Daily News- Ociober 01- 2002- Tuesday

  • Border tense in wake of DKBA attack
  • Australian FM to meet Aung San Suu Kyi during visit to Burma
  • Burmese unexpectedly pleased with their military junta for Death sentences to ex-dictator Ne Win's family

    • Border tense in wake of DKBA attack

    The Nation

    The situation remained tense on the Thai-Burma border in Tak province yesterday, a day after several rockets fired by a pro-Rangoon splinter group strayed into Thailand.The shells were fired into Ban Mae Konekane village late on Sunday evening, wounding one villager and damaging at least four homes and two cars.

    More then 130 villagers and Buddhist monks in the area were temporarily evacuated. It is reported they have since returned to their homes under army protection.

    Border officers said the attacks were carried out by the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA), a splinter group that broke away from the rebel Karen National Union (KNU) in 1995 to form an alliance with the military government of Burma.KNU officers accused the DKBA of intentionally firing rockets into Thailand to create confusion.

    The area in question has come under close scrutiny by Thai drugs and security agencies following a number of seizures of methamphetamines on the border near the DKBA- controlled area.Brief exchanges of gunfire between security forces and DKBA units are common but they have never escalated into an all-out fighting.

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    Australian FM to meet Aung San Suu Kyi during visit to Burma

    Source : AFP

    Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer is due to meet Burma's pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi in Rangoon this week during the first visit by an Australian minister in almost 20 years.

    The visit on Wednesday will also be one of the first by a senior western minister since the release of the Nobel Peace Prize winner from house arrest, although she was visited by a senior European Union delegation last month.

    The release in May of Aung San Suu Kyi, general-secretary of the National League for Democracy, raised hopes Burma's military junta may be opening the country to democratic reform.

    The EU delegation, which visited earlier to assess the extent of political progress, had hoped to hold talks with one of Burma's top military leaders but the meeting failed to materialise.

    Australia has been a vocal critic of the detention of political prisoners in Burma in recent years, including the house arrest of Aung San Suu Kyi. But it has kept diplomatic channels open.

    "My visit to Burma will enable me to obtain a first-hand impression of the current situation, including the humanitarian situation, and to register Australia's support for political reconciliation and greater respect for human rights," Downer said in a statement.

    He will also meet with United Nations representatives and non-government organisations during the first visit by an Australian minister since former foreign minister Bill Hayden went in 1983.

    Downer will take advantage of a brief transit stop in Bangkok, Thailand, to meet members of the Thai government and business representatives.

    Australia and Thailand are in negotiations to develop a bilateral free trade agreement.

    He also plans to attend the inaugural South West Pacific Dialogue Ministerial Meeting to be hosted by the Indonesian government in Yogyakarta on October 4-5.

    The South West Pacific Dialogue groups Australia, Indonesia, East Timor, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea and New Zealand.

    From October 6 to 8, Downer will attend the World Economic Forum's East Asia Economic Summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

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    Burmese unexpectedly pleased with their military junta for Death sentences to ex-dictator Ne Win's family

    Source : Time Magazine (Oct 07)

    Justice can be elusive in Burma, but when it comes, it comes with a vengeance.

    On Sept. 26, a Rangoon court found four members of the family of former Burma dictator Ne Win guilty of treason for plotting to overthrow the country's ruling military junta. The sentence: death by hanging for Aye Zaw Win, Ne Win's 54-year-old son-in-law, and grandsons Aye Ne Win, 25; Kyaw Ne Win, 23; and Zwe Ne Win, 21.

    Few tears were shed over the convicted. During his 26 years of dictatorship, Ne Win isolated Burma and led it to economic ruin. His offspring haven't raised the bar. Accustomed to privileges of power, including sweetheart business deals, Aye Zaw Win and the grandsons were cast by prosecutors as gangsters who plotted revolt when authorities threatened their luxurious lifestyles.

    As for Ne Win, 91, he's been under house arrest since the plot was discovered in March. There's doubt he will ever be tried. It's likely the death sentences will be commuted to life in prison by the Supreme Court.

    Still, despised as Burma's current leaders are, they've given Ne Win's clan a long-awaited comeuppance. For once Burmese are cheering the government.

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