall and the Myanmar Information and Communications Technology park, which were both destroyed in the … |
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More Junta Cronies Hit By US Sanctions
The Irrawaddy News Magazine, Thailand - Stuart Levey, the under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in a statement, “Unless the ruling junta in Burma halts the violent … |
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Betrayed by Burma’s Neighbors
The Irrawaddy News Magazine, Thailand - US President George W Bush has increased pressure on Burma’s unyielding regime by imposing fresh sanctions on businesspeople, including former drug warlords … |
The Irrawaddy News Magazine, Thailand -
Suu Kyi was born in Rangoon in 1945 to Aung San, Burma’s father of independence, and Khin Kyi, a Burmese citizen and former ambassador to India. …
AFP -
YANGON (AFP) — At least 21 people were injured in a fire that ripped through the main retail district in Myanmar’s second city Mandalay, destroying or …
၈၈ မ်ဳိးဆက္ ေက်ာင္းသားေခါင္းေဆာင္မ်ားကုိ ပုဒ္မေျပာင္းၿပီး စြဲခ်က္တင္
VOA (Burmese)
| 23 February 2008 |
ေဒၚေအးေအးမာ – အစီအစဥ္ကုိရယူရန္ (MP3) 
ေဒၚေအးေအးမာ – နားဆင္ရန္ (MP3)
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| ေလာင္စာဆီေစ်းႏႈန္းက်ဆင္းေရး ၈၈ မ်ိဳးဆက္ေက်ာင္းသားမ်ား ဦးေဆာင္၍ ရန္ကုန္ၿမိဳ႕တြင္ ၿငိမ္းခ်မ္းစြာ ဆႏၵျပေနပံု ၁၉ ၾသဂုတ္ ၂၀၀၇ |
မႏွစ္က ေလာင္စာဆီေစ်းႏႈန္း ႀကီးျမင့္လာတဲ့အတြက္ လမ္းေလွ်ာက္ၿပီး ဆႏၵျပခဲ့ၾကတဲ့ ၈၈ မ်ိဳးဆက္ ေက်ာင္းသားေခါင္းေဆာင္ေတြကုိ အာဏာပုိင္ေတြက အခု အမ်ိဳးသားညီလာခံကုိ ေႏွာက္ယွက္မႈနဲ႔ ေျပာင္းလဲၿပီး တရားစြဲဆုိလုိက္တယ္လုိ႔ သိရပါတယ္။ ဒီကိစၥေတြကုိ ထုိင္းအေျခစုိက္ ဗြီအိုေအ ျမန္မာပိုင္းဌာန သတင္းေထာက္ ေဒၚေအးေအးမာက စုံစမ္းေမးျမန္းၿပီး တင္ျပထားပါတယ္။
၈၈ မ်ိဳးဆက္ ေက်ာင္းသားေခါင္းေဆာင္ ကုိမင္းကုိႏုိင္ အပါအ၀င္ ေက်ာင္းသား ၁၀ ဦးကုိ အမိန္႔ ေၾကာ္ျငာစာ အမွတ္ (၅/ ၉၆) ဥပေဒပုဒ္မ (၄) အရ တရားစြဲဆုိဖုိ႔ အတြက္ ရမန္ယူလုိက္ပါၿပီ။ ဒီဥပေဒပုဒ္မနဲ႔ ရမန္ယူလုိက္တာေၾကာင့္ ဒီဥပေဒပုဒ္မေတြထဲမွာ ဘယ္လုိ အေၾကာင္းအခ်က္ေတြ ပါ၀င္သလဲဆုိၿပီး ရန္ကုန္ၿမိဳ႕က ေရွ႕ေနႀကီး ဦးေအာင္သိန္းကုိ ေမးျမန္းၾကည့္တဲ့အခါမွာေတာ့ -
“(၅/၉၅) ဆုိတာက ႏုိင္ငံေတာ္ ၿငိမ္၀ပ္ပိျပားမႈ တည္ေဆာက္ေရးအဖြဲ႔ ဥပေဒအမွတ္ (၅-၉၆) ကုိ ေျပာတာေပါ့ေနာ္၊ သူ႔ရဲ႕တာ၀န္ကုိ အရွည္ေကာက္ ေျပာရင္ေတာ့ ႏုိင္ငံေတာ္တာ၀န္ကုိ တည္ၿငိမ္ေအးခ်မ္းစြာ စနစ္တက် လြဲေျပာင္းေပးေရးနဲ႔ အမ်ိဳးသားညီလာခံ လုပ္ငန္းမ်ား ေအာင္ျမင္စြာ ေဆာင္ရြက္ေရးတုိ႔ကုိ ေႏွာက္ယွက္ဆန္႔က်င္ျခင္းမွ ကာကြယ္သည့္ ဥပေဒတဲ့။ အဲဒါက၊ အဲဒီ ဥပေဒက ၇ ရက္ ၆ လ ၁၉၉၆ မွာ ထုတ္တာ။”
ဒီဥပေဒပုဒ္မနဲ႔ အေရးယူမယ္ ဆုိရင္ေတာ့ ဘယ္ေလာက္ထိ ျပစ္ဒဏ္ေပးႏုိင္ပါသလဲရွင့္။ –
“သူက တခုခု ေဟာေျပာတယ္ဆိုရင္၊ အမ်ိဳးသားညီလာခံကုိ ဆန္႔က်င္တဲ့ သေဘာမ်ိဳး သက္ေရာက္တယ္ ဆုိတဲ့ပုဒ္မေပါ့၊ အဲဒီပုဒ္မ (၄) အရေပါ့၊ အဲဒီပုဒ္မ (၄) အရဆုိရင္ သူက ဘယ္လုိ ျပဌာန္းထားသလဲ ဆုိေတာ့ ေထာင္ဒဏ္ အနည္းဆုံး ၅ ႏွစ္ကေန အမ်ားဆုံး အႏွစ္ ၂၀ ထိ ခ်ႏုိင္တယ္။”
က်မတုိ႔ သိတာေပါ့ေနာ္၊ ေက်ာင္းသားေခါင္းေဆာင္ေတြ ဖမ္းစဥ္တုန္းက ေလာင္စာဆီေတြ တက္တယ္၊ ကုန္ေစ်းႏႈန္းေတြ တက္တယ္၊ ဒီအတြက္ေၾကာင့္ ေက်ာင္းသားေတြက ေလာင္စာဆီနဲ႔ ကုန္ေစ်းႏႈန္းေတြ က်ဆင္းဖုိ႔အတြက္ပဲ ေတာင္းဆုိခဲ့တာ မဟုတ္ဘူးလားရွင့္။ –
“ဒီေလာင္စာဆီ ေစ်းႏႈန္းျမင့္တက္မႈအတြက္ ကုန္ေစ်းႏႈန္းက်ဆင္းဖုိ႔ သူတုိ႔ လမ္းေလွ်ာက္ ခ်ီတက္တယ္။ ဒီကိစၥေတြပဲ၊ အဲဒီကာလက ဖမ္းတာပဲေလ၊ ဒါေပမယ့္ အဲဒါႀကီးကုိ ဘယ္ေလာက္ထိ၊ ဒီဘက္ထိ ဆက္စပ္လာလဲလုိ႔ မေျပာတတ္ေသးဘူး၊ လူဆုိးေတြကုိ ဂတ္လွည့္သလုိေပါ့၊ သူတုိ႔က်ေတာ့ ပုဒ္မ လွည့္တဲ့သေဘာေပါ့ေနာ္။ ပုဒ္မနဲ႔လွည့္ၿပီး တမ်ိဳး ပုဒ္မ တင္လိုက္ ျပန္ရုတ္သိမ္းလုိက္၊ ေနာက္ တမ်ိဳးပုဒ္မ တင္လုိက္ ျပန္ရုတ္သိမ္းလုိက္ေပါ့။ အဲဒီလုိသြားေနတာ။”
အခုလုိ ပုဒ္မတင္ဖုိ႔ေပါ့ေနာ္၊ ဥပေဒေၾကာင္းအရ လုိသလုိ လုပ္လုိ႔ ရႏုိင္ပါသလားရွင့္။ –
“ဒါကေတာ့ ရဲဖက္က သူ႔ လုပ္ပုိင္ခြင့္ရွိလုိ႔ လုပ္တာပဲေလ၊ ရဲဖက္က ဒီလုိပဲ ဒီပုဒ္မတခုနဲ႔ သူ ရမန္ယူလုိက္တယ္၊ ဒီပုဒ္မတခုနဲ႔ ပတ္သက္ၿပီးသူတုိ႔ စုံစမ္းစစ္ေဆးတာ မလုံေလာက္ဘူးဆုိရင္ ေနာက္ပုဒ္မတစ္ခုတင္၊ ေနာက္ပုဒ္မတခုနဲ႔ ေျပာင္းတပ္တာေပါ့၊ အဲဒီပုဒ္မနဲ႔ သူက ၁၄ ရက္ ျပည့္ေအာင္ ထားၿပီးေတာ့ ၁၄ ရက္ျပည့္တဲ့အခ်ိန္မွာ၊ သုိ႔မဟုတ္ ၁လ ျပည့္ေအာင္ ခ်ဳပ္မယ္ေပါ့၊ ရမန္ႀကီး ၂၈ ပတ္ တရားရုံး ရမန္ယူမယ္။ ေနာက္တခါ ေနာက္ျပန္ဆုတ္လုိက္၊ အဲဒီလုိသြားတာ။”
အခုဆုိရင္ ပုဒ္မေတြေျပာင္းတယ္၊ ေျပာင္းတယ္ဆုိၿပီးေတာ့ မၾကာခဏ ၾကားေနရတယ္၊ ဒီထဲမွာ ထင္ထင္ရွားရွား ပုဒ္မေတြ ေျပာင္းခံရတဲ့သူေတြထဲက ဘယ္သူေတြရွိပါသလဲရွင့္။
“ကိုသန္းစိန္ကို ဗဟန္းအေနာက္ပုိင္းခရုိင္ တရားရုံးက ေျပာတုန္းက ဘာလာေျပာလဲ ဆုိေတာ့ သူ႔ကုိ ညစ္ညမ္းစာေပ ဘာညာေတာင္ ပါတယ္။ (၂၉၂)၊ ေနာက္ (၁၂၄-ဃ)၊ (၅၀၅-ခ)၊ ေနာက္ (၁၄၃)၊ ေနာက္ (၁၄၅)၊ ေနာက္ (၁၄၇) ဆုိၿပီးေတာ့ ရုန္းရင္းဆန္ခတ္ျဖစ္ဖို႔ လူစုခြဲဖုိ႔ အမိန္႔ေပးၿပီး ေနာက္ပုိင္းမွာ ရွိတဲ့ပုဒ္မေတြ၊ ဆန္႔က်င္တဲ့ အစုအေ၀းမွာ ပါ၀င္တာေတြ၊ ေနာက္ အစုိးရနဲ႔ လုံၿခံဳေရးကုိ ထိခုိက္ပ်က္ျပားေအာင္ ေသြးတုိးလႈံ႔ေဆာ္တာေတြ၊ ေနာက္ၿပီးေတာ့ ႏုိင္ငံေတာ္အစုိးရကုိ အၾကည္ညိဳပ်က္ေစတာေတြ၊ ဒီလုိပုဒ္မေတြနဲ႔ ယူလာၿပီးေတာ့ ေနာက္ဆုံး (၅၀၅-ခ) ဆုိၿပီး တရားသူႀကီးကုိယ္တုိင္ ေျပာတယ္။ (၅၀၅-ခ) တခုတည္း ျဖစ္သြားပါၿပီလုိ႔ ေျပာတယ္။ ေနာက္ အခုက်တဲ့အခါ (၁၂၄-ဃ) တခုတည္း ျဖစ္သြားပါၿပီ ဆိုတဲ့သေဘာမ်ိဳး ဆိုေတာ့ ဘယ္လို လုပ္မလဲ။ ပုဒ္မေတြက အဲဒီလိုပဲ ေလွ်ာက္ေျပာင္းေနတဲ့သေဘာ ရွိတယ္။ အဲဒါ အမွန္ပဲ။”
ကိုသိန္းစိန္ ဆိုတာကေတာ့ အမ်ိဳးသားဒီမိုကေရစီအဖြဲ႔ခ်ဳပ္ အဖြဲ႔၀င္ လူငယ္တစ္ဦး ျဖစ္ပါတယ္။ အခု ပုဒ္မ ေျပာင္းတာေတြလည္း ရွိသလို မတူတဲ့အခ်ိန္ကာလ၊ မတူတဲ့ ေနရာအသီးသီးမွာ ဖမ္းဆီးခံရ သူေတြကိုလည္း တစုတည္းထားၿပီး ပုဒ္မ အမ်ိဳးမ်ိဳးတပ္တာေတြလည္း လုပ္ေနတာေၾကာင့္ ဥပေဒေၾကာင္းအရ ေျပာမယ္ဆိုရင္ေတာ့ ဒါဟာ သင့္ေလ်ာ္မႈ မရွိဘူးလို႔လည္း ေရွ႕ေနေတြကေတာ့ ေျပာပါတယ္။
ဤသတင္းေဆာင္းပါးကို အီးေမးလ္ပို႔ရန္။
ပုံႏွိပ္ရန္လြယ္ကူသည့္စာသား
World Focus on Burma (25 Feb 08)
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Fire damages market in Myanmar’s Mandalay |
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Do not stop tourism, we live on its “crumbs” |
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Suu Kyi’s party calls for participation |
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Myanmar Times to go daily |
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UN envoy to Myanmar meets Singapore leaders |
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Pakistan blocks ‘objectionable’ YouTube |
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Myanmar Times to Publish Burmese Daily |
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South Korea, Uzbekistan Sign Pact to Develop Gas Field |
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Top ILO Official in Burma |
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Burma Tops List for Landmines |
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Burma to Hold Furniture Exhibition |
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Myanmar Group Calls for Olympic Boycott |
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ASEAN critical to Burma’s future: Gambari |
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Phantom Russian gold miner in Myanmar deal |
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UN envoy to Myanmar meets Singapore leaders as part of regional tour |
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Canadian software tool blows away Net censorship, wins global award |
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Myanmar opposition calls on world to boycott Beijing Olympics |
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Furniture fair planned for March |
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UN envoy urges credible referendum and elections in Myanmar |
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Beth Ashley: Author Amy Tan finds her own truth in Sausalito |
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Fire sweeps major Myanmar market: witnesses  YANGON (AFP) — A major fire Monday tore through the largest market and biggest shopping mall in Myanmar‘s second city Mandalay, witnesses said. … |
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Mark your calendar |
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Shine Olympic flame on rights |
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Phoenix church helps Asian refugees adjust |
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Myanmar democracy activists urge Olympics boycott  … the 20th anniversary of a pro-democracy uprising led by students in Myanmar. The military, which has ruled the country formerly known as Burma since … |
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As Burma’s economy crumbles, prostitution lures young women |
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Flying Pigs, Altered Faces, Myanmar Monks: Bangkok Galleries |
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Digging their own grave? |
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NASA MODIS Image of the Day: February 24, 2008 – Fires in Thailand …  West of Thailand is Myanmar (formerly Burma) and east is Cambodia. Black lines denote country borders. There are several bodies of water in this image too. … |
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• Local: Ethnic Chin, refugees from Burma, … |
World Focus on Burma (24 Feb 08)
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Inner peace in a conflict zone |
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Sylvester Stallone Deserves a Special Academy Award |
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Burma’s Charade |
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SHRF MONTHLY REPORT – FEBRUARY 2008 |
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Paper Hails Bangladesh’s Energy Joint Ventures With Burma |
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Kidman takes an acidic turn |
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Marylebone Road protest against Total Oppression in Burma  .
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 Myanmar/Burma Embassy 19A, Charles St, London W1J 5DX. Protests are held weekly but locations may change. For information and reports on protests in London … Miliband opposes boycott Rambo, a hero to many Burmese – but a fat lunatic to others
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