The BurmaNet News - 23 February, 19

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------------------------------ BurmaNet -----------------------------
"Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies
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The BurmaNet News, 23 February, 1998
Issue #941

Noted in passing:

"I deny the news about power sharing ... it is not true. The NLD stance is 
still the same." - NLD Deputy Secretary, U Tin Oo
(see REUTERS: BURMA OPPOSITION DENIES READY TO SHARE POWER)

HEADLINES:
==========
REUTERS: BURMA OPPOSITION DENIES READY TO SHARE
AFP: OPPOSITION DENIES CHANGE IN AUNG SAN SUU KYI'S
AFP: MYANMAR'S AUNG SAN SUU KYI PLAYS DOWN "SPLITS"
REUTERS: THAIS CANCEL PLAN TO REPATRIATE KAREN
BKK POST: KAREN REFUGEES FACE EJECTION FROM PARK
BKK POST: SHANS TAKE REFUGE NEAR THAI BORDER
KYODO NEWS: PHILIPPINES TO HELP BOOST MYANMAR'S
NEW STRAITS TIMES: MYANMAR ACCEPTED AS 10th MEMBER
XINHUA NEWS: YUNNAN PROVINCE AIDS BURMA'S ANTI-

SPDC: INFORMATION SHEET NO.A-0325 (I) 
US DEPARTMENT OF STATE: SUPPORT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
CCN: INSIDE NEWS - COMMODITY PRICES
KNLA: CONSOLIDATED 1997 BATTLE NEWS REPORT 
SHAN: EXPATRIATE SHANS MEET

Announcements:
BURMA.NET BOYCOTT DISCUSSION GROUP
CANADA LAUNCHES BURMA JOURNAL IN BURMESE
BOOKS AVAILABLE FOR INTERESTED BURMANETTERS
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REUTERS: BURMA OPPOSITION DENIES READY TO SHARE POWER [abridged]
16 February, 1998 
by Sutin Wannabovorn 
 
BANGKOK -- Burma's  main opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) 
today denied a Thai newspaper report that its leader Aung San 
Suu Kyi was ready to share power with the ruling military junta. 
 
The Nation newspaper said in a front page report the NLD was prepared to 
share power and form a coalition government with the ruling State Peace 
and Development Council (SPDC). 
 
"We are keeping all our options open," Suu Kyi was quoted as saying in an
interview when asked if she would accept the possibility of a coalition 
government with the SPDC. "It is very important never to say never in 
politics," she added. 
 
The Nation newspaper also quoted NLD senior vice president Tin Oo 
as saying he saw "no problem to sharing power". 
 
But Tin Oo denied the newspaper reports when contacted by telephone today
in Yangon. 
 
"I deny the news about power sharing ... it is not true. The NLD stance 
is still the same. We never change, our demand is that we want them to have 
dialogue with our leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, and leaders of the various 
ethnic races," he said. 
 
Attempts to contact Suu Kyi were unsuccessful. 
 
A Burma government spokesman in the capital Yangon also dismissed the idea. 
 
"We do not know whether The Nation had an interview with Suu Kyi in Yangon. 
But it is quite improper and unrealistic for any political party to say that
they are willing to share power in the future with the SPDC which is a
transitional government which will be dissolved after the coming elections,"
the spokesman said. 
 
The spokesman did not give a time frame for future elections but he said 
last week that democracy would not function in Burma without a strong 
emerging middle class. He did not elaborate. 
 
The Nation said in a caption below a photograph of Suu Kyi that the 
interview was held in Tin Oo's house. Tin Oo denied that. 
 
"I don't know whether they (The Nation) have met with her but I doubt the
interview because all the press and foreigners are not allowed into her 
(Suu Kyi's) house, not allowed even into her compound," Tin Oo said. 
 
The Nation also quoted Suu Kyi as saying that she wanted dialogue with
the SPDC, but without preconditions. 
 
*******************************************************

AFP: OPPOSITION DENIES CHANGE IN AUNG SAN SUU KYI'S STANCE 
16 February, 1998 [abridged]
 
BANGKOK -- Myanmar's  democratic opposition on Monday denied that its 
leader Aung San Suu Kyi has shifted her stance towards the military junta
by agreeing to a power-sharing deal. 
 
Myanmar's (Burma's)  military government also immediately ruled out a 
power-sharing pact as "improper," saying the ruling junta was a
transitional government and would be dissolved following the country's next
elections. 
 
The Nation daily reported in Bangkok Monday that the Nobel Peace prize 
laureate had softened her stance towards the junta, saying she was ready 
to form a coalition government with the generals. 
 
The Nation reported after an interview with Aung San Suu Kyi that she -- 
and other leaders of her National League for Democracy (NLD) party -- were
"prepared to share power and for a coalition with the military junta." 
 
"We are keeping all our options open," it quoted her as saying. "It's very 
important never to say never in politics." 
 
Her close comrade, NLD Deputy Secretary General U Tin Oo, was quoted as 
saying that "there was no problem with sharing power" with the junta known 
as the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC). 
 
"There will be a compromise, a give and take," he said, according to the 
article. 
 
But representatives of  Myanmar's  government in exile -- which includes 
many members of the NLD -- denied that Aung San Suu Kyi's quoted comments
indicated a shift in ideology. 
 
"Many people were very surprised to read that the NLD was ready to form a
coalition government," Maung Maung Aye of the National Coalition Government
of the Union of Burma said. 
 
"This is a very important point as we won the last elections in Burma in 
1990," he added, stressing it was unclear whether the report was entirely 
accurate in its interpretation of the NLD chiefs' remarks. 
 
"All we understand is that Aung San Suu Kyi and the NLD are ready for 
dialogue and talks with the junta without preconditions. This is not new," 
he said, declining to comment further. 
 
Maung Maung Aye echoed Aung San Suu Kyi in stressing that the NLD and the
coalition government were pushing for substantive talks between the two 
sides and were "not ruling out any option which could lead to proper
dialogue." 
 
Other sources close to the NLD said that while there would have to be a 
"transition period" of power-sharing if the junta recognised the 1990 
election results, this would not be a permanent coalition government. 

A spokesman for the Myanmar junta, in a statement received here, dismissed 
any form of power-sharing with the NLD and said the country's next
leadership would be elected in a new round of polls. 
 
The junta has said it will stand down after polls are called under a new 
constitution. But no date has been set and the work of a convention drafting 
a new charter has been stalled, effectively delaying any polls. 
 
Analysts said Suu Kyi's quoted comments reflected a renewed openness and
flexibility aimed at restarting dialogue with the government and dispelling 
a view that she is rigid and uncompromising. 
 
"The fact that she has taken this moment to restate her party's commitment
to unconditional dialogue does not mean a change in policy, but rather a
shift 
in tone towards the more conciliatory," a foreign observer in Yangon said. 
 
Another expert said the NLD leader's public stance towards the military 
regime which kept her under house arrest for six years until 1995, had 
become "noticeably more conciliatory" in recent days. 
 
******************************************************

AFP: MYANMAR'S AUNG SAN SUU KYI PLAYS DOWN "SPLITS" IN PARTY 
17 February, 1998 [abridged]

BANGKOK -- Myanmar opposition figurehead Aung San Suu Kyi has played down 
reported splits in her party and said there was no need for despair despite
scant progress in her 10-year battle for democracy. 
 
In an interview published in Thailand's Nation daily on Tuesday, the 
pro-democracy leader vowed to forge ahead with her struggle to win over
the ruling military junta, dismissing allegations she was harming her 
people. 
 
Quizzed over divisions in her National League for Democracy (NLD), the 
Nobel Peace Prize laureate conceded there were differences among members
over how to tackle their woes, but said the divisions were not as serious 
as reported. 
 
"Of course there are people with different opinions, but that is democracy," 
she told the Nation in an interview in Yangon (Rangoon) last week adding: 
"There are bound to be people with different opinions and I think you have
to accept that as part of the democratic procedure." 
 
Analysts have said the NLD, which won  Myanmar's (Burma's)  last polls in 
1990 only to see the results ignored by the generals, is facing a "crisis of 
direction" with senior members divided over how to win concessions from the 
junta. 
 
While few doubt the objectives of the NLD -- to see the 1990 polls recognised
and human rights respected -- have altered, many insist the party is divided 
over how to achieve them after 10 years' slow progress. 
 
The two sides are deadlocked, with the junta refusing to talk to Aung San 
Suu Kyi, while the NLD has refused to talk at senior levels without her, 
reserving its right not to have conditions of dialogue dictated to it. 
 
The junta has accused her of being "confrontational," while some western 
experts say the NLD's inflexibility in its approach to the generals has
helped contribute to the deadlock that gives the military the upper hand. 
 
Aung San Suu Kyi recognised the stalemate, declaring it was beneficial to 
neither side, but said the struggle had been continuing since 1988, and it
was still early days in a battle for democracy. 
 
Experts say Aung San Suu Kyi's long struggle, while achieving little real 
change in the junta's stance, has led to international awareness of the fight 
for democracy and against repression, but added to the country's economic
problems. 

The economy is in crisis with official inflation spiralling to around 26 
percent, foreign reserves at a critical level and foreign investment falling
due to Asia's regional malaise and public opposition to putting western money
into the military state. 
 
Economists and diplomats say economic mismanagement by the junta has 
contributed significantly to the problems that have left Mynamar facing 
an unprecedented economic crisis. 
 
********************************************************

REUTERS: THAIS CANCEL PLAN TO REPATRIATE KAREN REFUGEES
22 February, 1998
by Sutin Wannabovorn 

BANGKOK -- The Thai army said on Sunday it had cancelled next week's 
repatriation of 12,000 Karen refugees to Myanmar after the refugees 
agreed to relocate to new camps deeper inside Thailand. 

Last week, the army attempted to move the refugees, followers and 
sympathisers of the rebel Karen Nation Union (KNU) from the Salween 
National Park on the bank of the Salween river that marks the border 
between western Thailand and eastern Myanmar. 

Thailand has begun to dismantle scattered camps and relocate refugees 
into a few major well-established centres. It hopes to send them back 
once what it calls peace and stability are established in the Karen state. 

When the refugees protested against the move away from the border, the 
Thai army contacted Myanmar frontier authorities and arranged for them 
to be repatriated instead, an army spokesman told Reuters. 

The refugees would have been repatriated in the week beginning on March 1. 

"The Karen Refugees Committee (KRC), NGOs and the refugees themselves 
have now agreed to have these displaced persons relocated to the Mae 
Lah Ma Luang camp," the spokesman, based in northwestern Mae Hong Son 
province, said by telephone. 

"So when they agreed to move out from the national park we cancelled 
the plan to send them back," he added. 

A 10-day operation to relocate the Karen from their current location at
Thailand's Mae Sarieng district in Mae Hong Son province would begin 
from Monday, he said. 

"The new camp is located about 8 km (5 miles) deeper inside Thailand," 
he added. 

The refugees had fled from the Myanmar side of the Salween River to Thailand 
in 1995 after Myanmar troops overran Manerplaw, the jungle headquarters of 
the KNU. 

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

BKK POST: KAREN REFUGEES FACE EJECTION FROM PARK
22 February, 1998 [abridged]
by Supamart Kasem

The National Security Council chief has proposed that all Karen
refugees be moved out of Salween national park before the onset
of the rainy season in order to stem illegal logging. 
     
Meanwhile, investigators in Tak are considering suspending the
operating licence of a big saw mill after it was suspected that
more than 13,000 teak logs in its possession originated from the
Salween forest.

General Boonsak Kamhaengritthirong, NSC secretary-general, said yesterday 
that moving the Karens out of the Salween area would ease illegal logging
problem. He added that non-governmental organisations should become involved
in the relocation effort.

About 14,000 Karens have been taking refuge in Salween national park and
several of them were thought to have been hired by influential Thai timber
merchants to fell trees in the park and in the adjacent wildlife sanctuary. 
The logs were later hauled into the Salween River which demarcates Thailand 
and Burma. Then the logs were stamped with Burmese seals and brought back 
to Thailand with false certificates of origin.

Observers, however, said it might be easier said than done to evict the
Karens from the Salween forest. Attempts  by Thai authorities to move 
the Karens to a camp in Sob Moei district which began early this month met
with strong resistance as the refugees claimed the new location would make
them vulnerable to attacks from pro-Rangoon Democratic Karen Buddhist Army
troops.

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

BKK POST: SHANS TAKE REFUGE NEAR THAI BORDER
22 February, 1998

MAE HONG SON -- More than 600 Shans have taken  refuge near 
the border after they fled fighting in Burma. 

The refugees began to arrive at Ban Pang Yone, Bang Mapa on
Tuesday in the aftermath of a spate of clashes between Burmese
government troops and Shan and Wa rebels.

Sources said two Burmese soldiers were killed and one injured
when the rebels attacked a government outpost about three
kilometres from Homong, the capital of Shan state, on February 11. 
     
The sources said leaflets were distributed in Homong' on February
7 by the Shan rebels demanding protection fees  from cross-border 
traders.

A pick-up truck will be charged 8,000 baht and a six-wheel
trucks, 12,000-16,000 baht, for entering or leaving Shan state.

The traders were warned that they would face punishment if they
paid protection fees to the rebels.

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

KYODO NEWS: PHILIPPINES TO HELP BOOST MYANMAR'S  INTERNATIONAL IMAGE
20 February, 1998 [abridged]
 
MANILA -- The Philippines has offered to help boost Myanmar's image 
before the international community, officials of the Philippine 
Foreign Affairs Department said Friday. 
 
Official sources said the offer was contained in a joint communique forged
by the two governments during a visit Tuesday and Wednesday to Manila of 
Senior Gen. Than Shwe, head of  Myanmar's  military government. 
 
"The Philippines, as present chair of the Association of Southeast Asian 
Nations (ASEAN) Standing Committee, offered its assistance in conveying 
to the international community the positive developments happening in 
Myanmar," the communique said. 
 
The joint communique stressed the need for the two sides to 'maximize' 
cooperation 'for the benefit of the two countries and two peoples,' 
saying it is their duty to help each other since they are now 'more 
closely related.' 
 
"The  Myanmar side acquainted the Philippine side with its endeavors to 
impart new momentum to the efforts to attain the national goal of a
peaceful, modern developed State with a disciplined flourishing democratic
system," 
it said. 
 
Than Shwe made no official statement on the offer, but government sources 
said the Myanmar leader is apparently open to the idea. 

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

NEW STRAITS TIMES: MYANMAR ACCEPTED AS 10th MEMBER OF GROUPING
17 February, 1998 [abridged]
by Tan Chin Siang 
 
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Mon. - Myanmar was today accepted as the 10th member 
of the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organisation. 

Its membership was unanimously approved during the first plenary session 
of the 33rd conference of the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Council 
held here. (Seamec is the policy-making body of Seameo.) The other members 
are Malaysia, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, the Philippines,
Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Associate member countries are Australia,
Canada, 
France and Germany. 
 
Sixty-nine participants are attending the event, comprising 41 from member
countries, seven from associate members and 21 observers, six of whom are 
from non-governmental organisations. 
 
*********************************************************

XINHUA NEWS: YUNNAN PROVINCE AIDS BURMA'S ANTI-POPPY PROJECT
21 February, 1998 

KUNMING, 16th February -- After seven years of hard work, the Fourth 
Special Region [FSR] in eastern Shan State, Burma, has succeeded in 
completely banning the growing of poppies since late last year as 
result of a green anti-drug project the FSR launched with Xizhuangbanna
Prefecture in China's Yunnan province to replace poppy production with 
grain and economic crops. 
 
The FSR in Shan, a Burmese state adjacent to Xishuangbanna Prefecture's 
Menghai County, is located in the Golden Triangle and was one of the 
areas that produced opium and other narcotics with its main crop, poppies.
In May 1991, the FSR set up a Special Regional Anti-Drug Committee to take
charge of the "Six-Year Anti-Drug Project" it promulgated. 
 
To help Burmese poppy growers solve their living problems after poppy
growing was banned, the Chinese side, from 1991 through 1997, helped the
FSR develop more than 40,000 mu of hybrid grain (15 mu equals 1 ha) with 
seeds and technical expertise the Chinese side provided. The average per-mu
output of the hybrid grain has exceeded 400 kg, topping the local
traditional variety by 300 kg. At the same time, the Chinese side also
helped the FSR 
grow economic crops such as sugarcane, tea leaves, watermelons, rubber and
soy beans. 
 
The Xishuangbanna Public Security Bureau and the FSR have verified that 
the anti-drug project has reached its first-phase target. To consolidate 
the achievements and completely eradicate the source of narcotics, the 
two sides recently decided to proceed with the second-phase cooperation, 
which will focus on developing sugarcane, fruits, flowers, sunflower seeds
and tea leaves as well as providing training in agricultural science and
technology. 

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

SPDC: INFORMATION SHEET NO.A-0325 (I) 
21February, 1998 [abridged]

WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY CONFERS HONORARY DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN BUSINESS
ADMINISTRATION ON ZAYKABAR U KHIN SHWE

A ceremony to confer honorary Doctor of Philosophy in Business
Administration of Washington University of the United States of America
was held in Diamond Jubilee Hall of Yangon University on 20 February.  
Chairman of the Honorary Research Committee of Washington University 
Dr John Lim explained the purpose of conferring the honorary doctorate 
on U Khin Shwe.

Professor of Washington  University Dr Carey Rosenthal spoke of the doctorate,
and conferred the honorary Doctor of Philosophy in Business Administration 
on U Khin Shwe.  The American Education Foundation decided to confer the 
honorary Doctor of  Philosophy in Business Administration on U Khin Shwe 
out of enterpreneurs in Asia for this year, and Washington University 
conferred the degree through the American Education Foundation.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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339 DRUG-RELATED CASES EXPOSED IN JANUARY

The Military, the Myanmar Police Force and the Customs Department could 
expose 339 drug-related cases including 81 for failure to register for 
drug dependency treatment and six other cases in January. 

During the period, combined teams including Military, concerned departments 
and locals destroyed 17,324.523 acres of poppy in Shan State (North), 
2,745.01 acres in Shan State (South), 16 acres in Shan State (East), 
129.8  acres in Magway Division, 1.05 acres in Kachin State and two acres 
in Chin State, totalling 20,202.383 acres.  Members of the regional 
battalions in Kutkai Township destroyed two opium refinery camps on 
26 January and seized 21.86 kilos of heroin, 71 kilos of brown opium, 
20.95 kilos of low-grade opium, 200 gallons of opium liquid, seven 
assorted guns, 28 rounds of ammunition, chemical liquid and others. 
Members of Tachilek police station seized 100,000 tablets of orange 
colour amphetamine.  A combine group of members of Taunggyi Anti-drug 
Squad and Defence Services Intelligence searched a bus 7Ka/ 9514 on 
Hopone-Taunggyi road at the junction of 4-1/2 Miles and seized, 27 kilos
of opium on 21 January.  A column of regional battalion seized 64.5035 
kilos of opium and 100 tablets of amphetamine from three suspicious men 
near Manwoe Village at Monhtaw-Monhta region in eastern Shan State on 
24 January.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
---

OPIUM REFINERY, RELATED PERSONS NABBED IN KUTKAI

A combined team of members of Defence Services Intelligence, regional
battalion and anti-drug squad, acting on a tip-off, found a heroin 
refinery in the forest in Kutkai Township on 11 February. They seized 
seven huts, 6.3 kilos of brown opium, 1,080 kilos of raw opium, 600 
kilos of sodium chloride, 320 kilos of ammonium chloride, 72 gallons 
of raw opium liquid, 16 gallons of ether, 80 gallons of lysol, 140 
gallons of hydrochloric acid, 480 gallons of alcohol and related 
instruments. They also seized chemical liquid and related apparatus,
used in refining opium. They nabbed the traffickers. Action is being 
taken against them according to Law.

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

US DEPARTMENT OF STATE: SUPPORT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS 
AND DEMOCRACY IN BURMA 
20 February, 1998

[Statement Revised 11 February 1998]


The United States condemns in the strongest terms efforts by the State
Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC), recently renamed the 
State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), to prevent the citizens 
of Burma from exercising their basic political rights. The United States 
wants an end to human rights abuses and the installation of a 
democratically elected government in Rangoon, and supports the 
aspirations of the National League for Democracy (NLD) and the people 
of Burma, who desire what so many others around the world now take 
for granted: the chance to freely express their views and to be 
represented by leaders of their choosing.

Burma cannot fully rejoin the international community and gain the
assistance it needs until fundamental changes are made. The United 
States maintains its position that a meaningful political dialogue 
between the Burmese authorities and the democratic opposition leaders 
and representatives of the ethnic groups is the only path to a solution 
of Burma's crisis.

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

CCN: INSIDE NEWS - COMMODITY PRICES
19 February, 1998 

Commodity prices

Items		Unit		1995	1996	1997	up

Gasoline	Gallon		180	280	180	0%

FEC		1 dollar	116	170	270	52%

Gold		Kyat		25,100	36,000	44,200	58%

Cooking oil	Viss		172	216	302	32%

Toyota Corolla one 	740,000 /  1,020,000 / 2,600,000 / 87%

Refrigerator	one		56,500	78,000	100,000  33%

TV set 14"	one		29,500	35,000	56,000	  37%

Radio-cassette	one	7,800	10,000	17,500	50%

Biscuit tin	one		425	630	890	45%

Maltova	one		235	295	420	33%

Onion		viss		22	100	150	160%

Garlic		viss		140	200	160	6%

Rice		sack		1,440	1,680	1,750	10%

Other news
* Betel Chewing is prohibited at Rangoon railway station, which is known
  as "Kwun-gyan" station. But smoking is not.
* It is learnt that sale of liquor is soaring in Moulemain. The most 
  popular brands are Mandalay rum and Mandalay beer. Foreign whisky is 
  bought as for present and to bribe.
* In Mandalay and other cities, the prices of house and land plots are
  flourishing.
* Since November 1997, the Mandalay Daily is published. It is said that
  the daily is of a fraternity with "Yadanabon newspaper, which is published 
  by Central military command.
* The black ticketing is announced to be punished severely. Those who can
give   information will be awarded 10,000 kyats. But the people want to get
rid of   special quota system, which provides certain quota for VIP. 
* Mandalay "Zegyo" market complex has been reconstructed. But as the
  shopping rooms of upper stories are not useful for shops, they are
  transformed as nursery school, playground, and guest house.

NCGUB Communication Center, New Delhi (CCN)

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

KNLA: CONSOLIDATED 1997 BATTLE NEWS REPORT 
13 February, 1998

There have been clashes constantly between the KNLA troops and the 
SLORC/SPDC troops in the whole year beginning from January 1 to 
December 31, 1997.  Especially, starting from the time when the SLORC
(currently the SPDC) launched a major military offensive, after abrogation 
of the dialogue process unilaterally by it, there had been more numerous 
and intense clashes.

The KNLA troops, disregarding all difficulties and hardships, have
valiantly and actively fought against the enemy.  They are troops of the
1st Brigade in Thaton district,  the 2nd Brigade in Toungoo and Pyinmana
districts,  the 3rd Brigade in Nyaunglebin district, the 4th Brigade in
Tavoy-Mergui district, the 5th Brigade in Papun district, the 6th Brigade
in Kawkareik district,  the 7th Brigade in Pa-an district, and the mobile
battalions of the headquarters, the 101st Battalion, 103rd Battalion and
the Special Commando Battalion. 

In the whole year of 1997, in the brigade areas mentioned above, there
had been 1,644 major and minor clashes.  According to still incomplete
statistics, 901 enemy troops were killed and 1,530 wounded.  There were 
53 dead and 36 wounded on the KNLA side.  The KNLA troops captured 86 
pieces of weapons, including one 82 mm mortar, and a large quantity of 
all kinds of ammunition and military equipment. In the clashes, the KNLA 
troops destroyed 2 bulldozers and a number of military trucks.

The KNLA managed to initiate numerous small-scale engagements,constantly, 
against the enemy in 1997, by effectively applying the guerrilla warfare
principles of dispersion, concentration, mobility and surprise to gain a 
situation for operating on the interior line, tactically, while having to 
operate on the exterior line strategically. The KNLA had successfully 
managed to achieve economy with regard to casualty and the use of
ammunition, while inflicting maximum casualty and losses on the enemy. 

In resisting the enemy's 1997 offensive, the KNLA had joined hands with
troops of the All-Burma Muslim Union (ABMU), All-Burma Students Democratic
Front (ABSDF), People's Liberation Front (PLF), Karenni National
Progressive Party (KNPP), Mergui-Tavoy United Front and People's Democratic
Force (PDF) and 
managed to improve cooperation with those forces.

In conclusion, we, the KNLA, reaffirm that we do not want the civil war
and demand for the resolution of the political problems justly by political
means, and that if the SPDC continues its  genocidal war against the Karen 
people, as it is now,  we will continue to resist effectively in self
defense, hand in hand with the alliance forces.

[KNLA General Headquarters]

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

SHAN: EXPATRIATE  SHANS  MEET
11 February, 1998

The Shan Democratic Union, formed by expatriate Shans on 16 November 1996, 
met for two days, 5 - 6 February, somewhere along the unidentified border.

The purpose of the meeting called the Second Congress, was to ratify the
party's constitution and to elect the Central Committee. Altogether 21
members were elected. Sao Hsohom, prince of Mongpawn State and son of Sao 
Sam Htun who was assassinated along with Aung San on 19 July 1947, was 
reelected unanimously the Congress. He is reported to have been instrumental 
in drawing the Federal Amendment in 1961 for which he was jailed along with
other Shan Leaders by the military that took power a year later. He had
also worked in the UN until his retirement a few years ago.

The Union's Guiding Principles are Unity, Peace, Rule of Law, Equality,
Democracy and Right of Self Determination. One of its policies is to work 
with all anti-SLORC/SPDC movements for its overthrow. As to the question of
Independence or Federal Union, one of its executive members said. It is a 
question that can be decided only by our people and by no one else when the
recognition of their right is restored. Our duty to see to it that their
constitutional right to Self Determination is recognized by all. Shan State, 
or Shan States as the SDU prefers to call, enjoys the right to secede from 
the Union with Burma according to the 1947 Union Constitution.

The SDU claims that since the Constitution was declared null and void by
the military, the Union is no more in existence as of 1962. But that it
will not refuse to consider a new union with Burma if there is sufficient
protection of their rights.

S.H.A.N.
Shan Herald Agency for News

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

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

BURMA.NET BOYCOTT DISCUSSION GROUP
20 February, 1998

Burma activists have a long history of successful boycott campaigns,
pressuring even huge corporations to realize that now may not be the best
time to make 
deals with the junta.

Boycott campaigns continue.  Everyone is welcome to join an ongoing email
discussion/planning group regarding boycott targets and coordination.

boycotts@xxxxxxxxx
   To subscribe, send an email to boycotts@xxxxxxxxx with the
   word "Subscribe" as the first line of the message text.
   If you have an important question or information to send
   to this group without subscribing, address it to 
   boycotts-moderator@xxxxxxxxxx

Burma.net also hosts a dozen other dedicated groups focusing discussion on
everything from refugees to women's issues.  For more information send an 
email to info@xxxxxxxxx or visit http://burma.net.

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CANADA LAUNCHES BURMA JOURNAL IN BURMESE
21 February, 1998 

Canada now has a Burmese language periodical.  The first edition of BurmaNews
was published in time for celebrations of Union Day and Mon Mational Day held 
in Vancouver, BC, on February 14th.  An overflow crowd at the event sponsored 
by the Mon National Organization of Canada snapped up 150 copies of the 12
page journal.  Additional copies will be circulated to organizations and
news services requesting it.  It is expected that the newsletter will be
published monthly.

There are about 8-900 Burmese speaking people in the Vancouver area. Since 
1993 more than 300 refugees sponsored by the Canadian government and
private organizations have settled in the city.

Editor, San Aung, who came to Vancouver with his family about a year ago,
indicated that the paper will follow an independent line.  "We want to make
sure that new arrivals and others don't lose contact with what is going on 
in Burma and Thailand and elsewhere," he said.  "Most of the newcomers can't
access the news on the BurmaNet and Canadian media don't carry a lot of news
about Burma.  We're especially open to getting news in Burmese."

News or subscriptions can be faxed to the editor at 1-604-589-0034 or
emailed to <celsus@xxxxxxxxxxx>

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BOOKS AVAILABLE FOR INTERESTED BURMANETTERS
20 February, 1998

Mya Than Tint: ON THE ROAD TO MANDALAY was published last year by White
Orchid Press in Bangkok. It was translated by Sein Kyaw Hlaing and Ohnmar
Khin (pseud.). Illustrated by U Win Pe. It is available from the Asia
Society Bookstore in New York, and New Cavendish Books in London. Books can
also be ordered from the publisher : wop@xxxxxxxxxxx  There is also a
web-site: http://redfrog.norconnect.no/~wop with information about the book
and other books on Burma.

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