Wired News on April 13, 1995

[FreeBurma@xxxxxxx]

Attn: Burma Newsreaders
Re: Wired News on April 13, 1995
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      BANGKOK, April 13 (Reuter) - Three Burmese soldiers were killed and
several other people injured when a series of bombs exploded in the Burmese
border town of Tachilek, The Nation newspaper reported on Thursday. 

    Police in the northern Thai town of Mae Sai, across a small border river
from Tachilek, confirmed the explosions early on Wednesday but declined
further comment. 

    The Nation said five bombs exploded at intervals at various points around
the town soon after midnight local time. 

    Last month guerrillas loyal to Burma's opium warlord Khun Sa raided
Tachilek, a normally bustling trading town, killing several government
soldiers after Burmese government forces launched an offensive against a
rebel base area in nearby mountains. 

    Burma's military government has vowed to crush Khun Sa, who they call a
``narcotics trafficking terrorist,'' and his well-equipped guerrilla army. 

    Police in Mae Sai said the border crossing into Tachilek, closed by
Burmese authorities since the March 20 guerrilla raid, remained shut on
Thursday though Tachilek appeared quiet. 

 REUTER


Transmitted: 95-04-13 02:08:56 EDT
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    KING OF PRUSSIA, Pa., April 13 /PRNewswire/ -- InterDigital
Communications Corporation (AMEX: IDC) announced today that it has received
an additional order for UltraPhone(R) digital wireless telecommunications
equipment from Myanma Posts and Telecommunications (MPT) in the Union of
Myanmar, formerly Burma.  This is InterDigital's third order for UltraPhone
systems from MPT.  The first two orders were received in the second half of
1994 and have been shipped and installed. Orders received from MPT, including
this third order, now exceed $3 million. 

    Mark Lemmo, Vice President of Sales and Marketing, stated, "The shipment
and installation of our first two orders to MPT went extremely well and all
systems are in operation.  This third order is a demonstration of the
confidence that this valuable customer has in UltraPhone and in us." 

    InterDigital develops and markets advanced digital wireless
telecommunications systems using proprietary technologies for voice and data
communications.  Its UltraPhone Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) digital
wireless radiotelephone system is ordered for or installed in over 225
locations worldwide.  InterDigital Technology, a subsidiary of InterDigital,
holds and is the licensor of an extensive patent portfolio on TDMA and
Broadband-Code Division Multiple Access (B-CDMA) technologies. 

    /delval/ 

    /CONTACT:  Susan Sutton of InterDigital Communications, 610-278-7800/ 

CO:  InterDigital Communications Corporation; Myanma Posts and
     Telecommunications 

ST:  Pennsylvania 

IN:  TLS 

SU:  CON


Transmitted: 95-04-13 00:00:00 EDT
**************

      By Robert Birsel 

    BANGKOK, April 13 (Reuter) - Millions of people across mainland Southeast
Asia began celebrating the Buddhist new year on Thursday but in some parts of
the region security fears clouded traditional festivities. 

    Many people in Thailand, Cambodia, Burma and Laos began the most
important holiday of the year at their Buddhist temples, offering alms to
monks and sprinkling scented water over sacred Buddha statues. 

    In Bangkok hundreds of thousands of people took advantage of the
three-day holiday to escape a city sweltering under the year's highest
temperatures. 

    The exodus to the countryside caused some of the worst traffic jams in
memory on main roads leading out of the capital but those who remained
enjoyed a rare break from the city's usual bumper-to-bumper crawl with
streets virtually empty of cars. 

    Foreign tourists joined in the fun, dousing each other and passers-by
with water in a secular manifestation of the traditional Buddhist offering. 

    Pick-up trucks, loaded with revellers and drums full of water, cruised
the city streets soaking everyone within range. 

    The Nation newspaper, echoing the views of many Thais, warned in an
editorial on Wednesday that such activities were getting out of hand. 

    ``It is common to see hooligans speeding on motorcyles, with their
pillion riders carrying buckets of water... Pranksters have resorted to
spraying water on passers-by, using high-velocity fireman's hoses.'' 

    In Cambodia people prepared for the new year despite threats of violence
by Khmer Rouge guerrillas. 

    Security forces in Phnom Penh and towns in the troubled northwest of the
country were ordered on full alert to head off any attempts by the radical
guerrillas to launch attacks. 

    As well as a time for visiting temples the new year in Cambodia is
traditionally a time when people clean their homes and put up altars for
offerings to ensure good fortune in the coming year. 

    Many people in Rangoon also began their day at temples and pagodas but
later took to the streets to toss water at each other. 

    Government departments and companies put up small stages outside their
offices where music and dance performances were held, and from where
passers-by were hosed down. 

    The price of petrol on the Rangoon black market hits a peak every new
year as people buy up supplies to drive around the city in jeeps and trucks
soaking each other with water. 

    The northeastern Burmese border town of Tachilek began the holiday period
with bomb attacks which one Thai newspaper said left three people dead and
several others injured. 

    Burma's state media said opium warlord Khun Sa was responsible for the
blasts. 

    Authorities in the Laotian capital Vientiane urged people to celebrate
the new year with restraint ``to conform with the fine Lao tradition and
culture and to ensure social order and security,'' the state KPL news agency
reported. 

 REUTER


Transmitted: 95-04-13 06:09:08 EDT
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