MONKS UNDER ARREST WHEN AN EXILE VISITS BURMA

The warning letter address to the abbots of monasteries and monks, states the monks to observe two precepts of staying away from political parties and desist from agitations and not to lead people in protests, the monk added. The warning also states that violation of the order will result in severe punishment.Prior to the issuing of the letters, local residents said they saw police holding parades at Ward No. 13, on the Chauk-Yenangyaung highway.Meanwhile, a residence of No. 8 Ward in Pakokku town of Magwe division said at least 30 police are seen erected barbed wired barricades at the corner of the East Road (Pyidawtha Road) and Suu Gyi Thar Road, near the West monastery.

In Rangoon, a senior Buddhist monk from Thanlyin Marlayon monastery in Thanlyin Township in Rangoon was arrested after security forces raided the monastery on Friday, according to a statement released by the Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners—Burma (AAPP).
More than 20 plainclothes security officials raided the monastery on Friday morning at about 2 a.m. and searched the monastery for about 40 minutes. The authorities then arrested a 58-year-old monk named U Thilawontha, said the statement. It was not known where the monk was taken.
AAPP said that security forces warned the remaining monks not to go outside and deployed plainclothes security guards—believed to be intelligence officials—around Thanlyin Marlayon monastery.

An Exile Visits Burma

As a former policy advisor to the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB), the government in exile, and director of the Burma Fund, the NCGUB’s think tank, he was once an outspoken opponent of the regime. He was also a leader of the All Burma Students’ Democratic Front, an insurgent group formed by Burmese students in 1988. Some Burmese activists in exile compared Zaw Oo’s trip to one made by Zarni, co-founder of the Free Burma Coalition, in May 2004. Sources close to the Burmese authorities said, however, that the two trips were handled very differently by officials.During his one-day trip, Zarni met with high-ranking military intelligence officers, including members of a think tank formed by Brig-Gen Than Tun and Col Hla Min, deputies of the former spy chief Gen Khin Nyunt.Zaw Oo, by contrast, met mainly with lower ranking figures, including an officer of the Military Security Affairs, which replaced the Military Intelligence Service after the ouster of Gen Khin Nyunt in Oct 2004. Sources also said that Zaw Oo faced some problems applying for a visa.Zaw Oo denied this, and said that he was well-treated by the authorities when he was in Burma. He said that he met with all of the officials he needed to meet, adding, however, that the meetings were not held formally. He declined to provide any details about the ranks of the officials he met.Yin Yin Oo, the sister of Deputy Foreign Minister Kyaw Thu and an official with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, reportedly played a significant role in helping Zaw Oo to get a visa, according to sources in Rangoon.Zaw Oo said that his trip wasn’t like Zarni’s because he didn’t go to Burma to talk about politics. “I only talked about Nargis and economic issues there,” he said. He said that the impact of Cyclone Nargis made many government officials realize that there is a need for change. He added that UN relief experts now have ministerial-level access to the government.He also said that his trip made him realize that many exiles don’t have a complete picture of the situation inside Burma.