Saturday, 31 July 2010 09:05 Perry Santanachote
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – Thailand’s sole purveyor of natural gas, PTT, in Naypyidaw today signed a 30-year gas sales deal with affiliate PTT Exploration and Production and the junta-run Myanma (sic) Oil and Gas Enterprise, the Thai energy minister told a press conference in Bangkok.
Activists however continue to call on firms to pull out of providing such material support to the Burmese regime, which engages in widespread human rights abuses.
PTT Public Company Limited (PTT) signed the agreement...
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Friday, July 30, 2010
MDC chief looks ahead to ask when military will quit parliament
Friday, 30 July 2010 12:18 Khaing Suu
New Delhi (Mizzima) – Party leader, poet and author, Wei Mhu Thwin, says the problem with the upcoming elections was not that 25 per cent of parliamentary seats were reserved for military personnel, but that no one knew when they would quit parliament.
Myanmar Democracy Congress (MDC) general secretary Wei Mhu Thwin, aka Kaung Htet, added the main problem for his own party was to collect funds to meet requirements set out under restrictive electoral laws. “The functioning status of the electoral laws is...
Burma Campaign urges Cameron to press India on Burmese issues
Friday, 30 July 2010 19:11 Kyaw Mya
New Delhi (Mizzima) – Burma Campaign UK has called on British Prime Minister David Cameron and Foreign Secretary William Hague to raise Burmese issues in meetings with their Indian counterparts during their three-day visit to India, according to the rights group.
Among those travelling with Cameron are finance minister George Osborne, Business Secretary Vince Cable and senior British business leaders, who arrived India on Tuesday as the Burmese junta’s entourage of more than 80 ministers and their wives led...
UWSP thwarts rival party canvassing in Wa-controlled special region
Friday, 30 July 2010 23:08 Myint Maung
New Delhi (Mizzima) – The United Wa State Party is refusing to let political parties with close ties to the Burmese ruling junta to carry out party organisational work ahead of this year’s national elections in areas under its control, observers yesterday.
The Wa Democratic and Wa National Unity parties sought permission from the United Wa State Party (UWSP) to conduct party organisational work in Panshang, Mengmawm, Panwai and Naphang townships but senior UWSP leaders rejected their request.
“UWSP did not...
Suu Kyi, NLD leaders confident of her release in November
Friday, 30 July 2010 09:34 Salai Han Thar San
New Delhi (Mizzima) – Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy party’s leaders expect the term of her house arrest to expire in November and her release at that time, her lawyers said on Wednesday.
Lawyers Nyan Win and Kyi Win were permitted to meet Suu Kyi from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. on Wednesday at her ageing lakeside villa on University Avenue, Rangoon.
“Her prison term will be due to end in November. Legally there is no reason for the junta to continue her prison...
Child presumed dead after flood hits ward of northwestern Kalaymyo
Friday, 30 July 2010 00:44 Salai Tun
New Delhi (Mizzima) – Floods in the northwestern Burmese division of Sagaing resulting from torrential rains that lasted six hours early on Tuesday swept away a grade-one pupil on her way to school and inundated at least 50 homes.
Six-year-old Ram Kip Zing slipped into a flooded mountain creek that flows east from the Chin Hills while walking to No. 13 State Primary School, in Taungphila Ward, northwest of Kalaymyo in Sagaing Division. She is the daughter of Kawl Lian Sum and Har Hlei Thiam but searchers have...
N Korean foreign minister meets junta PM Thein Sein
Friday, 30 July 2010 23:12 Mizzima News
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) - The North Korean Foreign Minister Pak Ui-chun met Burmese Prime Minister Thein Sein to discuss some secret issues in Naypyidaw today, according to a source close to the junta’s secluded capital city.
Pak was leading a three-member delegation, which attended private talks with the prime minister at 9 a.m. and later, with Burmese Foreign Minister Nyan Win. He will meet with Information Minister Kyaw Hsan tomorrow, according to the source.....
Thursday, July 29, 2010
USDP in memo accuses NLD of wrongdoing in 1990 election
Thursday, 29 July 2010 20:01 Mizzima News
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – The Burmese junta-sponsored Union Solidarity and Development Party has accused the National League for Democracy party of rigging votes in the 1990 general election through “biased” polling booth officials, a copy of its directive to USDP branches obtained by Mizzima says.
The comprehensive guidelines include a statement expressing confidence that the party led by Prime Minister Thein Sin will win in upcoming national elections, the first since the NLD won an overwhelming parliamentary...
North Korean FM visits Burma
Thursday, 29 July 2010 12:49 Mizzima News
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) - North Korean Foreign Minister Pak Ui-Chun kicked off his four-day official visit to Burma after arriving in Rangoon on Thursday.
The North Korean delegation led by Mr. Pak Ui-Chun, who attended a Regional Security meeting in Hanoi, arrived in the former capital on a Thai Airways flight. The delegation will also visit Naypyidaw, the seat of the military government.
Sources in Naypyidaw have confirmed the meeting between North Korean Foreign Minister and his Burmese counterpart...
North Korean Foreign Minister arrives in Rangoon
Thursday, 29 July 2010 14:15 Mizzima News
Following the diplomatic thaw between North Korea and Burma, a delegation led by North Korea’s Foreign Minister Pak Ui Chan arrived in Rangoon by a Thai Airways flight on Thursday morning. This is the first such visit following diplomatic ties being re-established between the two countries since 2007.
North Korea’s Foreign Minister, who is staying in Sedona Hotel in Rangoon, visited the Shwedagon Pagoda and the National Museum on the first day of his four-day visit....
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
700 Karen refugees from junta attacks need emergency aid
Wednesday, 28 July 2010 23:23 Myint Maung
New Delhi (Mizzima) – More than 700 war refugees in Karen State who fled into the forest towards the Thai border after junta army units shelled and burned down their villages, one of them a Christian centre, now need emergency food and medical aid, a Karen leader has said.
The Burmese Army’s Light Infantry Battalions 370 and 361 bombarded a Christian village with about 40 mortar shells on July 23, damaging at least 50 homes, a church and a middle school, the Karen National Union (KNU), which is waging...
Shwedagon Pagoda monasteries sealed after monks, students evicted
Wednesday, 28 July 2010 21:56 Kyaw Kha
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – Three monasteries in the Shwedagon Pagoda compound lie dormant on order of the pagoda’s junta-controlled board of trustees, which sealed the scripture houses this week after evicting resident monks, temple residents and monks said. The evictions have forced the monks to break their Buddhist lent rule against travel.
The board alleged the monks at Daw Hla Sin Pitakat Taik, Shwe Hin Thar Pitakat Taik and Nyaung Done Pitakat Taik were living with laymen at the monasteries and ordered...
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Censorship rule puts electoral laws, constitution off-limits, editors say
Tuesday, 27 July 2010 22:57 Phanida
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – The new regulation imposed by the junta’s censor board that bars domestic journals from misquoting the constitution or electoral laws has cowed journalists, who say they dare not write anything on the subjects.
The July 20 directive issued by state censor, the Press Scrutiny and Registration Board, which is administered by the Ministry of Information, calls for “correct and complete quoting of the constitution, electoral laws and its rules”. It also warns domestic journals that stern...
Myawaddy-Mae Sot border trade takes a hit
Tuesday, 27 July 2010 13:06 Usa Pichai
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – The closing of the Myawaddy-Mae Sot border, initiated by Burmese authorities earlier this month, has drawn the concern of businessmen regarding the impact the action may have on the lucrative border trade.
Banpot Kokiatcharoen, Chairman of the Tak Chamber of Commerce, told Mizzima that the border closing has obviously had a negative effect on trade and worries to what extent trade may be further hampered.
“Thai officials have ordered construction to stop on the controversial wall...
Burmese activists in Delhi label Than Shwe a war criminal
Tuesday, 27 July 2010 13:04 Myint Maung
New Delhi (Mizzima) – Instead of rubbing shoulders with Indian leaders, Burma’s military strongman should be on trial at the International Criminal Court for crimes committed against his own people, contend members of the Burmese Diaspora community in New Delhi.
More than 300 Burmese activists in India’s capital yesterday protested against the visit of Burma’s military leader, Than Shwe, who arrived in News Delhi on Monday.
The protesters waved banners reading “Than Shwe get out of India”, “Wanted: Than...
Monday, July 26, 2010
New Kachin party to contest in Kachin State
Monday, 26 July 2010 13:46 Phanida
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – A new Kachin party with established links to the military regime and business enterprises in Kachin State is preparing to contest this year’s upcoming elections.
The Unity and Democracy Party of Kachin State (UDPKS) consists of Kachin, Shan and Burmese ethnic nationalities, being established in June in the Kachin State capital of Myitkyina.
According to locals, former pro-junta Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA) members formed the party following the urging of Ministry...
Dictator’s tour group arrives at five-star hotel in New Delhi
Monday, 26 July 2010 23:03 Mizzima News
New Delhi (Mizzima) – Burmese junta leader Senior General Than Shwe and his entourage arrived at the five-star luxury ITC Maurya Hotel in New Delhi last night at about 6:50 p.m., according to a manager at the hotel, on their five-day official visit to India which started on Sunday.
The dictator’s delegation of more than 80-members includes junta ministers and their wives, on Sunday and yesterday took in holy sites – Bodhgaya in Bihar State, where Buddha had achieved enlightenment under the Bodhi tree,...
Junta leaders visit Bodhgaya temple to pray, donate funds
Monday, 26 July 2010 20:23 Mizzima News
New Delhi (Mizzima) – Junta leader Senior General Than Shwe and his entourage took a chartered flight yesterday to the revered Buddhist site of Bodhgaya, where they offered prayers and gave cash donations at the Mahabodhi Temple today, during an official visit to India, according to Indian media reports and monks.
The chairman of the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), the Burmese military junta’s name for itself, Than Shwe, at the head of an 81-member delegation, visited Bodhgaya, the site attributed...
India urged to press Than Shwe for rights, democratic reforms
Monday, 26 July 2010 16:56 Mizzima News
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – As Burmese military leader Senior General Than Shwe continues his five-day state visit to India, pressure is mounting on New Delhi to supplant near-term economic and military interests with support for Burma’s pro-democracy opposition.
Human rights activists and Indian parliamentarians are calling for the Indian government to take the opportunity of Than Shwe’s visit to press the junta leader for democratic reforms in Burma.
New York-based Human Rights Watch said in a statement...
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Washington renews Burma sanctions
Saturday, 24 July 2010 01:13 Mizzima News
(Mizzima) – U.S. President Barack Obama’s administration on Thursday renewed sanctions against military-ruled Burma for an additional year, the move premised on concerns over the regime’s continued record on human rights and democratization as well as alleged ties to North Korea and nuclear proliferation.
The Senate voted 99 to 1 to support the sanctions.
Senate Committee Finance Chairman Max Baucus said in a statement, “As long as the Burmese junta continues to oppress its people and violate human...
Cautious optimism greets Burmese minister’s overtures on labor rights
Saturday, 24 July 2010 01:03 Kyaw Kha
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – Burmese migrant workers responded with cautious optimism to the words of Burma’s Deputy Foreign Minister yesterday, in which he urged the Thai Labor Minister not to arrest and prosecute Burmese migrant workers in Thailand.
Deputy Minister Maung Myint voiced his concern, as reported in Burma’s state-run New Light of Myanmar, while meeting with his Thai counterpart on the 15th of this month in the town of Pretcha Chirikan in Thailand.
A five-member Burmese delegation headed by the Deputy...
Friday, July 23, 2010
Floods wash away homes in Phakant
Friday, 23 July 2010 22:35 Myint Maung
New Delhi (Mizzima) – Following heavy downpours resulting in severe flooding, houses in a region of Kachin State famous for its jade mines have literally floated away, according to local residents.
Heavy rain, which started on the evening of July 20th, inundated the Ngapyawtaw, Myoma, Ayemyathaya and Mashikataung quarters of the village of Nantmaphyit in Phakant District, washing some five houses away. Only Mohang quarter, situated on high ground, was spared damage, residents said.
“The main road is 150...
Over 4,500 refugees in need of anti-malarial drugs
Friday, 23 July 2010 17:36 Kyaw Kha
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – Forced to flee their homes with little more than the clothes on their backs and seek shelter in Burma’s dense jungles, Karen villagers trying to escape Burmese government military offensives are being exposed to malaria carrying mosquitoes at an alarming rate.
According to the Thai-based Committee for Internally Displaced Karen People (CIDKP), over 4,500 war refugees hiding in the forests east of Taungoo District in Pegu Division are in desperate need of medicine to combat malaria.
The...
Thursday, July 22, 2010
India to keep silent on 2010 election, opposition says
Thursday, 22 July 2010 12:43 Khai Suu
New Delhi (Mizzima) – The Indian government will be tight lipped regarding the upcoming 2010 Burmese general election, possibly preferring to focus on their own economic interests, according to pro-democracy activists in New Delhi.
The assessment comes as a senior Burmese delegation is preparing to visit India.
During his scheduled visit to India from the 25th to 29th of this month, Burmese Head-of-State Senior General Than Shwe will meet with Indian Presdient Pratibha Patel, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh...
NLD urges Canada to probe Ivanhoe over sanctions, driver
Thursday, 22 July 2010 12:46 Thomas Maung Shwe
A National League for Democracy member of parliament elected in Burma’s annulled 1990 election and labour minister in Burma’s exiled government, the National Coalition Government for the Union of Burma, has formally asked the Canadian government to investigate Canadian firm Ivanhoe Mines for violating Ottawa’s sanctions against Burma.
The Vancouver-based mining company led by controversial chairman Robert Friedland stands accused by advocacy group, the Canadian Friends of Burma, of secretly selling...
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