STUDENTS STAGE PROTEST IN SITTWE (BURMA)

This opposition movement arisen from the region filled with opposition spirit and having high anti-government attitude, scared the authority. "The school ferry followed the protesting students and met them at Bandoola junction, about 8 miles from their college, but the students refused to board the ferry and came back to their homes on foot", one of the demonstrators said. This is the exam period and the students staged demonstration in protest of school authority's harsh treatment to them in dealing with them, he said.Sittwe Technical College responded by phone, “Nothing happened, everything is over and OK", when contacted by Mizzima. About 150 monks launched silent protest of marching in procession in Sittwe on Saturday morning marking the first anniversary of Saffron Revolution. This demonstration erupted amid the tight security imposed in all major cities in Burma to prevent the fresh monks-led demonstration again.

Burmese regime's barking dog urges lifting 'counter-productive' sanctions

"These sanctions are unwarranted," he told the UN General Assembly, referring to "unilateral" sanctions imposed by the European Union and the United States.
The sanctions were imposed on Myanmar's military regime for its refusal to release political prisoners, including democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, end repression of minority groups and start genuine national reconciliation.
"They are not only unfair but immoral. They are counter-productive and deprive the countries of their right to development," Nyan Win said.
He also pointed out that Myanmar has "abundant land and natural resources to be able to make a meaningful contribution to energy and food security of our country and beyond."
"In order for us to fulfill our potential we need unfettered access to markets. We need modern technology. We need investment," the Myanmar minister added. "The sooner the unjust sanctions are revoked and the barriers removed, the sooner will the country be in a position to become the rice bowl of the region and a reliable source of energy."
Last July, US President George W. Bush renewed a ban on imports from Myanmar and also signed a new law that aims to keep Myanmar's gems from entering US markets via third-party countries.
In parallel, the US Treasury Department slapped financial sanctions on 10 companies owned or controlled by the Myanmar government or government officials, including companies involved in the gem trade.
The European Union also tightened its own sanctions against Myanmar in May, including an embargo on the import of timber, gems and metals from Myanmar.
The 27-nation bloc also extended the list of Myanmar leaders and their relatives subject to a travel ban and assets freeze.

Burma’s State Media Still Mum on Tainted Milk Powder

“Most families are still using the cheap Chinese-made unsafe milk powder,” a Rangoon resident said. “The government hasn’t publicized to avoid use of China-imported milk powder in state-run newspapers.”She said the general public has received no clear information from state-run media about tainted baby milk formula. The semi-official Myanmar Times weekly newspaper earlier published a story that said all imported dairy products from China had been banned, but failed to cite the reason. There was no mention of specific brands.

The newspaper reported on Monday that the Burmese Commerce Minister said it barred entry of all dairy products made in China since Tuesday last week.
The health ministry is testing samples of dairy products, especially from China, according to Kyaw Myint, a health ministry official, the newspaper reported.
According to the report, Burmese military government said it will destroy 16 tons of powdered milk made by one of the 22 Chinese dairy companies that produced melamine-tainted products. The milk was confiscated in Rangoon last week.
However, the Chinese brands of Yashili, Suncare and Red Cow milk powder are popular in Burma and are still selling at local markets in Rangoon, said a sales manager at a Rangoon commodity company.
“I found prohibited milk powder at local markets,” he said. “Most people can’t afford Thai imported milk powder, so they buy the [Chinese] milk powder because it is cheaper than other imported milk powder.”
“A 500-gram box of Chinese-made Red Cow is 800 kyat (US $0.64). Thai-made milk powder is four times more,” he said.
He said some Rangoon stores, including City Mart stores and Ocean Supercenter, have informed customers that they are not selling Chinese-made milk powder.
Meanwhile, the privately owned weekly Voice Journal published on Monday reported that some Rangoon supermarkets and local markets are still selling Chinese-made milk powder.
The Sanlu Group, based in Shijiazhuang, one of China’s best-known dairy product companies recalled 700 tonnes of its formula on September 12 after the product was linked to the tainted milk scandal, which so far has made 53,000 Chinese children ill and caused the death of at least four babies.
Melamine can cause kidney stones and other complications. An ingredient in plastics and fertilizers, the chemical has been banned in foods, but was introduced by dairy suppliers in China to give watered-down milk the appearance of having higher protein levels.
China is the world’s second biggest market for baby milk powder. Sanlu has been the top-selling company in the sector for 15 years, with 18.3 percent of sales in 2007. In 2006, the country produced 32.2 million tons of milk, up from 8.6 million tons in 2000.
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MONKS STAGE PROTEST IN BURMA AND NLD HOLD ANNIVERSARY

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Meanwhile, in the country's biggest city, Yangon, recently released political prisoners helped celebrate the 20th anniversary of the founding of the party led by the detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The police and other security personnel kept a close watch Saturday on the headquarters of the party, the National League for Democracy.
No protests directly related to the anniversary of the crackdown were noted in Yangon, where the demonstrations last year drew up to 100,000 people. The junta put down the protests with force, killing at least 31 and detaining thousands.
But in the western port city of Sittwe, about 100 Buddhist monks marched peacefully in heavy rain for about 30 minutes, according to witnesses who asked not to be named for fear of being harassed by the authorities.
The monks' march took the form of their morning round of begging for alms, but it is widely understood that such a large number of monks marching in an organized fashion represents a veiled protest.In Yangon, six truckloads of riot police officers with shields and batons were deployed near the opposition party offices. People attending the ceremony there were videotaped and watched by at least 50 plainclothes security personnel.
The ceremony, attended by about 350 people, including National League for Democracy members, diplomats and reporters, was also a homecoming for Win Tin, a senior party member who was freed last week after 19 years in jail.
In an anniversary statement, the party reiterated its call for the immediate release of all political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi - who has spent 13 of the past 19 years under house arrest - and her deputy, Tin Oo. It also called for the freedom of Buddhist monks and ethnic leaders arrested by the junta.
The National League for Democracy was founded in 1988 after an abortive pro-democracy uprising and since then has faced nearly constant harassment from the ruling junta. When the party's candidates won a majority in general elections in 1990, the military refused to let it take power.
Separately on Saturday, the so-called Group of Friends, which includes the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the European Union, the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France, called on the ruling junta to release all political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi, and to start talks with the opposition.

NLD HOLDS ITS ANNIVERSARY IN RANGOON AND FORT WAYNE
-->“Win Tin said the fight for democracy hasn’t ended yet,” NLD spokesman Win Naing told ,“He said the NLD alone can’t work it out. He said we need to cooperate together with ethnic and pro-democracy forces.”

Freed as part of a government amnesty, the NLD’s Win Tin and Khin Maung Swe were appointed to the party’s Central Executive Committee, while another released member, Than Nyein, was reassigned to his former position as vice-chairman of the Rangoon Division Organizing Committee, according to NLD spokesman Win Naing.
Prominent ethnic Arakanese leader Aye Thar Aung, who is secretary of the Committee Representing the People’s Parliament (CRPP), welcomed the return of the NLD members and said he believed that the CRPP should also be more active in dealing with the NLD.
Aye Thar Aung told The Irrawaddy that the NLD had not been able to bring about any tangible improvements in democratic reform in Burma within the last 20 years as hoped.
Before his 19 years in prison, Win Tin served as a secretary of the NLD and was senior advisor to detained leader Aung San Suu Kyi. He was arrested in 1989 and sentenced to a total of 20 years imprisonment on a series of trumped up charges, such as “instigation to civil disobedience” and “secretly publishing anti-government propaganda.”
He was released on September 23 along with 9,001 other prisoners, only a handful of whom are considered political prisoners. According to a Thailand-based human rights group, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma), there are more than 2,000 political prisoners still behind bars in Burma.
During the 20th anniversary ceremony in Rangoon, Win Tin called for the release of all political prisoners, including the detained Buddhist monks, Tin Oo of the NLD and leaders of the 88 Generation Students group—Min Ko Naing, Ko Ko Gyi and Htay Kywe.
That same day, several members of the NLD—including active youth member Htet Htet Oo Wai—were arrested by security forces and later released, said Nyan Win, the party’s spokesman.
On September 22, the NLD released a statement calling for a review of the junta’s constitutional process. The statement urged Burmese authorities to reconsider the state constitution, calling the draft constitution “one-sided” and lacking the participation of the 1990-elected members of parliament.
Then on Saturday at the anniversary ceremony, the NLD released another statement calling for the ruling junta to release all political prisoners, reopen NLD offices and convene a people’s parliament. More than 300 participants, including NLD members, veteran Burmese politicians and foreign diplomats, attended the 20th anniversary of the NLD’s founding. The NLD was later warned by the head of Burma’s police, Brig-Gen Khin Yi, to withdraw its statement, because the authorities saw it potentially motivating citizens to undertake activities critical of the military government. The NLD is the main opposition party in Burma and won a landslide victory—392 out of 492 seats—in parliamentary elections in 1990. However, the current Burmese government, led by Snr-Gen Than Shwe, ignored the election results and refused to transfer power to Suu Kyi’s NLD.

Ban Reviews Latest Developments In MyanmarMonday

, 29 September 2008, 9:51 amPress Release: United Nations
Myanmar: Ban reviews latest developments with ‘Group of Friends’
27 September 2008 – Members of a group of nations helping Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in his efforts to spur change in Myanmar today encouraged the Government of the Asian country to work more closely with the UN to deal with issues of concern, including the release of the long-detained political prisoner Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.
The Group of Friends on Myanmar, which comprises 14 countries and one regional bloc, also unanimously backed the Secretary-General’s good offices on this issue and its implementation through his Special Adviser, Ibrahim Gambari. The Group’s comments were made in a statement issued by the spokesperson of Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who convened and chaired a high-level meeting of the countries in New York today.
That statement described today’s meeting as “a useful and constructive discussion,” and noted that the involvement of so many high-level officials indicated “the importance that the international community attaches to the situation in Myanmar.”
The participants included the Secretary-General of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the High Representative of the European Union (EU), as well as government ministers from concerned countries, according to the statement.
“While noting the recent actions taken by the Government of Myanmar, members of the Group also further encouraged it to work more closely with and respond more positively with the United Nations good offices to address key issues of concern to the international community, especially the release of prisoners, including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, and the initiation of an all-inclusive dialogue between the Government and the opposition.”
Ms. Suu Kyi has been under house arrest for 12 of the past 18 years and her current period of detention started in 2003.
The Group of Friends also “encouraged all parties in Myanmar to seize the opportunity of the UN good offices, while stressing the responsibility of the Myanmar Government to demonstrate its stated commitment to cooperation with the good offices through further tangible results.”
The Group, founded in December last year, represents a balanced range of views on Myanmar and was set up to hold informal discussions and develop shared approaches to support UN efforts. The Friends are: Australia, China, the EU, France, India, Indonesia, Japan, Norway, Russia, Singapore, the Republic of Korea, Thailand, the United Kingdom, the United States and Viet Nam.

JUNTA THREATENS AND FIRST LADY ASKS FOR FREE

A spokesman for Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party, Nyan Win, said police chief Maj. Gen. Khin Yi and two other officials delivered the warning to six senior party leaders at a meeting Thursday (25 Sept).
The police chief said that a recent party statement saying that "the majority of the people do not accept this constitution, which was illegally approved by force" amounts to inciting the public, according to Nyan Win.
The party's statement charged that the authorities used coercion, intimidation, deception and misrepresentation to get voters' approval for the constitution in a national referendum held in May this year. The junta claimed the constitution won approval of 92% of the voters.
"The police chief told the party leaders that the facts mentioned in the recent party statement amount to instigating the people and legal action can be taken," Nyan Win said.
The party leaders refused to withdraw the statement, he said.
Suu Kyi's party also said that the constitution was not written by elected representatives but "unilaterally drawn up by the delegates hand-picked by the authorities."
The ruling generals had billed the May constitutional referendum as an important step in their "road map to democracy."
The plan promises voters in Myanmar first chance for voters to cast ballots since 1990. The country had been without a charter since the current junta seized power in 1988 and threw out the last constitution.
The National League for Democracy won elections in 1990, but the military refused to hand over power. Nobel Peace Prize laureate Suu Kyi has been detained for 13 of the last 19 years.

Release Aung San Suu Kyi: Laura Bush

The first lady said that the Burmese military regime has ignored the entreaties of the international community.
"It has treated the United Nations special envoy with disregard," she said. "Through its actions, the regime has reaffirmed its disdain for the will and the well-being of the people of Burma. The military leaders carried out a sham constitutional referendum, extended Aung San Suu Kyi's house arrest and continued to arrest political activists." Referring to the Saffron Revolution in 2007, she said tens of thousands of Burmese monks and ordinary citizens took to the streets to demonstrate for freedom, economic progress and basic human rights.
"The world watched in horror as Than Shwe ordered his military to begin a brutal crackdown. Soldiers sprayed bullets into unarmed crowds. They imprisoned thousands in cramped cells," she said.
"Monks who led the protests were beaten, arrested, and killed—and their monasteries were raided in nighttime attacks. In response, international organizations and governments around the world condemned Burma's military regime, called for the release of all political prisoners and demanded a genuine dialogue on transition to a democratic government," she said.
Laura Bush said the United States will continue to work with the international community to hold the regime accountable for its actions and to intensify pressure on the regime to meet these basic requirements.

SYDNEY ACTIVISTS HOLD THE FIRST ANNIVERSARY OF SAFFRON REVOLUTION

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SPYING THE MOONK (1ST ANNIVERSARY OF SAFFRON REVOLUTION)

BOMB BLAST ON THE ANNIVERSARY EVE(FULL STORY)

"I have lost hope in the future of the country. A regime that can kill monks will not give up its power easily. There could only be more bloodshed if people go out on the streets again," Maung Maung, a 52-year-old electrician, said in Yangon this week.
An explosion injured seven people near Yangon's City Hall on Thursday, indicating some remnants of the violence may remain. Riot police poured into the area where the explosion occurred and sealed it off with yellow tape, adding to the already tight security in place around the city since late August.
After putting down the biggest and most sustained demonstrations since 1988 — when a popular uprising failed in an attempt to end 26 years of army-backed rule — the military now looks set to proceed virtually unchallenged with its so-called road map to democracy.
Having pushed through a new constitution that enshrines the military's leading role in politics — engineering a 92 percent "yes" vote in a national referendum in May — the junta, formally known as the State Peace and Development Council, or SPDC, is preparing to hold a general election in 2010 totally on its own terms.
Provisions of the new constitution would also bar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi from holding any kind of political office in Myanmar, also known as Burma.
"It is hard to envisage the planned elections being disrupted in any significant way at all. People will largely vote as instructed, just as they agreed to hand in pre-marked voting cards to endorse the new constitution," said Monique Skidmore, a University of Canberra professor and an expert on Myanmar.
"Fear is an incredibly powerful weapon in Burma and the population knows well when the SPDC will brook no resistance."
The number of political prisoners in Myanmar has roughly doubled, to about 2,000 from 1,000 a year ago, according to the United Nations and Amnesty International. The prisoners include most of the country's smartest and most dedicated activists.
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Suu Kyi, detained for 13 of the past 19 years, remains a lonely and isolated figure under house arrest, forced to threaten a hunger strike to get such concessions as being allowed to receive mail from her sons in England.
Her National League for Democracy party, meanwhile, ponders the unappealing choice of taking part in the 2010 election under what are certain to be onerous conditions, or boycotting the polls, leaving them even further out in the cold. The party won a 1990 election, but the military refused to let Parliament convene.
The regime has not been able to snuff out all defiance.
Win Tin, a 78-year-old stalwart of Suu Kyi's party, was unbending in his conviction after being released this week following 19 years imprisonment.
"I will have to continue the unfinished task, which is to achieve democracy in the country," he told reporters.
Those who remain behind bars are said to be equally resolute.
U Gambira, one of the most prominent activist monks arrested last year, insists he be tried under Buddhist clerical law rather than by the military authorities, according to his lawyer, Aung Thein.
Activists of the Generation 88 Students group, who organized most of the major nonviolent protests of recent years, are demanding they be tried in open court, without handcuffs and with the media present.
Last year's protests began on Aug. 19, 2007, after the government sharply raised fuel prices in what is one of Asia's poorest countries. Economic troubles underpinned the protests.
A sharp increase in poverty levels combined with a health and education system in ruins — along with the lack of any kind of welfare system — meant that spikes in commodity or fuel prices put an unbearable strain on people, said Skidmore.
"These issues combined to create a peaceful uprising of people not normally involved in pro-democracy causes," she said.
But the protests over economic conditions were faltering until the monks took the leadership and assumed a role they played in previous battles against British colonialism and military dictators.
"By 2007, a new generation of monks had come of age since the nationwide failed democracy uprising in 1988," said Skidmore. "Young, frustrated and seeing the suffering of the people on a daily basis, they were unafraid to mobilize."
At first the monks simply chanted and prayed. But as the public joined their marches, the demonstrators demanded a dialogue between the government and opposition parties and freedom for political prisoners, as well as adequate food, shelter and clothing.
When the government hesitated to confront them — aware of the taboo on attacking the revered representatives of the country's Buddhist religion — people were emboldened to come out.
The tipping point came on Sept. 24, 2007, when a stunning line of some 100,000 marchers stretching as far as the eye could see, wound its way across town, cheered on by onlookers.
A day later, a curfew was declared. Then, on Sept. 26, 2007, the guns came out.
In the following weeks, thousands of people were detained. The government continues to methodically track down and arrest dissidents. Nilar Thein, a prominent member of the 88 Generation Students group, was arrested earlier this month, as was a well-known activist monk, Ko Nge — also known as Shin Sandimar.
Leaving little to chance as the anniversary approached, the junta has tightened security in Yangon since late August.
As many as nine truckloads of riot police holding assault rifles and tear gas and carrying shields and batons cruise the streets daily, while others are stationed inside the compounds where a number of monasteries are located.
To many, the lengths to which the ruling junta would go to quash the protests were revealed when monasteries were raided in the early morning hours of Sept. 27, 2007.
"I still hear the sound of soldiers swearing and monks groaning in pain when soldiers raided the monastery and beat the monks," said Soe Myint, a resident who lives near the Ngwe Kyar Yan monastery in a northern Yangon suburb. "There is little chance for a peaceful protest to take place again this year."

Strongly Condemn on SPDC's Inhuman Behavior & Dishonor Political Mood"

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September 23, 2008 Immediate Press ReleaseContact Person: Htun Aung Gyaw: 607-339-6054 & Moe Thee Zun: 347-475-2542

FIRST LADY AND INTERNATIONAL ACTIVISTS CALL FOR CHALLENGE

Laura Bush spoke as US President George W. Bush met on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly with critics of the governments of Russia, China, Venezuela, North Korea, Myanmar and other countries.
Among them was a monk from Myanmar who helped lead who helped lead massive anti-government protests in September last year, drawing a government crackdown.
At the event in New York, chess legend turned Kremlin critic Garry Kasparov gave the US president his book on chess and leadership, entitled "How Life Imitates Chess."
Other attendees included Lodi Gyari, special envoy of the Dalai Lama; Cuban journalist Omar Pernet Hernandez; and Sang Hak Park, president of "Fighters for Free North Korea," according to the White House.
Other guests included Gameela Ismail, wife of jailed Egyptian opposition leader Ayman Nour; Belarus opposition leader Alexander Kozulin; former Soviet dissident Natan Sharansky; and Sierra Leone Foreign Minister Zainab Hawa Bangura.
Radio Caracas Television chief Marcel Granier of Venezuela; Ausama Monajed for the Movement for Justice and Development in Syria; and founder of the outlawed China Democracy Party Xu Wenli also were on hand.

TODAY FREE AND REARREST TOMORROW AND NU NU YI'S STRUGGLE

Now, she wants other Myanmar writers to follow her.Yi, whose book "Smile as They Bow" was nominated for the Asian Booker prize last year, is determined to help create a canon of Burmese literature that will fill its own shelves at English-language bookshops, and not be filed under Thailand.
She spoke to Reuters after the publication of the English translation of her novel, a gritty portrayal of the raucous week-long Taungbyon festival, which celebrates spirits known as "nats" who are believed to shower luck on people they favor.
Q: "Smile as They Bow" is the first book by a writer living in Myanmar to be translated into English. Is this a milestone?
A: When I was at Oxford in 1998, I saw Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's "Letters from Burma" at Blackwell's bookstore. It was the only book from Myanmar -- on the Thailand bookshelf -- they didn't even have a Burma bookshelf.
No one knows the tears I shed there at Blackwell's. I wanted to see Myanmar writers and Myanmar bookshelves in international bookstores. There are many writers, and even more unpublished manuscripts. But there are very few translators and no connections to foreign publishers.
So for me personally, and for Myanmar literature, the U.S. publication of "Smile As They Bow" is very important.
Q: Can you explain why the book took three years to research and write -- and then 12 years to be published?
A: Initially, the censors totally banned the novel. I remember the reason they gave was that it was "unsuitable for the times," a phrase they often use.
Q: Why was the story, set at one Myanmar's most famous spirit festivals, deemed so sensitive?
A: One very funny thing I remember, they said my mentioning the two Taungbyon Brothers, younger and elder, was obviously aimed at Secretary One and Secretary Two of the Military Council.
They also disallowed all references to homosexuality, which are in the English version, and did not even permit a beggar character. I tried to appeal that she's a singer, not a beggar.
Q: But you feel secure, as a writer, despite this?
A: I feel perfectly safe, because I am not political. Risk largely comes from writing open provocation. Most writers are experts at hidden meanings.
There are other writers with more government leanings, who definitely do no like the fact that I was translated and nominated for an international prize. They even say an American should not have translated it. But I do have a popular following and somehow manage to make a living.
Q: Why do spirits and superstition loom so large in your book, and other accounts of life in Myanmar?
A: Myanmar is largely pre-modern and such beliefs are very traditional. As the situation inside the country gets more and more dire, people grasp for quick desperate solutions, they want to believe in some kind of hope, anything.
Many authors write about the supernatural to escape from censorship because so many things are prohibited, both explicitly and by unwritten rules. One cannot write about poverty, beggars, sex, rape, and, of course, politics or anything positive about other countries.
Q: Do you read foreign books and reports about Myanmar?
A: We get almost no news from other countries inside Burma, except via BBC and VOA radio. I only can read journalism about my country when I am abroad. Of course such journalism is inaccurate and oversimplified to black-and-white. The situation is very complex, with many shades of gray.
Q: What do you hope overseas readers take from your work?
A: I want to give my country a human face. A real place with real people, not just an exotic tourist postcard.

A LONGEST POLITICAL PRISONER FREES AND A LEADING BUDDHIST MONK IN FOOD POISONING

Myanmar's longest-serving political prisoner, journalist Win Tin, was freed on Tuesday after 19 years in prison and immediI will keep fighting until the emergence of democracy in this country," he told reporters outside a friend's house in the former Burma's main city, Yangon. He was still wearing his light-blue prison clothes.
The ailing 79-year old was arrested in 1989 and sentenced to 20 years in jail for giving shelter to a girl thought to have received an illegal abortion, and for distributing anti-government propaganda.
He was released on the same day that 9,002 prisoners were set free, but said he had complained to prison officials about being lumped in as part of a nationwide amnesty for mainly ordinary criminals getting out on good behaviour.
"I did not accept their terms for the amnesty. I refused to be one of 9,002," he said, adding that no conditions had been attached to his release.
"Far from it. They should have released me five years ago. They owe me a few years," he said.
He also played down worries about his health, which many human rights groups had feared was in severe decline.
"I am quite OK. I am quite all right," he said.ately vowed to continue his struggle against 46 years of military rule.Military regime granted amnesty for 9002 prisoners on Today newspaper but we could confirm that very few political prisoners were included until 5:30 pm. They are:(1) U Win Tin From Insein Prison – who is a famous journalist(2) Dr.May Win Myint from Insein Prison – who is also MP(3) U Aung Soe Myint from Thayet prison – who is also MP(4) U Khin Maung Swe from LaShow prison – who is also an MP(5) Win Htain – From Kathar prison – who is an personal Assistance to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi(6) Dr.Than Nyein – From Prome prison – who is also an MPU Win Tin, 78 was arrested on July 4, 1989, He had been in prison for over 19 years.Dr. Than Nyein, 72 and Dr.May Win Myint, 59 were arrested in September 1997. They were given 7 years imprisonment. They completer their imprisonment in 2004 but they were arrested again under state protection act " Article 10/a. Both of them had been in prison for almost 11 years.U Khin Maung Swe, 67 was arrested in August 1994. He was given 7 years imprisonment. Even though he was released its 7 years imprisonment in 2001, he had to continue his imprisonment until today. He had been in prison for over 14 years.U Win Htein, 67 was arrested on May 21, 1996. He had been in prison for over 12 years.U Aung Soe Myint, 57, was arrested on August 31, 2003. He had been in prison for over 5 years., NOTES: Today, 40 prisoners were released from Thayet prison but one political prisoner was included.80 prisoners were released from Myitkyinar prison but no political was included.

Ashin Gambira unwell in court and in food poisoning

"I think it is food poisoning because he vomited three times this morning. 'I feel sorry for you because of the stink coming out of my mouth'," his defence lawyer quoted him as saying.He was weak, exhausted and half asleep with his eyes closed during the court proceedings."He inhaled balm brought to him by his younger sisters. They applied balm on his hands and legs and massaged him," the lawyer said."He could not say why he felt unwell. He said he thought it was food poisoning," the lawyer added.He was forcibly disrobed when he was arrested and brought to court in handcuffs. He has been charged under section 13(1) of the Immigration Act, section 17(1) of the Unlawful Associations Act, section 6 of the Associations Act, section 505(b) of the Penal Code (inducing crime against public tranquility) and 295, 145, 147 of the Penal Code (insult to the religion, unlawful assembly), section 17/20 of the Printers and Publishers Act and section 33(a)/38 of the Electronic Law.Ashin Gambira, the leader of the Saffron Revolution, was awarded the 'U Yewata Memorial Peace Prize' by 'All Burma Young Monks Association' (ABYMU-India) and 'Freedom of Expression Prize 2008' by the London based 'Index on Censorship'.On the same day, 21 members of the 88 Generation Students, including student leader Ko Min Ko Naing, were produced in court. The lawyer said that the health situation of the 21 student leaders was good and their family members were allowed to be present inside the courtroom to witness the court proceedings. In military-ruled Burma the jails are filling up with Buddhist monks. Currently, 136 members of the clergy are behind bars, most of them in the notorious Insein Prison in Rangoon.

Bush to meet with dissidents on UN margins

US President George W. Bush will meet with critics of the governments of Russia, China, Venezuela, North Korea, Myanmar and other countries in New York on Tuesday, the White House has said. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush will "host a lunch for political dissidents where they will discuss how to advance the freedom agenda and the protection of the rights and dignities of all people," said spokeswoman Emily Lawrimore Monday.They include chess legend turned Kremlin critic Garry Kasparov; Lodi Gyari, special envoy of the Dalai Lama; Myanmar monk U Kovida; Cuban journalist Omar Pernet Hernandez; and Sang Hak Park, president of "Fighters for Free North Korea," Lawrimore said in a statement.Other guests include Gameela Ismail, wife of Egyptian opposition leader Ayman Nour; Belarus opposition leader Alexander Kozulin; former Soviet dissident Natan Sharansky; and Sierra Leone Foreign Minister Zainab Hawa Bangura.The list also includes Vytautas Landsbergis, a member of the European Parliament from Lithuania; Radio Caracas Television chief Marcel Granier of Venezuela; Ausama Monajed for the Movement for Justice and Development in Syria; and founder of the outlawed China Democracy Party Xu Wenli.

ILO CAN NOT SAVE ITS ACTIVISTS IN BURMA

“The ILO governing body has been watching this case with interest and in March of this year expressed the expectation that he would retain his freedom,” the agency said in a press release issued from its headquarters in Geneva.
“This expectation was reconfirmed by the 97th Session of the International Labour Conference in June of this year. The case has been the subject of direct discussion with the Government at a senior level,” the ILO added.
U Thet Way has facilitated the lodging of complaints on behalf of victims of forced labour, including under-age recruitment into the army, and many of these complaints have been successfully resolved, according to the ILO.
The agency said this was in line with the Supplementary Understanding, an agreement in force between Myanmar’s Government and the ILO.
“The Supplementary Understanding provides full protection and retaliation for persons making or supporting complaints of forced labour, including under-age recruitment. The charge on which he was sentenced may formally be unrelated to his ILO-related activities; two further charges with direct links to the ILO were withdrawn before final sentencing.
“The sentence given is heavy and the maximum permissible under the law. The ILO cannot but consider that the sentence imposed is related to U Thet Way’s role in complaining on forced labour practices.”

CHINESE GOV IS KILLING BABIES BY BUSINESS LUST

POTED BY ANH

China's director of quarantine and inspection, up from about 1,200 on Tuesday.More than 1,300 infants are hospitalized. The illnesses include malnutrition, kidney stones and acute renal failure. Watch crowds of moms get their babies tested »Originally Chinese officials said all of the tainted formula had remained in China, other than a small amount that was exported to Taiwan. But Li said Wednesday that the powder has also been shipped to five other nations, including Bangladesh, Myanmar, Yemen, Chad and Burundi.Recalls of the products by the Yashili and Suokang companies have been made, according to Li.Of China's 175 baby milk powder production companies, 66 have already stopped production, Li said. Investigators are testing samples at the rest.China's Xinhua news agency reported that worried parents started lining up at 5 a.m. Wednesday to see doctors at Renmin Hospital in Shijiazhuang, the capital of the northern Hebei Province. Wang Lifang said she went to the hospital after medics at her local hospital 45 kilometers [28 miles] away in Xingtang County found problems with her two-month-old daughter."The county hospital found my daughter has kidney stones that are smaller than 4mm [less than a fifth of an inch]," the farmer in her 30s told Xinhua."My daughter is so young that the doctors worry the stones might not be washed out themselves so they told me to go to the provincial hospital."The report said the girl had drunk a little water."Doctors said I better not feed her powdered milk," Xinhua quoted a "tearful" Wang as saying."In the past few days, I fed her fresh milk bought from a neighbor who raises a cow but once I left home I did not know what to do."Other parents told Xinhua they wanted their children scanned for kidney stones as a precaution.Peng Jing, a mother in her 20s, said her two-month-old son had drunk about two small bags of Sanlu powdered milk."He seems OK, but we want to be 100 percent sure he is healthy so we came to have the tests," she told Xinhua at Renmin Hospital.Two brothers who sold fresh milk used to produce contaminated baby milk powder were arrested by Chinese investigators Monday and could face death if convicted, according to China Daily, the state-run newspaper. Watch who has been arrested »The raw milk had been watered down and a chemical added to fool quality checks, the newspaper said.The food safety scandal prompted China agricultural officials to start a nationwide inspection of its dairy industry.While 19 people were detained for questioning, the only ones arrested so far are the brothers who supplied about three tons of milk each day to the Sanlu Group, which manufactured the baby formula, the paper said.Investigators said the brothers confessed to watering down the raw milk and mixing in tripolycyanamide, also known as melamine. They said they did it to recover losses suffered when the factory rejected earlier milk shipments, the paper reported.The brothers are charged with producing and selling toxic and hazardous food, which carries a possible death penalty, the paper said.Health experts say ingesting melamine can lead to kidney stones, urinary tract ulcers, and eye and skin irritation.The chemical is commonly used in coatings and laminates, wood adhesives, fabric coatings, ceiling tiles and flame retardants.Sanlu Group has recalled more than 8,200 tons of the tainted formula following reports of sickened babies, Xinhua said. Watch angry parents demand answers at Sanlu »Sanlu, one of China's leading dairy producers, has also sealed off more than 2,100 tons of contaminated product, and another 700 tons still need to be recalled, the news agency said.Chinese investigators have found melamine in nearly 70 milk products from more than 20 companies, Li said Wednesday. Products made by Sanlu had the highest concentration of the chemical.It is not the first time Sanlu has been connected to a scandal involving tainted milk powder, according to China Daily.In 2004, at least 13 infants in the eastern Anhui province died of malnutrition after drinking milk powder that had little to no nutrition. The illegally manufactured milk was falsely labeled with the Sanlu brand, according to the paper.The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said no Chinese baby formula has been allowed on the market in the United States. In a statement on its Web site, the FDA said it had reached out to all five companies making formula in the United States and none has used formula or source materials from China.

MONK IN SUICIDE AT THE TEMPLE AND US ENLISTS BURMA AND OTHERS AS BLACK LIST

Witnesses said Wednesday that the monk was taken to Yangon General Hospital after slashing his own throat Tuesday afternoon at the hilltop Shwedagon Pagoda. He appeared to be in his fifties.
One of the trustees of the pagoda said, "The monk said he tried to kill himself because he was desperate. He said he came to Yangon to take medical treatment and he ran out of money."
The trustee and the witnesses asked not to be named so as not to draw the attention of the country's military authorities.
The trustee said the monk was in stable condition. The monk's name has not been released.

Bush: Bolivia joins Myanmar, Venezuela on drugs blacklist

But he waived resulting restrictions on aid, saying assistance to Venezuela's "democratic institutions" and support for "bilateral programs" in Bolivia were "vital to the national interests of the United States."
The decision was announced in a memorandum for US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, dated Monday but released Tuesday, listing "Major Drug Transit or Major Illicit Drug Producing Countries for Fiscal Year 2009."
"I hereby identify the following countries as major drug transit or major illicit drug producing countries: Afghanistan, The Bahamas, Bolivia, Brazil, Burma, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Haiti, India, Jamaica, Laos, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, and Venezuela," Bush said.
Bush noted that appearing on the list "is not necessarily an adverse reflection of its government's counternarcotics efforts or level of cooperation with the United States."
Instead, it can be "the combination of geographic, commercial, and economic factors that allow drugs to transit or be produced despite the concerned government's most assiduous enforcement measures."
Bush, who has ordered more US troops to quell a deadly resurgence of Islamist fighters in Afghanistan, said the Kabul government of President Hamid Karzai had "made some progress" in fighting poppy cultivation.
"However, drug trafficking remains a serious threat to the future of Afghanistan, contributing to widespread public corruption, damaging legitimate economic growth, and fueling violence and insurgency," he said.
Bush cited "difficult security conditions" as well as drug-related corruption -- "one of the most intransigent problems in the country" -- as major obstacles to eradicating poppies, the raw material for opium and heroin.
Bush said Canada, the biggest US trading partner, had become a "significant producer" of highly potent marijuana and club-drug "ecstasy" but expressed optimism about the country's anti-drug strategy.
Bush praised India's "strong track record" of controlling its legal opium production and distribution but said it "cannot let up" to ensure that legal product do not get diverted to illegal markets.
He also expressed concerns about illicit opium poppy production in some parts of the country, and urged India to "continue to investigate cases of large, illicit poppy production and accordingly bring perpetrators to trial."
The US president expressed concerns about drug trafficking in Central America, citing operations by cartels feeling tougher counter-narcotics regimes in places like Mexico and Colombia.
"Often unimpeded, traffickers use long Central American coastlines for illegal maritime drug shipments. Even though there have been noteworthy seizures, a high proportion of drugs transiting Central America are not detected or seized," he said.
Bush also cited the need for international help for West African countries that have become "key transit hubs" for South American cocaine and lack the resources to battle the narcotics traffickers who undermine their stability.

70 YEAR-OLD WOMAN ARRESTED AND DAW AUNG SAN SUU KYI ACCEPTS FOOD

Kyi Oo, mother of famous comedian and actor Zarganar, who is also being held in prison, said that she was concerned about Tin Tin Win, who is not in good health."She has the usual senile dementia at her age, but has no specific diseases. I used to see her from my house visiting her family doctor. Sometimes she came to our house to take rest on her way back from the clinic. She has no companion staying with her. I don't want to see her die in prison," she said.It is still not known why she was arrested but political circles speculated that it is likely to be connected with 88 Generation women student activist Nilar Thein's visit to her house just before her arrest."She was taken away on Thursday afternoon but is still missing and we still do not know why she was arrested. We can't enquire about it either," one of her friends, who wished to be anonymous, said. A statement issued by 88 Generation Students today says, "The students ask the government not to torture persons arrested and it must take responsibility for any death or injuries inflicted on these persons".Most of the leaders of 88 Gen Students are now hiding but are circulating statements to the Burmese community by emails. Mizzima cannot reach them for their comments.Besides arresting student leaders and monks who took part in the September unrest last year, their family members and close relatives were also arrested by the regime.Opposition sources said that the authorities arrested at least eight youths including Aung Ko Ko Lwin, younger brother of Gambira, the monk leader of the Saffron Revolution in September last year, living in Meiktila, Mandalay Division on Thursday morning.It is learnt that their family members are unaware of their fate.Similarly the local authorities in Rangoon arrested five persons including Moe Htet Lian, husband of Gambira's elder sister Khin Thu Htay from their Dagon satellite town residence in Rangoon on September 9 this year.

Ailing Suu Kyi accepts food rations

The doctor administered intravenous fluids Sunday to the 63-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner, who has been confined to her lakeside Yangon home for most of the last 19 years, the official said.
"She accepted her food supplies Monday evening, after she was given a drip by her doctor, who found that she was too weak on Sunday," the official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Her lawyer Kyi Win on Monday described her as "malnourished" after she had refused to accept her daily rations since August 16.
The Myanmar official said that Aung San Suu Kyi had been allowed to receive copies of magazines such as Time and Newsweek, but so far she had not been allowed to receive any messages from her family.
She has had no communication from her two sons since 2003, according to her National League for Democracy (NLD) party.
Both the government official and NLD spokesman Nyan Win said that she would likely meet with the junta's liaison officer later this week, if her strength improves.
"We hope there will be some progress and good results after the meeting," Nyan Win said.
"We are also expecting to develop to higher-level talks between Daw Suu and senior leadership from this dialogue," he added, referring to Aung San Suu Kyi by an honorific.
Concerns for her health had mounted after she began refusing to accept her food rations, and she and her two maids have been relying on the small stocks of food that she kept in her home, Kyi Win said.
The lawyer said she was not on a hunger strike, but had stopped accepting food deliveries to press for greater human rights.
Aung San Suu Kyi has refused to meet with anyone other than her lawyer and her doctor since early August, declining to hold talks with visiting UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari and with the liaison officer, Labour Minister Aung Kyi.
But the military has allowed her to have an unusual series of meetings with her lawyer as they discuss filing a formal legal appeal against detention.
Aung San Suu Kyi's NLD won a landslide victory in a 1990 election but the junta never allowed it to take office. The military has ruled Myanmar since 1962.

(SPECIAL REPORT) At UN, Ingrid Betancourt Urges Ban to Act About Myanmar

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UNITED NATIONS, September 9 — At the UN’s victims of terrorism symposium Ingrid Betancourt, recently freed from FARC kidnappers in Colombia and speaking just after Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, threw in a reference to Myanmar’s democracy leaders under house arrest, Aung San Suu Kyi, saying “we must act.” Next to her, Ban appeared impassive. For the 15 days since his envoy Ibrahim Gambari left Myanmar without seeing Aung San Suu Kyi, Ban and his spokespeople have avoided any comment about Gambari’s visit, widely described as a failure. Now Ban’s own star witness has raised the issue. How Ban will react remains to be seen.

On September 8, Inner City Press asked Ban’s Spokesperson Michele Montas if the UN had received the four-page letter from the United Nationalities Alliance, a coalition of 12 ethnic political parties, which argues that the UN’s engagement with or for democracy in Myanmar is “broken.” The letter, which was copied to all five Permanent Members as well as the President of the Security Council, but not the President of the General Assembly, concludes

“Honestly speaking we, United Nationalities Alliance (UNA), truly worry to be broken the engagement of United Nations Organization of its efforts upon democratization, national reconciliation and human rights. So we, United Nationalities Alliance (UNA), would like to request you to reconsider the most effective ways and means appropriate for settlement of political situation in Burma (Myanmar).”

Ingrid Betancourt, looking not entirely unlike Aung San Soo Kyi

After Ms. Montas said she was “aware of that letter,” Inner City Press asked

Inner City Press: is there any response? They claim that the UN’s engagement in the democracy process is broken. That seems to be the phrase at the end of their letter.

Spokesperson: Well, I think you should probably wait until… we’re going to try and arrange for Mr. Gambari as soon as he is through talking to the Security Council to come and talk to you about these issues. And it is coming from there, so he is certainly able to answer you.

While Gambari’s belated press availability will be appreciated, Gambari is Ban’s envoy. The United Nationalities Alliance’ letter, like Ingrid Betancourt’s call for action, was directed to Ban Ki-moon. What is his response? We’ll see.

Footnote: After Ms. Betancourt’s speech, Sudan’s Ambassador to the UN told Inner City Press that it had been “politicized,” particularly the reference to Myanmar. “This is an expansion of the horizon of double standards,” he said. But viewed another way, Betancourt was disagreeing with the UN not only on speakin out about Aung San Suu Kyi, but also on “state terrorism.” Citing Aung San Soo Kyi in the victims of terrorism symposium implies that Myanmar’s military government is engaged in state terrorism. Sudan, along with members of the Arab Group and others, have disputed the UN’s exclusion from the symposium of victims of state terrorism. There are principles, and then there are situations: two different sets of eyeglasses. To be continued.

Activists Begin Hunger Strike in Japan

Activists in Japan Begin Hunger Strike
Than Swe, a spokesperson for the JAC, told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday that five members of Japan-based Burmese organizations began a 72-hour hunger strike yesterday at 6 p.m. in front of the UN office in Tokyo.He described the move as a “first step” in a series of planned protests.“For the second step, five other participants will start another 72-hour hunger strike” after the first strike is finished, said Than Swe. This will be followed by an unlimited hunger strike, he added.The five activists taking part in the first hunger strike were identified as Moe Tint Tint Khine, Aung Tun Lin, Nyi Nyi Nge, Kyaw Min Tun and Tin Aung.“We are awfully worried about Aung San Suu Kyi, who has refused to accept food for three weeks,” said Moe Tint Tint Khine, one of the participants. “We began the hunger strike to get action on Burma from the international community.”Rumors have been circulating since mid-August that Suu Kyi has been refusing food deliveries to her home by members of her party, the National League for Democracy (NLD).According to NLD sources, Suu Kyi has not received a food delivery since August 15. However, there has been no independent confirmation that she is on a hunger strike. The NLD released a statement on Friday that Suu Kyi’s safety and well-being are the responsibility of the Burmese military authorities who have unlawfully detained her.The Burmese police chief, Khin Yee, on Sunday denied that Suu Kyi was on a hunger strike.

88GENERATION STUDENTS LEADING ACTIVISTS UNDER ARREST

Prominent woman activist Nilar Thein, who went into hiding one year ago, was hunted down and arrested on Wednesday.An 88 generation student, who requested not to be named, told Mizzima that Nilar Thein was arrested by Burmese security forces on Wednesday evening while going to visit fellow activist Ant Bwe Kyaw's mother in Rangoon's Yan Kin Township."It is confirmed that she was arrested while going to visit the mother of Ant Bwe Kyaw," the 88 generation student, who is also on the run from the junta, told Mizzima.However, it is still unclear how Nilar Thein was arrested and where she is being detained.But, the 88 student said it is possible that Nilar Thein was arrested on her way to see Ant Bwe Kyaw's mother, who resides alone and is reportedly in ill health.Nilar Thein went into hiding as the junta brutally cracked down on protestors in Rangoon and other cities last August and September, leaving her young baby with family members.Nilar Thein's husband, Kyaw Min Yu, also a member of the 88 generation students, was arrested on August 21, 2007 along with 12 colleagues, including prominent student leader Min Ko Naing as well as Ko Ko Gyi, Min Zeya, and Mya Aye.On August 19, 2007, Kyaw Min Yu's group held the first peaceful march in protest against the sharp rise in fuel prices. The protest, which was joined by over 400 people, later ignited nation-wide protests that grew into the largest demonstrations in the country since the 1988 student-led anti-government protests.In November 2007, Nilar Thein's female colleague Suu Suu Nwe, a champion for labor rights, was arrested for her involvement in a September protest.Nilar Thein's arrest came amidst the junta's new campaign against activists in a step to prevent renewed protests in the days leading up to the anniversary of last year's Saffron Revolution.Nilar Thein had earlier served two terms of imprisonment in Insein and Tharrawaddy prisons for her involvement in political activities.In March, she along with two of her colleagues—Suu Suu Nwe and Phyu Phyu Thin —were named recipients of the Czech Republic's Homo Homini award for their promotion of democracy, human rights and nonviolent solutions in Burma's political conflicts.

Time for Myanmar regime to release political prisoners

His view was echoed by US Ambassador to the UN Zalmay Khalilzad, who noted: "The United States and several others (in the 15-member council) are of the view that there hasn't been any concrete progress with regard to ... time-bound political negotiations leading to democratization and the release of political prisoners."

"The time has come to review what needs to be done to be more effective in bringing about progress with regard to those two objectives," he added. "Our judgment is that more pressure needs to be applied on the regime."

Khalilzad's British counterpart John Sawers also voiced disappointment at the way the Myanmar regime handled Gambari's August visit.

"We have not seen substantive progress on the central goal of achieving national reconciliation," he noted.

And commenting on Aun San Suu Kyi's refusal to see Gambari on his latest visit, Sawers noted: "We should take this as a message."

"We need to understand the frustration that she, and her supporters, her party and indeed the people of Burma (Myanmar) are feeling at the lack of progress."

Gambari visited Myanmar August 18-23, in a bid to restart dialogue between Aung San Suu Kyi and the ruling military regime. He was also unable to meet with senior figures in the regime but held talks with the prime minister.

A UN spokeswoman said at the time that Aung San Suu Kyi, who is under house arrest, was unable to meet Gambari as scheduled but that the UN envoy met members of the National League for Democracy (NLD), the opposition party she leads.

URGENT STATEMENT FOR CREDENTILA CHALLENGE BY 88GSE

PLEASE CLICK ON THE PEACOCK IMAGE TO ENLARGE

Burmese banana skin

On Monday, speaking to foreign diplomats gathered at the Foreign Ministry, Samak said he would call on the United Nations to help organise a general election in Burma scheduled for next year.
In spite of the fact that it has been a sham process, it has taken Burma a decade to get to this point in its seven-step roadmap for democracy and reconciliation. The thick-skinned junta turns a cold shoulder to all sorts of criticism and condemnation from its own people, as well as the international community. The shortcomings of the process will essentially cement the military's place in Burma's national politics.
The way the junta sees it, it is just one or two hurdles away from achieving its goal. A general election with sham ground rules was stipulated in a constitution that was passed in May, as millions of the country's people were suffering from the devastation caused by Cyclone Nargis. The poll is scheduled for sometime in 2010. Afterwards, the military will be set for life.
But Samak could be rocking the junta's boat. It's probably not his intention, however. Upon returning from his recent familiarisation tour of Burma, Samak described the Burmese generals as good Buddhists who like to meditate and go to the temple. He didn't say anything about the atrocities committed by these same generals. But he didn't say he would not bring up opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi with them.
One wonders who advises Samak on foreign matters. Surely the folks at the Foreign Ministry must know about the fallout between the junta and the United Nations.
Trip after trip, envoy after envoy, the UN has not succeeded in getting the junta to take any meaningful step towards democratisation, to release political prisoners, including Suu Kyi, or incorporate ethnic nationalities in the process.
But shouldn't Samak be praised for his courage in making such a proposal? If he were committed to the idea and really thought it through, the answer would be yes. But he isn't. At least there is no indication that Thailand wants to push this through.
Thailand has been at this juncture before. Remember former foreign minister Surakiart Sathirathai's so-called Bangkok Process in 2004 that went nowhere? Samak should know better.

1990 PEOPLE REPRESENTATIVES AND 88STUDENTS HAVE TO TAKE REGIME SEAT AT THE UN

A letter from candidates elected to parliament in 1990 challenged the legitimacy of the military government that refused to cede power after a landslide victory by Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy. The junta has ruled Myanmar, also known as Burma, ever since.
Daw San San, vice president of the Members of Parliament Union (Burma), said in the letter obtained by The Associated Press that the organization has set up a permanent mission to the United Nations and has appointed U Thein Oo as its permanent representative to the U.N.
"His excellency U Thein Oo is instructed to represent the people of Burma and the legitimate, democratically elected members of parliament in all organs of the United Nations," San said.
Oo was identified as an elected representative from Mandalay.
Brendan Varma, a U.N. spokesman, said the letter had been received by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's office and would be studied.
Myanmar's U.N. Mission said Ambassador Kyaw Tint Swe was not in his office to comment.
The 63rd session of the General Assembly will open on Sept. 16, a week before world leaders arrive for their annual ministerial meeting, and San's letter could be referred to the assembly's credentials committee.
The military has ruled Myanmar since 1962 and has been widely criticized for suppressing basic freedoms. The current junta, which took power in 1988 after crushing pro-democracy demonstrations, held general elections in 1990 but refused to cede power to Suu Kyi's NLD. Since then, the country has been in political deadlock.
Suu Kyi has been in prison or under house arrest for more than 12 of the past 18 years. For about the last three weeks, the 63-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner has refused daily food deliveries to her home to protest her ongoing detention, her party said.

Credentials Challenge in UN to uproot Burma's Regime

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ANH
PHOTO(AUNG MYINT HTUN) PEOPLE VOICE

Democratically Elected Representatives of Burma Seek
Burma’s Seat at United Nations General Assembly Through Credentials Challenge
September 9, 2008
Today, Tuesday September 9th, the democratically elected representatives of the people of Burma filed a rival claimant credentials challenge seeking to take Burma ’s seat at the United Nations from the illegitimate military regime. This delegation of democratic leaders comprises the only appropriate and lawful representatives of the people of Burma . We call on all member states of the United Nations to support their bid to provide the people of Burma a voice in the international community.
While the democratically elected leader of the Burmese people, Nobel Lauriat Aung San Suu Kyi, remains under house arrest as a political prisoner, the illegitimate military regime seeks to continue its illegitimate and unlawful representation of the state of Burma to the United Nations General Assembly.
The people of Burma voted for the National League for Democracy by an overwhelming majority in the only free and fair elections in recent history, but the military regime refused to honor the elections. In response to its defeat, the regime arrested, tortured, and murdered as many of the peoples’ representatives as possible. Since those elections, the regime has maintained a veil of control using exceptionally brutal tactics. It has refused to honor a single request for reform from the international community.
Today, the democratically elected representatives of the people of Burma take the first step in righting the wrongs of the regime by claiming what is rightfully and lawfully theirs—Burma’s seat at the United Nations General Assembly.
This rival claimant credentials challenge is only the first step in a new initiative to use all available international legal and political mechanisms to challenge the legitimacy of the regime and bring to light the multitude of abuses the regime commits against the Burmese people. We call upon states to support these new initiatives and use all means available to them to increase pressure on the regime and its members.
As we stand up for democracy in Burma , we hope that the world will stand with us.

THAI PM SAMAK INVOLVES IN BURMA' S AFFAIR

Thailand will try to convince Burma to allow the United Nations to play a role in its general elections scheduled for 2010, Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej said yesterday.Mr Samak, speaking at the Foreign Ministry yesterday, said the UN's experience in organising elections in Cambodia and East Timor could help Thailand's neighbour return to democracy.The prime minister did not go into detail about what role the UN could play in the elections in Burma. However, he stressed he would not mention the position of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi when he talks with the Burmese generals.Thailand's proposal to Burma is expected to be tabled at the summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) in Bangkok in December. Thailand is now chairman of the 10-nation grouping.

MPs to elect new PM on Friday
MPs to elect new PM on Friday OF SAMAK'DOOMED
(BangkokPost.com) – House Speaker Chai Chidchob called a parliamentary meeting on Friday to elect a new prime minister, after the Constitution Court ruled Tuesday that Samak Sundaravej violated the constitution by hosting two cooking programmes.
Mr Chai said the reason why he called a quick meeting is not because of People Power party’s concern that coalition parties would switch to another political side.
He said it is his job to call the meeting, adding that MPs must be notified about it at least three days before it convenes.

Burma's opposition urges UN to take stronger action

Two umbrella groups of Burmese opposition political parties on Monday called on the United Nations to enforce a stronger mission and enforce General Assembly resolutions on the military-ruled country.The United Nationalities Alliance (UNA), a group representing several ethnic nationalities, and the veteran Politician Colleagues of Myanmar (VCP), in a letter urge the UN Secretary General, the five permanent Security Council members,\ and Special Envoy Ibrahim Gambari, to take stronger initiatives to resolve Burma's political deadlock."We want the UN to follow exactly what it has decided in the General Assembly from 1994 to 2007," Nai Ngwe Thein, Secretariat of UNA told Mizzima.Both the groups expressed disappointment over UN Special Envoy Ibrahim Gambari's mission to Burma, saying his mission has thus far failed to bring any kind of change.In the letter, the groups also expressed their frustration over the UN's failure to urge the Burmese military junta to abide by the Security Council's resolution of 11-10-2007 that calls on the release of all political prisoners and the kick-starting of a tripartite dialogue between the junta, democratic forces led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and ethnic groups."In all of his visits, the UN Special Envoy Ibrahim Gambari failed to implement the UN's decisions," said Nai Ngwe Thein."We urge the UN to assign someone that can effectively carry out the UN mission on Burma in the future. Whoever it is needs to ensure the effectiveness of their mission," Nai Ngwe Thein added. He added that Gambari, during his last visit, was only meeting with junta-backed organizations such as the Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA), while failing to meet key political parties including ethnic groups. UNA, in the statement, also expressed its frustration of Gambari for talking on behalf of the junta about the upcoming 2010 general election.The 2010 election is the fifth step of the junta's seven-step roadmap to democracy, which critics say will provide the junta's continued rule with a veneer of legitimacy."UN Envoy Ismail Razali [Gambari's predecessor] and Gambari both have failed to fulfill what is expected of them despite their many attempts," said Captain Min Lwin, spokesperson for the VPC-Myanmar.He added that they would like to see the reformation of Burma under the UN's initiative and hope that a future UN Special Envoy will be more capable of implementing UN resolutions.Min Lwin added, Gambari's mission is doubtful now, as he has gone astray of UN resolutions on the country.However, the UN General Assembly President, on September 4, reiterated his continuing support of Gambari as Special Envoy to Burma and encouraged the military government to work closely with him."All Burmese people believe he [Gambari] will make some kind of change, but practically speaking he has done the opposite of what was hoped," Min Lwin remarked."We also hope and believe that the UN Security Council and other international communities will do the right thing regarding Burma," he concluded.

At least two passengers were grievously injured on Tuesday when an explosion occurred in a public bus near Rangoon's popular Hledan junction, an eyewitness said.The explosion took place at about 11 a.m. on Tuesday and severely injured the handyman of the bus and an old man, an eyewitness, who talked to Mizzima over telephone said.

Explosion in Rangoon bus injures two
An explosion took place on a public commuter bus in Rangoon caused two people"When I arrived at the spot, the bus was on fire and most of it had been charred. The handyman of the bus was severely injured. Blood was all over his legs," the eyewitness said.Minutes later, a fire brigade truck from the Sanchuang Township arrived on the spot and doused the fire, the Sanchaung fire department told Mizzima. "We don't know how it happened. We rushed to the spot as soon as we were informed and put out the fire. Details of how the explosion occurred can only be explained by our senior officers," a fire fighter at the Sanchuang fire department said.According to the eyewitness, who claimed to have spoken to one of the passengers on the bus, there were only three passengers beside the driver and the handyman. The bus was plying on the Sule-Insein route no 45, when the blast occurred."I talked to a school teacher who was on the bus and she said 'the bus was stopping at a traffic point, when suddenly I heard an explosion in the rear. I then ran out of the bus to escape not knowing what it was,' "the eyewitness said quoting her.With all the people from the bus taken away in a taxi by authorities, it was not immediately possible to confirm the cause of the explosion.The eyewitness, however, said the explosion could have occurred in the gas tank of the bus. The bus had just returned from a workshop after repairs.The bus, according to him, was heading towards Insein Township after repairs at a workshop, and was unable to pick up many passengers as is normally done.The Kamayut Township police station, under whose jurisdiction the explosion site falls, was not immediately reachable for comments.An official at the Rangoon general hospital in Latha Township, confirmed that two patients in need of emergency operations had just arrived at the hospital, but she declined to provide further details.Authorities in Rangoon, as of 2004, had ordered public commuter buses to change from the old petrol run engines to Compressed Natural Gas propelled engines.

US NEXT PRESIDENT SHOULD ENGAGE FOR BURMA

A new American president will be elected within two months. Whoever wins the race will have to tackle anew the US foreign policy towards the region. Some policies would not need to be changed, while others would require some fine-tuning.
Overall, the existing US security commitment in Asia will not change. Whoever wins, whether Republican or Democrat, would continue to maintain the security pattern in the region with the five traditional US allies, which includes Thailand. The Hawaii-based Pacific Fleet will serve as a linchpin of the US presence in the region along with the troops in Korea and Japan. Most importantly, the US will remain a key trading partner and investor in this part of the world, including Thailand and Asean.
Beyond these commitments, the new US administration needs to adjust and fine-tune the country's approach with a personal touch and engage on issues affecting bilateral relations. In addition, the administration must also cope with the impact on Southeast Asia of the rise of China and India as well as Russia's assertiveness.
Indeed, the new administration will have a solid starting point with Asean. Because of Senator Richard Lugar advocating the strengthening of Asean-US relations two-and-a-half years ago, the US has now become the first country to have an Asean envoy. Since then Asean's other major dialogue partners, such as China, Japan, the EU and Australia, have said they would do the same. By next year, Asean will start a permanent representative system as practised in the UN.
One top priority for the incoming US president will be to convene the postponed US-Asean summit. Last September, President George W Bush agreed to meet Asean leaders in Singapore to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Asean-US ties but he cancelled at the last minute. Therefore, if the new president takes the initiative to revive the summit, it would further strengthen the US position in the region. The summit could be held in Bangkok in December of next year.
It would be a big boost for Asean and its leaders to have a summit meeting with a new president while he is in his first year in office. President Bush should have paid more attention to Asean during his two terms.
Both the presidential contenders know Southeast Asia - one was imprisoned here and the other grew up in the region. McCain was a prisoner of war in Hanoi. Despite the nightmare he went through, he has developed a special rapport not only with Vietnam but with Southeast Asia as a whole. He even mentioned Thailand and Malaysia in his foreign-policy speeches because he supports the US free-trade agreements with the two countries.
Obama knows Indonesia because he spent his childhood there. His memoir, "The Audacity of Hope", has been translated for the Indonesian market with a slight change to the title: "From Jakarta to the White House." It is a best-seller. Obama is considered a hero in the world's largest Muslim country, which often displays an anti-US sentiment. If Obama becomes president, Indonesia would be a great starting point for him and his country to lessen negative sentiment towards the US.
But he has yet to highlight Southeast Asia in his foreign-policy speeches. Maybe that will come out during presidential debates. Susan Rice, one of Obama's key foreign-policy advisers, has visited the region and attended seminars here. Asean scholars who know her have tried to impress upon her the fact that Asean leaders value visits by top US officials, which have been far too infrequent.
While the two candidates differ on their policies concerning Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan and elsewhere, they share a bipartisan view on Burma. Both McCain and Obama are considered hardliners in the Senate when it comes to Burma. They support the Burmese struggle for democracy and call for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi. McCain has been tough on the Burmese junta and backed all of Bush's initiatives to sanction the regime.
Obama's running mate, Senator Joseph Biden, is also well known for his opposition to the Burmese junta in Congress. He was behind the new legislation sanctioning Burma, known as the Tom Lantos Block Burmese JADE (Junta's Anti-Democratic Efforts) Act. The law imposes stricter financial and travel sanctions on top leaders and their associates. It also bans the import of Burmese gems to the US. Under this law, the US administration must create a new position known as "Special Representative and Policy Coordinator" for Burma.
It remains to be seen how the new administration in the US will be able to work closely with Asean on the Burmese issue without jeopardising the ongoing international campaign against Burma.

BURMESE DEOMCRATIC STRUGGLE FOR BURMA

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BY AUNG KHANT

Challenging the Credentials of Junta by Exiles

Challenging the Credentials of Junta at
the UNGA Action!

You are cordially invited to join the demonstration in front of the United Nations for challenging the credentials of Burma junta.
Patriotic Burmese in the USA will rely in front of the UN head quarter after successive protesting entire month against the representation of junta's seat at the UN in New York City,
What: Patriotic Burmese across the America will protest against the SPDC's credentials at the UNGA.
Why: 1. Military regime has clearly shown no intention of changing Burma to a democratic country at all, no plan of talking with elective party leaders including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. The repressive regime has constantly ignored the 1990 elections result and absolutely disregarded the will of the citizen of Burma within twenty years.
2. During the recent UN envoy, Mr. Gambari's visit to Burma, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's action clearly affirmed her previous words "hope for the best and prepare for the worst"
3. This is the time we all need to gear up political, diplomatic and grass-root campaigns collectively to root out the military dictatorship in Burma completely.
When: Friday 5th, 2008, 2:00PM - 5:00PM, NY time
Where: The Dag Hammarskjold Plaza (47th Street and 1st Ave).
Who: We except around 200 people will join us from across the nation such as Ft. Wayne, Buffalo, Ithaca, Utica, Albany, Maryland North Carolina and NYC.
"All of your efforts and time are crucial and counted for peace, justice and freedom in our motherland"
Credentials Challenge Campaign team
New York Headquarters

Unite! We Fight! We'd Never be Defeated!