The BurmaNet News, September 26, 19

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------------------------ BurmaNet ------------------------         
"Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies"         
----------------------------------------------------------         
     
The BurmaNet News: September 26, 1997            
Issue #829
    
HEADLINES:            
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AP: BURMA'S DEMOCRATS GATHER IN RANGOON 
NEW YORK TIMES: RARELY SEEN BURMESE LEADER APPEARS 
BKK POST: SUU KYI HURT BY REFUSAL TO TALK
KNU: PRESS RELEASE NO. 56/97
S.H.A.N.: SHAN STATES SITUATION 
USA TODAY: FINDINGS-US REPORT ON RELIGIOUS  PERSECUTION 
HERALD TRIBUNE: MALAYSIA SLAMS THE DOOR ON A NEIGHBOR 
THE NATION: PTTEP OPEN TO ENTRY OF PETRONAS IN YETAGUN
THE NATION: YADANA PROJECT IS A BLUEPRINT FOR TROUBLE
SLORC: INFORMATION SHEET NO. A-0139(I)
THE STRAITS TIMES: MYANMAR AIMS TO REVERSE SLIDE 
ANNOUNCEMENT: SLORC FOREIGN AFFAIRS MINISTER SPEECH
--------------------------------------------------------------------------   

AP: BURMA'S DEMOCRATS GATHER IN RANGOON 
September 24, 1997 
 
RANGOON, Burma (AP) - Despite fears of a government crackdown, more  
than 100 members of Burmese democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's political  
party had reached the capital Wednesday for a weekend congress.  
 
Dozens of members of the National League for Democracy, some wearing their 
trademark peach jackets and black and green sarongs, milled about in tea 
shops near the party's headquarters on Shwegondaing Road in Rangoon.  
 
Many, however, eschewed the party uniform so as not to attract too much 
attention from the authorities. There were no signs of tension between the 
party members and local police.  
 
Previous attempts by Suu Kyi to hold party congresses have been met by mass 
arrests of its members by the military government.  
 
The government said it stopped those meetings because Suu Kyi and her party 
intended to set up a parallel government. In 1990, Suu Kyi's party won 82 
percent of the seats in parliament in an election the military refused to 
honor.  
 
Party officials said more than 800 people were detained at this same time 
last year, and 262 were arrested in May 1996.  
 
The party congress, scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, is to mark the ninth 
anniversary of its founding in 1988. It plans to assess the party's work over 
the years, and discuss ways to implement its policies.  
 
An aide to Suu Kyi, speaking on condition of anonymity, said party members 
had come from throughout Burma. He added, however, that local officials had 
forced some party members in central Burma to sign papers promising not to  
go to Rangoon, and these members had stayed home.  
 
The government, meanwhile, has been seeking public favor after the democracy 
party refused to let its chairman, Aung Shwe, meet with a top general, Khin 
Nyunt, last week.  
 
The NLD objected because Khin Nyunt refused to include Suu Kyi in the 
meeting. The party said the general was trying to split its leadership.  
 
It is not known whether the government will allow the weekend meeting, or 
move to block any venue where it could take place.  
 
Suu Kyi's home already is blockaded by police.  
 
The military might choose to let the meeting proceed, hoping NLD members 
unhappy about the failed talks could split the party.  
 
************************************************* 
 
NEW YORK TIMES: RARELY SEEN BURMESE LEADER APPEARS IN PUBLIC IN INDONESIA
September 25, 1997
Seth Mydans

BANGKOK, Thailand, Sept. 24 -- Emerging in public from a long and enigmatic
absence, Myanmar's legendary strongman, U Ne Win, is in Indonesia for a
personal visit at the invitation of President Suharto.

Looking frail but smiling and gesturing, Mr. Ne Win, 86, arrived in Jakarta
on Tuesday with an 11-member entourage that included his eldest daughter,
Daw Sanda Win, and military intelligence officers.

On his arrival, he was photographed in public for the first time since 1989,
when he attended an Armed Forces Day reception in Yangon, formerly known as
Rangoon.

That was one year after he stepped down from 26 years of one-man leadership
- a surprise move that led to a nationwide pro-democracy uprising that was
quelled by a military massacre and the loss of thousands of lives.  

Since then, Myanmar, the former Burma, has been ruled by a military junta,
but many political analysts say they believe that Mr. Ne Win, living in a
heavily guarded villa in Yangon, has remained a power behind the scenes.

Josef Silverstein, professor emeritus at Rutgers University and an expert on
Myanmar, said the circumstances of his trip to Indonesia suggest that he is
"still very much in communication with the people at the top."

"The fact that Suharto made a personal invitation and the fact that he comes
with a military entourage suggest that he is not a retired elder gentleman
but still somebody of significance within the organization," Mr. Silverstein
said.

"I think this confirms the belief of many that the larger decisions that are
being made probably include his consultation on them."

In Indonesia, Mr. Ne Win's schedule included dinner with Mr. Suharto and a
visit to the grave of the Indonesian President's wife, Tien, who died last
year, Western diplomats said.  He is to leave this week for Singapore for
medical treatment before returning home.

The Associated Press reported from Jakarta that Mr. Ne Win looked pale and
frail and made no comment when he arrived.  An aide grasped his hand as he
walked slowly across a hotel lobby, smiling and gesturing.

His visit comes at a time of continuing political tension in Myanmar.

On one hand, a standoff continues between the rulers and their resolute
pro-democracy opponents, led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, winner of the 1991
Nobel Peace Prize.

On the other, there are signs of splits in the ruling group involving
hard-liners and a possible more moderate faction.

Nine years after seizing power, the military junta has still not neutralized
its opponents despite its annulment of a parliamentary election that was won
by Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi's party in 1990 and its continuing arrests of her
supporters.

******************************************

BKK POST: SUU KYI HURT BY REFUSAL TO TALK
September 25, 1997
Robert Horn Bangkok, AP

Slorc has won a rare point by offering to hold talks with is main opposition.

By spurning an olive branch from one of Burma's top generals, Nobel laureate
Aung San Suu Kyi and her democratic, party have. found themselves in the
unusual position of appearing to be the bad guys in Burma's continuing
political drama.

Last week, Khin Nyunt, one of the four most powerful generals in the
military government, offered to meet with Aung Shwe, the chairman of Ms Suu
Kyi's National League for Democracy, and two executive committee members to
discuss their differences.

But Khin Nyunt still refused to meet with Ms Suu Kyi, the party's
general-secretary, or vice-chairmen Tin Oo and Kyi Maung, the party leaders
who enjoy the most public support.

Ms Suu Kyi believed that by courting Aung Shwe, Khin Nyunt was trying to
engineer a split in the party, known as the NLD, and ultimately weaken the
democratic movement.

So the party turned the general down.

Did Ms Suu Kyi and the democrats miss a chance to begin resolving Burma's
political stalemate? With an NLD congress to begin on Saturday, could Aung
Shwe have convince Khin Nyunt not to launch the mass arrests that always:
accompany such events?

Or did the NLD simply sidestep clever ploy by the regime to sow divisions in
their party?

Either way, for the first time sine seizing power in 1988, the regime the
State Law and Order Restoration Council, or Slorc - succeeded in appearing
reasonable and open to compromise, while Ms Suu Kyi came off as stubborn and
selfish.

That was no small accomplishment considering the, regime's usually poor
press and its pariah status in the international community.

Even some NLD members were troubled by the rejection.

"Let the meeting happen," said one NLD member in Rangoon who spoke only  on
condition of anonymity. "Make friends first, make demands later. If they
don't relent on meeting (Ms Suu Kyi), then don't meet again." While most
Western diplomats publicly supported Ms Suu Kyi's stand, privately some
expressed disappointment.

"Slorc really looks good because they made an offer and the NLD rejected
it," said Aung Zaw, an exile Burmese journalist living in Thailand who
covers political developments in his former country. "I'm sure the NLD has
made a mistake."

Ms Suu Kyi rose to prominence during the pro-democracy uprising that was
crushed in 1988. Her party won a landslide victory in May 1990 elections,
capturing 396 of 485 parliamentary seats, but the military kept the results
from being honored.

Ms Suu Kyi, the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize-winner, has been calling for a
dialogue with the military government ever since she was released from six
years of house arrest in 1995.

Had the Khin Nyunt-Aung Shwe meeting taken place, it would have been only
the second face-to-face encounter between a key member of the regime and an
NLD leader after more than two years of increasing repression and arrests of
party members.

Still, many NLD members, and other opponents of the regime, agree with Ms
Suu Kyi's belief that Khin Nyunt is trying to split the party.

"This clearly shows they are testing the unity, of the NLD," said San San, a
party organiser in Rangoon.

"Talking with Aung Shwe but not Suu Kyi is typical of SLORC's divide and
conquer strategy," said Ner Dah, a spokesman for the ethnic insurgent Karen
National Union.

Slorc weakened the Karen resistance, which has been fighting for autonomy
since 1949, by encouraging Buddhists to break away from the group's
Christian leadership. Similar tactics coaxed other ethnic insurgents into
cease fires.

Khin Nyunt may also have other motives behind his overture. With the Burmese
economy deteriorating because of currency problems and rising inflation,
talks might , provide some optimism to the Burmese public, and to foreign
businessmen, some of whom are souring on SLORC's intransigence.

Talks might also relieve pressure from the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations, which admitted Burma as a member in July over objections from
Western countries but has urged Slorc to open a dialogue with Ms Suu Kyi.

Several Asian diplomats said the NLD should have been willing to meet with
Khin Nyunt at least a couple more times and try to work out some problems
before drawing a line in the sand.

Despite SLORC's history of divide-and-rule tactics, there is no way to
know with certainty what Khin Nyunt's intentions are.

Although his rhetoric is hard-line, he is regarded as the most intelligent
member of the ruling junta. He is constrained, however, by even more
hard-line generals who would like to reduce his power.

If the talks with Aung Shwe had gone well, could Khin Nyunt have persuaded
the other generals to accept meetings that included Ms Suu Kyi? Would Khin
Nyunt even consider such a possibility?

As long as the democrats and the general aren't talking, there will be few
answers to the continuing puzzle of Burmese politics.

*******************************************************

KNU: PRESS RELEASE NO. 56/97
September 25, 1997

OFFICE OF THE SUPREME HEADQUARTERS
       KAREN NATIONAL UNION
           KAWTHOOLEI

   KNU Press Release No. 56/97
Regarding SLORC Offensive against KNU
                               September 25,1997

News of villages destroyed in Mergui, Tavoy district.

* Four villages (1)Kler Khi (2) Keh Waw (3) Khoe Hsay and (4)Tah Lor Meh
were forcibly relocated by SLORC to Maw Thway village SLORC continuously
uses the villagers, their elephants, carts boats etc. for porterage. They
are forced to do various kinds of work. In addition each household has to
give 2 baskets of rice and Ks. 25 to the army without fail, villagers are
allowed to leave the village for only two days. To get this, they have to
bribe the soldiers. Villagers living near "Thu Kha" gate could no longer
bear the repression and therefore fled into Thailand, but they were arrested
and sent back in to Burma at H'lockanee.

* Villagers from Tavoy "Chaung Pyar" areas in villages such as (1) Lor The
(2) Yar Pu (3) Nat Eh (4) Paw Law Ku (5) Kaw Loe (6) Say Toe Khi (7) Yway
H'pi (8) Ye Po (9) Einda Yaza and (10) War Paw had to flee their villages.
Some villages were destroyed and some were relocated.

* villages from Po Chee Doe areas of Tavoy township such as (1) K'neh Po She
(2) Hsah Mu Htaw (3) K'wake Ku (4) Ler Tah Pu (5) Maw Thaw Kwah (6) Haw Teh
Htah (7) Pau Tau (8) K'neh Kaw (9) Maw P'ta Gu (10) K'Htaw Nee (11) T'nay
Che (12) Htu Ler (13) Kaw Htee etc. Some were burnt and destroyed by SLORC
soldiers. Some were forced to relocate to the western side of Tenasserim
river. Some villagers were sent for hard labour to work camps. Some of the
villagers flee in to Thailand.

* Villages from Mergui township such as (1) K'say Htah (2) K'say Po Kee (3)
P'Law Wah (4) K'pee lay Koe (5) Si Play Htah (6) Toe Teh htah (7) Tu Thaw
Plaw (8) P'wara (9) T' Kaw Wa (10) Ler Pa Doe (11) W'taw klo (12) Tat Pu
(13) T'rwa Hta (14) Paw K'toe (15) Keh Ma (16) Nya Taw (17) P'Nyai Po Klo
(18) Pi Chai Maw (19) K'Yelpo (20) Me Chaung That (21) Amon (22) A-Auw Pu
Kee (23) Wathoe (24) Way May (25)Kyaw La (26) Satiway (27) Paleki (28) Tha
May Plaw were destroyed and some villagers were sent to concentration camp.
Some fled to the border of Thailand and some run in to deep forest.

* Villages in Tavoy township such as (1) Htee Po Lay (2) Kee Saw Wah 
(3) Lor Or (4) K'Haw Sah (5) Ar Maw (6) Mor Tor Htah 97) Mae Th'me Khi (8)
Ah M'lah (9) Naw K'Mwee (10) Mor Htah (11) Lay K'blah (12) K'mas Haw (13)
Htaw Ma Plo (14) Htaw Ma Maw (15) Keh Mar (16) May Teh Khi (17) Keh Mar Htah
(18) Klo Thoo (19) Ka Deh (20) Hset Mea (21) Ah May (22) Htee Ne Paw (23) Si
Pyet and (24) Way Tu Ri were burnt down and destroyed. The villagers had to
flee in to Thailand.

* 25 villagers along the main road Thayet Chaung and P'law were forcibly
relocated. So far there were altogether (107) villages that had been
destroyed by SLORC in Mergui, Tavoy district, Tenasserim Division.


(Translated, printed and distributed by Karen Information Center)

****************************************

S.H.A.N.: SHAN STATES SITUATION 
September 23, 1997 
 
S H A N    H E R A L D    A G E N C Y     F O R    N E W S 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
( Report  by S. H. A. N. ) 
 
	Many people thought Khun Sa's surrender on 7 January 1996 had rung  
the death-knell for Shan nationalism, forgetting that the Shan struggle did not 
start with Khun Sa's Mong Tai Army, better known as the Shanland United  
Army. 
	The fact is that as long as a considerable number of Shans still believe 
Shanland and Burma are separate entities, bound together in the first place 
by the Panglong Agreement in 1947, and later by  the Burmese occupation 
forces under which life is a constant living hell, it would be premature to 
predict the end of the Shan cause. 
	That was why soon after the MTA's collapse, a group of hitherto  
relatively unknown youth joined hands together to continue the struggle. And  
although their estimated strength is just a little over one-tenth of Khun Sa's  
once mighty MTA ( conservative estimate: 23,000-28,000 ), it has given so  
much headache to the Burmese commanders that, as one of them jokes dryly,  
we are becoming addicted to aspirin. 
	On other new development in the Shans' favor was that all the  
different groups are coming closer together despite SLORC attempts to keep  
them divided. On 23 February 1996, seventeen days after Khun Sa's surrender,  
the two cease-fire groups namely the Shan State Army ( estimated strength:  
3,500) and the Shan State National Army ( estimate strength: 5,000 ) led by 
Karnyord, whose mutiny on 6 June 1995 broke the back bone of the  MTA, and 
consequently, the determination of Khun Sa, formed the Shan State 
Peacekeeping Committee. Late in the year, the alliance was reinforced by 
membership from the newly formed Shan United Revolutionary Army (SURA)  
led by Karnyord's boyhood friend Yordserk. It was then renamed the Shan State 
National Organization. It also vowed to stick together in spite of SLORC's 
demand to dismantle it. 
	1996 also saw the Shans abroad moving closer together. It was a  
crucial matter because with the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy  
(SNLD), the largest party in Shan States, having no voice outside the so called 
National Convention formed by the military (SLORC) in 1993 in order to draft 
a new Union Constitution and the Shan armed resistance movement being cut 
off from Thailand, the traditional gateway to international media and 
relations, the need for a setup that shall speak for the Shans in general 
had increased. The founding of the Shan Democratic Union on 16 November  
1996 by key members of the Chiangmai-based Shan State Organization and the 
Bangkok-based Tai Union seemed to be the appropriate answer to their call. 
	As for the SNLD itself, there had been several accusations from the 
pro-democracy quarters that it took "bribes", in the form of business 
concessions, from SLORC in order to continue participation in the on-and-off 
going National Convention. No official denial has come forth from the SNLD 
so far. However, insiders said it was the SNLD, and not even the NLD, that 
had so far spearheaded the counteroffensive campaign against SLORC on the 
latter's own grounds i.e. the National Convention. It would continue to 
stand by its own announced principles when the NC reconvened. Unlike the 
NLD, which has access to foreign powers and media although out of the NC, 
the SNLD enjoys neither and seems set to make up for its handicaps by making 
the best of a bad situation. And that does not mean, as they vehemently 
maintain, they shall knuckle under SLORC's dictates. The SNLD seems to be 
pushing home this point when in last December, they made a formal protest to 
General Than Shwe, Chairman of the SLORC, that one of its elected members, 
Hso Soe Nyunt, had been detained, beaten up and forced to sign his 
resignation from the party by a SLORC officer. 
	As 1997 turns halfway, even critics begin to admit that the SNLD has  
served the non-Burmans' cause by refusing to budge from the "National  
Convention". Before, whereas the SLORC was as clear as it is now on the  
question of non-Burmans ---- Absolute Assimilation ---- Burma's largest  
Opposition Party, the National League for Democracy, led by none other than  
Miss Aung San Suu Kyi, Noble laureate and daughter of Burma's late leader  
Aung San, had been frustratingly unclear about its own policy towards them.  
The critics admitted that had the SNLD joined hands with the NLD by  
boycotting the off-and-on going National Convention, it could no more hold an 
independent voice for the non-Burmans, being played itself into Burmans' 
hands. And the UN's suggested solution, the tripartite dialogue i.e. among 
the democratic forces headed by Aung San Suu Kyi, the SLORC and the 
non-Burmans ---- when it comes to that, shall be in practice a bipartite one 
i.e. between SLORC and Aung San Suu Kyi. Now that the SNLD, the voice of  
the non-Burmans, decided to takes an independent stand, the embattled NLD 
finally has to change its rule and proposes instead that Democracy in Burma 
and the Right of Self Determination of the non-Burmans must come together. 
It was a big step foreword, conceded those critics. 
	However, if the National Convention is to be adjourned indefinitely  
until such time when SLORC feels ready, then what shall the SNLD choose to  
do? That is the question  now rests heavily on its shoulder. Nevertheless Shan 
Herald Agency for News (SHAN) thinks it is better for the opposition to talk 
things over with the Shan party instead of directing accusations at its
leaders. 
	As 1997 is gradually drawing to a close it is seeing the Shans getting 
closer than they were in 1996. SHAN thinks it will bring a tremendous boost 
for the cause of Democracy as a whole and the people of Shan States in 
particular. What it needs from the rest of the world is to facilitate the 
trend and not to fear it. 
 
Date:	23 September 1997 
 
******************************************** 

USA TODAY: FINDINGS FROM US REPORT ON RELIGIOUS  
PERSECUTION 
September 19, 1997 
 
In July, the State Department issued a report on religious persecution around  
the world.  Among countries it cited and the evidence presented against them: 
 
BURMA - Government troops are reported to have attacked members of the  
largely Christian Karen ethnic minority, raping women and forcing men to act  
as porters. 
CHINA - Only government-authorized religious organizations are allowed to  
function without official harassment.  Repression has increased against  
Christians, Tibetan Buddhists and Muslims in the western province of Xinjiang 
IRAN - Muslims who convert to another faith are considered apostates and face  
the death penalty.  Dozens of the Bahai sect have been executed since the 1979  
Islamic revolution. 
IRAQ - The government has brutally repressed Kurds and Assyrian Christians  
in the north and Shiite Muslims in the south. 
NORTH KOREA - All but officially sanctioned religious activity is prohibited. 
SAUDI ARABIA - Islam is the official religion and no other can be practiced  
openly.  Non-Muslim worshipers risk arrest, lashing and deportation. 
SUDAN - The Islamic government, engaged in a civil war with non-Muslims,  
tries to force conversions through rape, starvation, and abduction of
children.   
Christians have also been forced into slavery. 
 
******************************************** 
 
HERALD TRIBUNE: MALAYSIA SLAMS THE DOOR ON A TROUBLED  
NEIGHBOR 
September 22, 1997 [abridged]
Thomas Fuller 
 
PEDANG BESAR, Thailand -- Topped with barbed wire, the eight foot (2.4  
meter) concrete structure separates Malaysia from Thailand, running along the  
edge of town before disappearing into the jungle.   
 
The border here has long been a religious and cultural transition point,  
separating largely Muslim and socially more conservative Malaysia from  
Buddhist, more freewheeling Thailand.  But today it also stands as an economic  
fault line, dividing wealthier and politically stable Malaysia from its
financially  
strapped and politically weak neighbor. 
 
Talk throughout the region in past months has focused on stopping the Thai  
contagion from spreading.  No symbol of this effort seems as poignant as  
Malaysia's wall. 
 
To howls of disapproval from Bangkok, the border wall was completed this  
year.  It covers a 13-mile (21 kilometer) western stretch of border that
starts  
here and runs to the Andaman Sea. 
 
Malaysia says it built the wall mainly to keep out illegal immigrants.  Like
the  
U.S. border with Mexico, the frontier here is a gateway to lucrative jobs for  
Bangladeshis, Indians, Nepalese, Cambodians, and Burmese. 
 
Recent market turbulence has knocked Thailand off its international pedestal
as  
the next Asian "tiger," and illegal immigrants seem to have gotten the
message.   
Bangkok's growth projections have been reduced to a small fraction of Kuala  
Lumpur's estimates for its economy. 
 
According to Shahidan bin Kassim, chief minister of Perlis, the Malaysian
state  
through which most of the wall runs, some 3,000 illegal immigrants are caught  
every year crossing the border in his state alone.  Mr. Shahidan says the
wall is  
helping to cut the number of illegal entries as well as reduce the amount of  
firearms, illegal drugs, and livestock smuggled into Malaysia. 
 
Thais were initially stunned to learn of the barrier being erected across
their  
southern border, and Bangkok at one point dispatched a dozen helicopters to a  
disputed border area where the wall was being built.  But Thailand now has  
other, more pressing matters to attend to. 
 
"We didn't put too much emphasis on the public relations side," said Abdul  
Razak Abdullah Baginda, executive director of the Malaysian Strategic  
Research Center.  "We should have been more sensitive to how the Thais would  
receive the wall." 
 
Building the structure, which Malaysian officials say cost 54 million ringgit  
($17.8 million), required taming large swaths of jungle and following a border  
that runs atop thickly vegetated bluffs and limestone cliffs.  The border is  
delineated by various topographical features -- the watershed of a hill or the  
deepest point of a river -- landmarks that are likely to change as hills
erode or  
rivers shift.  With the wall, however, the border has become better defined
and,  
so too, has the divide between Malaysia and Singapore to the south. 
 
Patrolling the border wall are men like Yuga bin Pak Itam, a member of a  
special police unit who hails from a Malaysian aboriginal tribe.  Mr Yuga and  
his colleagues wear green fatigues and carry assault rifles.  After dark, the  
favorite time for illegal crossings, they survey the wall atop watchtowers,
aided  
by night goggles. 

All of this -- a wall topped with barbed wire, thick jungle and Malaysian
police 
who know it well -- might seem enough to deter illegal immigrants from 
crossing, but it is not.  They still come and still make it though.  Malaysian 
officials estimate that police catch only one third of the total number of
illegals 
who cross the wall.

Malaysia's eight feet of reinforced concrete is no Berlin Wall.  No mines have 
been laid.  And there is still more than 250 miles of unwalled border.

"There are many points to cross," said Thaveesuk Manopatana, a top official in 
the immigration police on the Thai side of the border. "It will never work 100 
percent."

When caught, illegal immigrants rarely put up a fight, said Norzon bin Karim, 
a radio operator who patrols the wall daily.  Often aided by agents on both
sides 
of the border, the aliens pay anywhere from $400 to $1,200 for a chance to 
work in Malaysia, where an unskilled laborer can earn an average of 30 ringgit 
(about $10) a day.  In contrast, [an average worker], in Thailand, makes an
average of $4 a day loading and unloading cooking oil, fabric, and
electronic goods being traded at the border.
 
******************************************* 

THE NATION: PTTEP OPEN TO ENTRY OF PETRONAS IN YETAGUN GAS PROJECT
September 25, 1997
Pichaya Changsorn The Nation

PTT Exploration and Production Plc is not expected to oppose the
participation of Malaysian state oil firm Petronas in Burma's Yetagun gas
project, a senior executive said.

News agencies reported on Monday that Petronas Carigali is taking a 36.4
percent stake in the gas project from Britain's Premier Oil Plc.

A highly-placed PTTEP source told The Nation that Premier, as a shareholder
of the Yetagun project, is exercising its pre-emptive right stated in the
project's joint-venture agreement to purchase US-based Texaco Inc's stake in
the field and sell the shares to Petronas.

Texaco has made it known that it intends to pull out of the Burmese gas
project following the US administration's decision to impose sanctions on
new US investments in the military-ruled country. "The process is not yet
finished. Premier has to forward the Petronas proposal to PTTEP and Nippon
Oil for consideration." he said.

However, the source said PTTEP is not expected to oppose the deal or
exercise its pre-emptive right as a shareholder of the Yetagun project.

The source said PTTEP is not interested in increasing its stake in Yetagun,
and no other party - including Ban Pu Plc has asked PTTEP to exercise its
pre-emptive right to acquire Texaco's stake.

Ban Pu, which is involved in a power plant consortium with Texaco in
Thailand and would be a consumer of the Burmese gas, was reportedly
interested in participating in the Yetagun gas development project.

In effect, Petronas would take up Texaco's entire stake from Premier Oil,
which would replace Texaco as operator of the gas field.

Although AFP quoted an informed source in Burma as saying that Texaco had
off-loaded its Yetagun assets in Burma to AGIP International of Italy in a
US$260 million swap deal, the PTTEP executive said that since Petronas has
offered the best deal, Agip would not take up the Yetagun stake.

According to a memorandum of understanding between Burma and Thailand signed
in December, Yetagun will supply 200 million cubic feet (six million cubic
metres) of gas daily to Thailand from 1999.

The Yetagun field is located in the Andaman Sea north of the controversial
Yadana gas field project, which has been the focus heavy criticism from
human rights activists.

Gas from Yetagun will share the pipeline being constructed from the Yadana
field to Thailand. The pipeline is due to be operational from July 1988.

Another major US oil firm, Atlantic Richfield Co, has an exploration licence
to search off the Burmese coast in the Andaman Sea. The first test well was
successful and there are plans to drill more, the source said.

******************************************************

THE NATION: YADANA PROJECT IS A BLUEPRINT FOR TROUBLE
September 25, 1997
Kamol Sukin

The real confrontation between the PTT and opponents over construction of
the Thai - Burmese gas pipeline is just beginning, comments Kamol Sukin. 

At the beginning of this month, five armed defence volunteers were sent to a
construction site for the controversial Yadana gas pipeline being developed by
the Petroleum Authority of Thailand (PTT) in Kanchanaburi province.

The armed men were seen with a group of PTT officials and workers. They were
reportedly sent in because a group of villagers claiming to be owners of the
property where construction was to take place refused to let workers to
carry out their jobs. 

Even though no violence occurred that day, the atmosphere of confrontation
seems to be growing rapidly along the pipeline route. One day later, police
filed a complaint against a village leader for obstructing the project and
violating the PTT Act, which authorises the protected construction.

Following the collapse of year-long negotiations, the PTT and the villagers
opposing the project seem to be on a collision course. Based on past
experience with such mega-projects, the chances of reaching a peaceful
settlement of the case seem remote. Both the PTT and project opponents have
been forced into their corners because they are unable to discuss matters
with an open mind. Now, anything could happen, even violence.

The PTT has repeatedly told the public that it will not use law enforcement
to push the project ahead. The agency insisted that the project will only be
built with the villagers' consent. But the recent decision to use armed
defence volunteers indicates that the PTT has changed its mind.

Decision-makers both in this and previous governments must bear
responsibility for this impasse. So must the officials who approved the
project without due process. The project was approved by the Cabinet well
before its envirornmental impact assessment (EIA) was considered, in direct
contravention of the 1992 Environment Act.

The PTT also made the mistake of attempting to push ahead with the project
without informing villagers who will be affected, as well as the public in
general. It also underestimated the strength of sentiment among villagers
and environmental groups. A PTT senior official even admitted recently that
this is the first time the state enterprise has dealt directly with villagers.

Times have changed, and the oil company did not realise that villagers now
have the legal right to ask for information and to participate in projects.

However, some decision-makers at PTT seem to understand the situation, at
least to some degree. They agree that the points raised by the opponents are
reasonable, but explain that the PTT is in a hurry to finish the pipeline
construction or it will face contractual penalties for failing to meet the
deadline next July.

>From the point of view of the PTT, the best thing to do was try to reach a
compromise agreement with the project opponents. It agreed to conduct an EIA
and seek approval from the National Environment Board, which took many
months. It also agreed to hold a technical hearing in Kanchanaburi earlier
this year.

But the effort turned out to be another mistake. The EIA report was strongly
criticised by environmental groups for being "unreliable and incomplete". It
was even attacked as being out-dated, containing simply a list of plants and
animals in the area without any real study about the possible impacts to
those species.

The technical hearing was also criticised for not being a real public
hearing. The PTT provided little information about the project, and no one
had time to study what information they did give out just prior to the
meeting. It was more like a seminar to defend the project's weak points and
convince opponents of its benefits.

One of the strong points of the project - that the gas will help prop up the
country's energy reserves - has also been questioned by opponents. They
called on the PTT to explain the project in the context of Thailand's energy
policy, instead of just saying it is for the Ratchaburi power plant of the
Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat). They suspect that most
of the energy will be consumed by a few factories on the western seaboard.

The PIT has tried to link the villagers' movement with local investors in
order to discredit the groups. Its officials keep insisting that the
villagers are not sincere in opposing the project, that they have a "hidden
agenda". This is the wrong approach and increases the tension.

Opponents - a broad coalition of Kanchanaburi environmental groups, affected
villagers, students, academics and environmental organisations in Bangkok -
say they have not received clear answers from the PTT and that the state
enterprise, does not respect their views.

Many of the critics, especially local groups, are the same people who
successfully fought against the Nam Choan Dam. They believe that
transparency, decentralisation and monitoring are the tools to create real
public participation in projects which will affect their lives.

So here is the basic conflict: opponents are fighting for a structural
adjustment to the country's decision-making process while the PTT is simply
struggling to get its project completed.

The most important point to recognise is that these two groups fighting
their separate battles have been left to fight each other without any kind
of mediator to step in and make peace. One way out is to set up some basic
rules which both sides must follow. The Environment Act was written to
establish a mechanism that would prevent such clashes. In particular, the
EIA process was designed to balance the competing concerns about development
and the environment.

Green groups point out that bureaucrats have a tendency to seek exceptions
from the law when proposing their projects. In the case of the pipeline
project, the PTT asked the Royal Forestry Department (RFD) for special
permission to allow them to clear forest areas for 50 kilometres  even
though the law states that no development activities are allowed in these areas.

In the past, the government has always agreed to requests to break the
rules. It is about time to stop this laxity, starting with this project. If
not, others will follow the government's example by seeking exceptions to
the law. Then, the law becomes meaningless.

In short, it is the PTT's decision to try to get around the law that is at
the centre of the dispute between the villagers and the oil company.

The going will now be difficult for the PTT, as the pipeline construction
will now have to pass through a national park and through areas belonging to
opposing villagers. The only way out for the PTT is to use force. But the
villagers will fight back.

With all avenues toward discussion seemingly closed off, the door seems wide
open for violence.

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SLORC: INFORMATION SHEET NO. A-0139(I)
September 25, 1997 [abridged]

 (1)             Swiss Francs 200,000 for Flood Relief

                International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent
Societies
presented Swiss francs 200,000 (US $ 133,333.35) for flood relief in Myanmar
to Myanmar Red Cross Society on 24 September.

(2)             ROK Ambassador Donates US $ 30,000 for Flood Relief

                Ambassador of the Republic of Korea Mr Kyong Bo Choi handed
US $ 30,000 to Minister for Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement Maj-Gen
Soe Myint as a donation for flood relief in Myanmar at the Minister's office
on 24
September.

OFFICE CALLS IN YANGON ON 24 SEPTEMBER

 (B)             Minister for Hotels and Tourism Lt-Gen Kyaw Ba received
Project Director Mr Peter Conlan of Doulos International of Germany at his
office. The project director proposed a scheduled visit of 300 tourists of
35 countries on a
luxury liner to Myanmar.

(D)             Minister for Transport Lt-Gen Thein Win received Chairman Mr
Hans W Steiter of Norasia Hovercraft Ltd of Switzerland and party at his office.

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THE STRAITS TIMES: MYANMAR AIMS TO REVERSE SLIDE 
September 18, 19997 
 
 IF RESULTS of the South-east Asia Games were based on the law of ratio and  
symmetry, then Myanmar would definitely be in big trouble next month in  
Jakarta. 
 
For its medal haul has been steadily declining. 
 
It won 12 gold medals at the 1991 Games in Manila, eight two years later in  
Singapore followed by a miserable tally of only four two years ago in  
Chiangmai. 
 
If one follows that progression, then it would seem that Myanmar would be in  
for a duck's egg next month.  Still, do not be surprised if Myanmar rebounds
in  
the opposite direction and double its gold-medal haul instead. 
 
Sports have been getting much more attention and financial support from the  
government in recent years -- a move aimed at recapturing the glory days of
the  
past when the country reigned supreme in soccer and athletics. 
 
Midfielder Maung Maung Tun, nicknamed the "Mountain Man", who struck  
fear in the hearts of opposing strikers as Myanmar, then known as Burma, 
romped to one victory after another -- two Asian Games crowns (1966 and 
1970), four Seap Games titles, the Park Chun Hee Cup, Merdeka Cup, the 
Mara Halim Cup and numerous other soccer silverwares. 
 
     It was no different in athletics. Jimmy Crampton, Mar Mar Min and 
Jennifer Tinnlay, to name but a few, left a lasting legacy. 
 
     Foreign coaches have been roped in to impart their expertise. A Yugoslav  
trains the soccer team and a Japanese is in charge of the swimming  
programme. 
 
     Chinese coaches form the bulk of the foreign assistance and they are  
spearheading the charge in taekwondo, shooting, volleyball, basketball, table  
tennis, gymnastics and badminton. 
 
     There are currently more than 300 elite athletes who train full-time.
They  
are employed by the government and have jobs to fall back on after they retire  
from active competition. 
 
     Incentives in cash and kind are being used. Gold-medallists can expect a  
significant cash reward and a 360 square-metre plot of land, plus household  
appliances like televisions, refrigerators and video recorders. They can also  
expect promotions in their respective jobs with the government. 
 
     Myanmar is expected to send about 420 athletes to Jakarta. 
 
     A press release from the Myanmar Sports and Physical Education  
Department said that its medal hopes would be pinned on soccer, volleyball,  
weightlifting, athletics, shooting and rowing. 
 
     It singled out strikers Myo Hlaing Win and Maung Maung Oo (soccer), Win  
Win Maw, Aye Mon Khin (weightlifting), Aye Aye Nwe, Win Win Mar  
(athletics), Khin Soe Thaik, Myint Soe(shooting), Nyi Nyi Lwin and Win  
Maung (volleyball) as the stars to look out for. 
 
     Top of the list is weightlifter Win. The 25-year-old broke the
clean-and-jerk  
world record in the 70kg category, not once but twice, at the 1994 Asian Games  
in Hiroshima, eventually lifting 127.5kg. 
 
SEAsian Games will be held in Jarkata (October 11- 19). 
 
************************************************** 

ANNOUNCEMENT: SLORC FOREIGN AFFAIRS MINISTER SPEECH IN U.S.
September 25, 1997

Asia Society
Contemporary Affairs
725 Park Ave @ 70th St.
New York, NY 10021
(212) 288-6400

Tuesday, September 30, 1997 
Noon-2:00pm
Luncheon
H.E. Ohn Gyaw
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Myanmar
Members: $35; Non-members: $45; Students: $20 

e-mail:  ContemporaryAffairs@xxxxxxxxxxx
website:  http://www.AsiaSociety.org/

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