The BurmaNet News: August 20, 1998

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"Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies"
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The BurmaNet News: August 20, 1998
Issue #1078

HEADLINES:
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THE NATION: SUU KYI CRUCIAL TO TALKS, OPPOSITION TELLS JUNTA
THE NATION: KEY BURMA BRIEFING TODAY
BKK POST; AMERICAN DETAINEE URGES NEW PRESSURE
BKK POST: THAILAND ASKS JUNTA TO TALK WITH SUU KYI
BKK POST: SECOND JOURNALIST OUSTED BY RANGOON
BKK POST: BURMA MOVES TOWARDS SUU KYI'S DEMOCRACY DEADLINE
THE NATION: PTT TO PLEAD WITH BURMA OVER BREACH OF CONTRACT
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THE NATION: SUU KYI CRUCIAL TO TALKS, OPPOSITION TELLS JUNTA

20 August, 1998

THE NATION, REUTERS

RANGOON -- Burma's main opposition party said yesterday it told the
military government in a rare meeting that formal talks must include its
charismatic leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

National League for Democracy (NLD) chairman Aung Shwe and the powerful
head of military intelligence and senior government member Khin Nyunt met
in Ran goon on Tuesday, the first meeting between the government and the
opposition in more than a year.

As they met, Suu Kyi, the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner, remained stuck in
a minivan on a country bridge 32 kilometres southwest of the capital. She
has been there since August 12, having been prevented from driving to
western Burma.

NLD vice chairman Tin Oo said in statement yesterday that the one hour
meeting was informal.

"It was not dialogue. The NLD stated clearly and decided by a democratic
vote that no dialogue could take place without Aung San Suu Kyi being
present," he said.

Neither the government nor the NLD has revealed what was discussed at the
meeting, which came ahead of a Friday deadline set by the NLD for the
convening of a parliament of members elected at a general election in 1990.

The government offered talks with the NLD on Aug 7 but the party turned
them down as they would have excluded Suu Kyi.

Khin Nyunt called the meeting "fruitful" and said he hoped it would be the
first in a series of confidence-building talks between the government and NLD.

Suu Kyi entered day eight of her roadside protest yesterday, which
diplomats say has highlighted her lack of freedom of movement and the
deadline for convening parliament.

A commentary carried in all three government dailies appeared to hold out
an olive branch, hinting Suu Kyi might be able to participate in the
"national task".

"I hope that if she has a clear and objective view on holding a dialogue
with the government, the people's desires and the government's
nation-building endeavours, the entire public and the government will
wholeheartedly welcome her approach to participate in the national task,"
the commentary said.

But the government has ignored the NLD's call for a parliament and has
ridiculed Suu Kyi's protest by sending gifts.

Meanwhile, in Bangkok, the Foreign Ministry yesterday welcomed talks in
Rangoon between the military junta and the opposition, saying that such a
meeting should continue with the presence of Suu Kyi.

Thailand is also hoping to see national reconciliation among Burma's
political parties and ethnic minorities while refraining from having any
policy of intervention in Burma's internal affairs.

"We welcome the talks between NLD chairman Aung Shwe and the junta's
intelligence chief, Lt Gen Khin Nyunt," Surin said in a statement.

"We hope that the dialogue will continue and Aung San Suu Kyi is granted
the opportunity to participate in such dialogue."

Foreign Ministry spokesman Kobsak Chutikul, meanwhile, reiterated that
Thailand has done no intention of intervening in Burma's affairs but rather
is "expressing the country's opinions and concerns on the situation in
Burma" as it is clear that conflict in the country could possibly pose a
threat to other countries, particularly Thailand.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan yesterday telephoned Surin about the visit
to Bangkok of his "special high-level emissary for Burma" Razali Ismail,
Kobsak said, adding that Surin had informed Annan that Thailand welcomed
Ismail.

Ismail will also visit Indonesia and the Philippines to gather information
and exchange views concerning Burma. So far, Burma has refused to receive
Ismail.

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THE NATION: KEY BURMA BRIEFING TODAY

20 August, 1998

RANGOON -- Burma's military government said yesterday that it would hold a
news conference today which local sources said was expected to address the
confrontation with Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi's National League
For Democracy.

A spokesman for the Information Ministry did not say what the 0330 GMT
(10.30 am Bangkok time) briefing would be about. 

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BKK POST; AMERICAN DETAINEE URGES NEW PRESSURE

20 August, 1998

TEENAGER DIDN'T KNOW SHE MIGHT BE ARRESTED

HAMILTON, NEW JERSEY, AP

A teenager who was detained in Burma for distributing pro-democracy
leaflets says she has few regrets. But on her second day home in Hamilton
Township, Michele Keegan said she might have done a few things differently.

"I really didn't think it would take this much effort to get me home," the
19-year-old said at a news conference on Tuesday.

New Jersey Representative Christopher Smith flew to Thailand last week in
an effort to help secure the release of Ms Keegan and five other American
activists.

Authorities in Burma detained a total of 18 foreigners on August 9 for
distributing leaflets urging the Burmese to fight for human rights and
democracy.

Burma has been ruled by the military since 1962. More than 3,000
demonstrators were gunned down during a 1988 uprising against the military.

Ms Keegan urged Americans to send a message to the Burmese government by
supporting calls for a boycott of American companies still doing business
there.

Ms Keegan, who arrived at Newark International Airport on Monday, said she
wonders if she would have entered Burma at all if she knew what it would
take for her to leave.

"I think for the cause it was worthwhile, but it was a lot for me to ask of
somebody ... I didn't intend to get arrested," said Ms Keegan, a student at
American University in Washington.

"I potentially could have been in a lot of danger," she added.

Ms Keegan said she was treated well, eating Chinese and Burmese food while
in detainment.

She said she attended a meeting of the Free Burma Coalition during her
first year at college and heard from Burmese who were involved in the 1988
uprising. Ms Keegan said she thought: "Somebody needs to be a spokesman for
them."

She will	return to university at the end of this month and said she will
continue to advocate democracy and human rights.

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BKK POST: THAILAND ASKS JUNTA TO TALK WITH SUU KYI 

20 August, 1998

TENSIONS BUILDING AS STAND OFF IN 8TH DAY

BY SARITDET MARUKATAT
BANGKOK POST, AGENCIES

Thailand yesterday expressed hope that Burmese opposition leader Aung San
Suu Kyi will be included in future talks between Rangoon's ruling military
regime and her National League for Democracy (NLD).

The Thai position emerged in a Foreign Ministry statement welcoming the
meeting between on Tuesday between Lieutenant General Khin Nyunt,
intelligence chief of the ruling State Peace and Development Council, and
Aung Shwe, chairman of the NLD.

The statement expressed hope that "such dialogues with no preconditions
will resume with an opportunity for the participation of Mrs Aung San Suu
Kyi".

Thailand supports national reconciliation among all political parties and
ethnic groups to bring about peace and security in the neighbouring
country, it added.

Ministry spokesman Kobsak Chutikul maintained that the stated hope for the
inclusion of Mrs Suu Kyi did not amount to interference in Burmese affairs.
Thailand must demonstrate its stance on issues which could affect this
country, he added.

Problems in Burma could be a setback for Thailand in areas such as border
and narcotics control, he said.

Tension runs high in Burma as the opposition keeps up pressure for the
government to convene the parliament elected eight years ago when the NLD
won a landslide victory. Mrs Suu Kyi yesterday was on the eighth day of her
stand-off against the government on a rural roadside where her attempt to
visit party members upcountry was halted. 

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan yesterday agreed to a visit to
Thailand by Razali Ismail, the special envoy of the United Nations
secretary-general on Burma, according to the spokesman.

Mr Razali, who also is special adviser to Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir
Mohamad, will visit Thailand soon, while waiting for the green light from
Burma to enter the country, Mr Kobsak said.

His trip, which will also include Indonesia and the Philippines, is to
gather information and views about Burma, the spokesman added.

Her food running low, Mrs Suu Kyi was visited yesterday by her doctors.

Burmese authorities said they allowed her two personal physicians to visit
the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner in her van, parked on a bridge 32
kilometres west of Rangoon, and they planned to do so again today.

They also permitted the doctors to visit her on Tuesday, during which the
physicians informed Mrs Suu Kyi of Aung Shwe's meeting with Khin Nyunt.

At the same time, the All Burma Students Democratic Front, an exiles'
opposition group, claimed yesterday authorities in the country's second
largest city, Mandalay, were offering cash rewards for information on who
had been placing anti-military stickers around the city.

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BKK POST: SECOND JOURNALIST OUSTED BY RANGOON

20 August, 1998

AP

Rangoon -- A French journalist has become the second foreign newsman
expelled from Burma this week for entering the country under the pretense
of being tourists, official newspapers reported yesterday.

Philippe Grangereau was deported on Monday for "illegally gathering
information" while in the country on a tourist visa, newspapers said.
Cassette tapes and documents hidden on his body were seized.

Mr Grangereau, who works for the Paris newspaper Liberation, had apparently
met officials of the opposition NLD.

On Tuesday, the military regime said an Italian journalist, Maurizio
Giouliano, who was blacklisted for illicitly gathering news earlier this
month was expelled while, tried to enter the country again. 

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

BKK POST: BURMA MOVES TOWARDS SUU KYI'S DEMOCRACY DEADLINE

20 August, 1998

BY DAVID BRUNNSTROM, BANGKOK, REUTERS

An opposition deadline for Burma to transform its military government into
a new Asian democracy looms tomorrow, but no miracles are expected.

Burma's National League for Democracy (NLD) has given the deadline for the
country's ruling generals to call parliament in recognition of the results
of a general election eight years ago it won by a landslide.

But with the NLD's charismatic leader Aung San Suu Kyi still stuck on a
rural roadside after an eight-day protest for basic political freedoms and
her party under a daily barrage of criticism from the state-run media,
analysts do not expect sudden miracles.

Nor do they expect any dramatic reaction in the form of mass street
demonstrations if the deadline is ignored.

"I should be very, very surprised if they call parliament on Friday," said
a diplomat in Rangoon. "At the same time I don't think mass demonstrations
are part of NLD's current agenda."

The military, the source of political power in Burma since 1962, is
extremely intolerant of street protests.

In 1988 it stepped in to take direct control when the country was engulfed
by a nationwide uprising for democracy, killing thousands of demonstrators
in the process say opposition groups.

But diplomats, exiles and non-governmental organisations believe the NLD
will find various ways to keep up the pressure on the military even after
the deadline passes.

"This is all part of a rolling programme of pressure," said the diplomat.

"I'm not sure it's really the sort of ultimatum day some people abroad say
it is. The date in itself is not the real point, it's more about keeping up
the pressure."

Analysts say Mrs Suu Kyi has been brilliantly successful in highlighting
the lack of basic freedoms through her roadside stand-offs with the
authorities in the past two months.

In a previous incident at the end of July she garnered world-wide attention
and the government suffered the indignity of being hauled over the coals at
a meeting of the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean). Mrs Suu
Kyi endured a six-day showdown before being forcibly returned to the capital.

The government's embarrassment deepened earlier this month when foreign
activists handed out leaflets at tourist sites across Rangoon calling on
people to remember the 1988 uprising.

Eighteen, including 11 from Burma's Asean allies Thailand, Malaysia, the
Philippines and Indonesia, and six Americans, were sentenced to five years
with hard labour and then deported.

Diplomats say such incidents have not only embarrassed the generals but
have had a negative effect on the tourism industry, which the government
has tried, largely unsuccessfully, to build into a significant foreign
exchange earner.

While the military boasted over the years that it never has and never will
give in to outside pressure, in recent days Rangoon-based diplomats say
there have been some signs that might possibly indicate a willingness for
eventual compromise.

On Tuesday, NLD chairman Aung Shwe and the powerful head of military
intelligence and senior government member Khin Nyunt held the first meeting
between the government and opposition in more than a year.

While no details have emerged, Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt afterwards called the
meeting "fruitful" and said he hoped it would be the first in a series of
confidence-building talks with the NLD.

However, the opposition stood by a demand that it would not enter a formal
dialogue with the military unless such talks include Mrs Suu Kyi, something
the military has always resisted.

Yesterday, a commentary carried in all three government newspapers appeared
to hold out an olive branch; hinting Mrs Suu Kyi might be able to
participate in the "national task". 

"I hope that if she has a clear and objective view on holding a dialogue
with the government, the people's desires and the government's
nation-building endeavours, the entire public and the... government will
wholeheartedly welcome her approach to participate in the national task,"
it said.

Diplomats said it was too early to say if this was a peace offering or
merely a new tack to convince Mrs Suu Kyi to back down.

In recent days state newspaper's and the government have appeared to blow
hot and cold towards the opposition.

The same commentary accused Mrs Suu Kyi of "trying to corner the nation"
and embarrass it overseas. On Monday, government-run news papers described
the NLD as the "Number One Enemy".

In addition, the government has ridiculed Mrs Suu Kyi's latest protest by
sending gifts, including a beach umbrella and a mobile bathroom, to suggest
she is on a camping holiday.

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THE NATION: PTT TO PLEAD WITH BURMA OVER BREACH OF CONTRACT

20 August, 1998

BY WATCHARAPONG THONGRUNG, THE NATION

DELAY in the construction of the Ratchaburi power plant has forced the
Petroleum Authority of Thailand to prepare to negotiate for a relaxation of
terms of the Yadana gas purchase contract signed with Burma to lower the
interest it must pay from its inability to meet contract requirements.

The state-owned firm will seek Cabinet approval for the plan in which it
will cite reasons that are beyond its control to support its proposal for a
relaxation of terms.

Piti Yimprasert, head of PTT's natural gas business, said talks are under
way with other shareholders of the Burmese gas field development project --
Unocal Myanmar Offshore, which holds 28.26 per cent; Total Myanmar
Exploration and Production, 31.24 per cent; PTT Exploration and Production,
25.5 per cent; and the oil and gas state enterprise of Burma, 15 per cent.

The PTT proposal is for gas to be paid for according to the amount actually
delivered to the Ratchaburi power plant, while the rest of the delivery
under contract will be maintained in the field. According to the contract,
delivery, starting this month, will amount to 65 million cubic feet per
day, but PTT expects actual delivery of only 5 million cubic feet per day
due to delays in the Ratchaburi project, the user of the gas.

While maintaining the contractual remainder in the field, PTT will pay
interest on this undelivered amount at Libor plus 1 percentage point when
it is delivered for actual use.

According to the contract, gas payment will be settled on a monthly basis.
Amounts short of contract or surplus of contract will be settled on a
yearly basis.

Piti said PTT will also ask for deferment of payment for the gas if there
are reasons beyond its control.

PTT is currently buying 200-300 million cubic feet per day of gas from
Unocal and Total from the Gulf of Thailand -- more than the contractual
amount for this field. It plans, however, to bring purchases from this
field down, to the contractual amount while buying more from the Yadana
field to meet the contract with Burma.

To support this plan, PTT will build delivery pipelines from Ratchaburi to
Wang Noi, Ayudhaya to supply the Burmese has to Wang Noi and other power
plants.

He said revenue of Unocal and Total will not be affected since purchases
will be shifted from sources in the Gulf of Thailand to the Yadana field.

Over the next three years, PTT expects to use up the gas stored in the
Yadana field as the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand is
replacing bunker oil with gas for its power plants.

Besides the Yadana field, PTT will seek to postpone gas purchases from the
Yetakun field, also of Burma, by six months and 1 year from the earlier
schedule of early 2000, because of construction delays of the Ratchaburi
power plant.
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