Weekly Diary, No. 258 (14 – 20 July 2007)

Weekly Diary, No. 258 (14 – 20 July 2007)
 
·         11TH CONVENTION SESSION BEGINS!
·         IAEA REMEMBERS THAILAND BUT NOT BURMA!
·         DAUGHTER NOT ALLOWED TO LAY WREATH!
 
 
Think Piece
Happy nations have no history.

Belgian proverb, Sayings and Words of Wisdom in English, Chulalongkorn University Press (2005)

 
The World
13 July 2007

World's tallest Bao Xishun, 2.36 meters, meets world's possibly shortest He Pingping, 73 cm. (AP)
 
16 July 2007
Mohamed Elbaradei
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Mohamed Elbaradei confirms the nuclear reactor in North Korea's Yongbyon has been shut down. (Reuters)

 
International Relations
13 July 2007
Kofi Annan
Asean should 'use its peer pressure to steer things right in Burma,' says former UN chief Kofi Annan on his visit to Malaysia. (AP)
 
20 July 2007
Ibrahim Gambari
UN Special representative on Burma Ibrahim Gambari is scheduled to visit Burma next week. It comes soon after he concluded a visit to China, India and Japan last week to consult on the Burma issue. (Irrawaddy)

 
Thai-Burma Relations
13 July 2007
Tear gas has been used in arresting migrant workers sleeping in their shelters in Bangkok's Mahachai. Some 30 migrants without adequate papers are taken to the stations. (Network Media Group)
 
16 July 2007
Surayud Chulanont
Thai PM Surayud Chulanont says the IAEA has promised to cooperate with Thailand's plan to build 2 nuclear power plants. (Irrawaddy)
 
17 July 2007
More than, 1,000 closed circuit television cameras will be installed at every checkpoint in Thailand, including border areas to prevent dangerous incidents and stop trade in illegal products, says Chotchai Suwannaporn, deputy spokesperson for Bangkok. (Irrawaddy)

 
Politics/ Inside Burma
13 July 2007
Aung San Suu Kyi
The NLD sends appeal to junta to send its representative to meet detained Aung San Suu Kyi and seek her consent about legally appealing against her detention. The NLD's request to be allowed to meet her last month was ignored. (Mizzima)
 
15 July 2007
Six Burmese opposition members in exile hold press conference in Maesod saying the junta's charter will not deliver ethnic groups. All had initially taken part in the National Convention.
They include.

• Myint Tun, NLD
• Shay Rae, a former teacher who took part as a farmer in the convention

Only 12 of the more than 1,000 convention representatives are elected, says Myint Tun. (AP)
 
16 July 2007
The Burmese embassy in Bangkok has suspended a plan to invite foreign journalists to cover the final session of the National Convention which begins on 18 July. A one week visa from 12-18 July was changed to 21-27 July. The visa schedule includes a two-day junta sponsored trip to Mon and Karen states. It had allowed more than 50 foreign journalists to the last session. (Irrawaddy)
 
16 July 2007
Six activists who were arrested for participation in a discussion on labor laws at the American Center in Rangoon on 1 May are going on closed door trial in Insein today. They are Nyi Nyi Zaw, Thurein Aung, Kyaw Kyaw, Way Lin, Kyaw Lin and Myo Min. (Mizzima)
 
16 July 2007
The invitation letter from the convention organizers says: only one representative journalist should attend the opening ceremony and not to take cell phones, cassette recorders, purses and bags. Journalists are usually allowed to stay for only 10-15 minutes just after the opening ceremony. (Mizzima)

16-20 July 2007
State constitution drafters hold seminar on the Thai-Burma border to find ways for states to work in harmony with each other and with the federal government to be formed by them. (SHAN)
 
17 July 2007
Maj Gen Ohn Myint
An order was given in Myitkyina last weekend to three Kachin ceasefire groups by Northern Region commander Maj Gen Ohn Myint to halt logging and gold mining activities, prior to the National Convention. (Kachin News Group)
 
18 July 2007
1,058 of 1,071 military opposites delegates attend final session of the National Convention which will go on for the next one-and-a-half months, according to convention chairman Thein Sein. The junta has issued security warnings and has cancelled plans to invite foreign journalists to attend today's opening event. After the winding up of the session, the military council will form a commission to draft the new constitution, says information minister Kyaw Hsan. (Asia-Pacific News) The delegates are asked to review the principles "without deviating from the already agreed guidelines." Thein Sein warns that legal action will be taken against anyone trying to derail the process. (AP)
 
19 July 2007
NLD and ethnic leaders call for dialogue and release of Aung San Suu Kyi and Khun Tun Oo, marking 60th anniversary of Martyrs Day. (DVB) Aung San Suu Kyi is not allowed to lay wreath at her father's mausoleum. (Agencies)

 
Shans/ Shan State
12 July 2007
Shan State Army "South" (SSA) and Shan State Nationalities Peoples Liberation Organization (SNPLO) that recently returned to the armed struggle reach 5-point agreement:

• Unity
• To regroup the SNPLO troops
• Ceasefire inside SNPLO areas
• SSA assistance for SNPLO logistics
• To have liaison officers between the two

(Kantarawaddy Times)

 
Economy/ Business
13 July 2007
One Rangoon-based market researcher estimates that the price of high-quality rice rose 100% last year, chillies 200%, pepper 300% and onions 250%. Inflation came about following salary hike in April 2006. Inflation rate is 10.7% officially but closer to 50% according to western diplomats. (DPA) Rice trading at Bayinnaung market ground to a halt earlier in the month after authorities ordered that the price of vital commodity be frozen, leaving sellers struggling to stay in business. (DVB)
 
15 July 2007
Burma wraps up biggest ever gems auction raking in more than $ tens of millions of dollars. (AFP)
 
15 July 2007
Burmese dissidents led by "independent politician" Win Naing and representatives from NLD and 88 Generation hold religious ceremony in Rangoon where they urge the junta to curb rampant inflation by reducing "stealing and lying". Junta estimate of inflation is at 10.7% in 2006, but Western embassies say it was closer to 50%. (The Nation)
 
15 July 2007
Lt-Gen Thein Sein
New Light of Myanmar quotes Lt-Gen Thein Sein saying only 4,000 of 40,000 registered companies are open for business. Most have little capital and weak access to foreign markets. He said the state is ready to help increase the number of companies that can do business globally. (VOA)

 
Human Rights
13 July 2007
Htay Htay Win, an employee at Insein Garment Factory, sacked following accusation that she had failed to report her husband and son's anti-junta activities. (Network Media Group)
 
15 July 2007
Burma is cracking down on using mobile phones illegally imported across the border. There are 146,321 legal mobile phones and 303,228 auto fixed telephones in Burma. GSM phones auto-roam 21 townships up to Monywa in the north, Moulmein in the south, and Taunggyi, Kengtung, Tachilek, Lashio and Muse in the east. It is planning to introduce 140,000 more GSM phones that will cover as far as Myitkyina in the north, and Myawaddy and Kawthaung in the south. (Xinhua) 21 wireless Thai phone owners in Pa-an township arrested over the last two weeks. Hundreds of Thai cordless phones are still used in Mon State. (Independent Mon News Agency)

 
Environment
13 July 2007
18 villages on the Paunglaung dam project area, between Shan State's Panglawng and Mandalay's Yezin, have been directed to move out. They are yet to know where they should move to. The new dam has been projected as the water flow of the Paunglaung hydropower project, completed in 2005, was not sufficient to generate consistent power. (DVB)
 
15 July 2007
Up to 80 trucks transporting "mountains of logs" were heading from Laiza into China each day during her visit to the town in April, says a spokeswoman for Pan Kachin Development Society (PKDS). This is in spite of "efforts" to halt the trade. "If we get a logging permit for 10 tons from an official, we cut at least 30 tons", one former military man who was involved in the trade says. (AFP)
 
16 July 2007
An agreement was reached last weekend between Dhaka and Pyinmana to collaborate on a hydropower project in Arakan and Chin states. (Irrawaddy)

 
Drugs

 
War
13 July 2007
Maj Tha Shee, the KNU's intelligence officer, shot dead near Mae La camp by an unknown armed group. Thai authorities beef up security as a result. (Irrawaddy)
 
16 July 2007
Indian project to sell Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) to the Burmese junta is making a mockery of the 19 year old EU arms embargo, says AI report published today, France, Belgium, Germany, Sweden, Italy and Britain provide components and technology for it, without which the Indian manufactured helicopter would not be operational. (AFP)
 
16 July 2007
In response to AI report, a senior Indian official says India has to do something to deal with "massively increasing Chinese influence in Burma, which is in our own backyard" or "cut off our noses to spite our face." (The Australian)