------------------------ BurmaNet ------------------------
"Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies"
----------------------------------------------------------

The BurmaNet News:  December 26, 1996
Issue #599
               =20
HEADLINES:
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
AP: BOMB GOES OFF IN RANGOON, KILLS FOUR
NATION: QUIET HOLIDAY FOR SUU KYI
KYODO: SUU KYI RECEIVES VISIT FROM BRITISH AMBASSADOR
ASIA TIMES: PEREGRINE BEATS A RETREAT FROM MYANMAR
NATION: RIGHTS ABUSES 'CONTINUE' NEAR GAS PIPELINE
THAILAND TIMES: 'DOZENS KILLED, THOUSANDS RELOCATED' IN BURMA
SHAN UNITED REVOLUTIONARY ARMY: DECEMBER 22, 1996 PRESS RELEASE
BANGKOK POST: ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS TO BE SENT TO CAMPS
NATION: BURMESE PROTESTORS STAGE RALLY
REUTER: MARUBENI OF JAPAN PLANS JOINT RICE VENTURE WITH SLORC
ASIAN AGE: ASSAM PLANS CARGO SERVICES TO BURMA
RAINFOREST ACTION NETWORK: AIRPORT COMMISSION VOTES AGAINST HUMAN RIGHTS
-----------------------------------------------------------

AP: BOMB GOES OFF IN RANGOON, KILLS FOUR
December 25, 1996

BurmaNet Editor's Note: Kaba Aye Pagoda is key pagoda in Rangoon.  It was
commissioned by Prime Minister U Nu, a devout Buddhist, in 1952, for the
Sixth Great Buddhist Synod which began in 1954.  The Buddha's tooth relic,
which is temporarily residing at Kaba Aye Pagoda, is highly venerated by
many Burmese and has drawn large crowds of devotees.
-----------------------------------------
=20
RANGOON, Burma (AP) -- A bomb exploded Wednesday night at a pagoda in
Rangoon, killing four people and wounding 18.=20


The explosion occurred at the Kabaaye Pagoda, where a relic believed to be
Buddha's tooth is being displayed. There were no immediate details of the
explosion.=20


The tooth is on loan from China, which lent the relic as a good-will gestur=
e
this month. It is one of two believed to have survived since Buddha's death
2,500 years ago. The other tooth relic is kept in Sri Lanka.=20

******************************************************************

NATION: QUIET HOLIDAY FOR SUU KYI
December 26, 1996

Rangoon - Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi was spending a quiet
Christmas with friends and relatives at her home, which she has not been
able to leave since earlier this month.

Suu Kyi, like most Burmese, is a Buddhist, but there is one Christian
currently staying in the compound, "and we celebrate [Christmas] for him", =
a
source close to the pro-democracy leader said.  Her British husband, Michae=
l
Aris, and two sons were unable to get permission to visit her, said the
source reached by telephone at the compound.

Roadblocks remained in place on the road leading to the house although
elsewhere in Rangoon traffic was back to normal.  Authorities clamped down
after large-scale student protests in November and December, when classes
were suspended at universities and secondary schools.

*********************************************************************

KYODO: SUU KYI RECEIVES VISIT FROM BRITISH AMBASSADOR
December 24, 1996

BANGKOK, Dec. 24 (Kyodo) -- Myanmar pro-democracy leader Aung Sang Suu Kyi,
effectively under house arrest, Tuesday received a visit from British
Ambassador Robert Gordon at her residence, a Myanmar official said.

The official, reached by telephone from Bangkok, said Gordon and his wife
visited Suu Kyu's residence Tuesday afternoon.

Gordon is the second foreign diplomat to visit Suu Kyi since she was put
under virtual house arrest following a series of student demonstrations
earlier this month. A U.S. diplomat visted her Friday.

Myanmar military authorities set up barricades in roads leading to Suu Kyi'=
s
house following the students' antigovernment demonstrations. The government
has also banned her from leaving her home since Dec. 9.

By allowing foreign diplomats to visit Suu Kyi, the Myanmar military
authorities apparently wish to signal that they are taking a less stringent
policy than that taken against her during her previous incarceration, which
ended in July last year.

************************************************************

ASIA TIMES: PEREGRINE BEATS A RETREAT FROM MYANMAR
December 21, 1996
Stephen Brookes, Yangon

Peregrine Investments Holdings will drastically cut back its operations in
Myanmar after two top officials there suddenly had their visas revoked,
officials of the Hong Kong-based company said.

"Peregrine will be drastically curtailing its operations and reviewing
whether we can pursue our core business in Myanmar, which is investment
banking," said Rajan K Pillai, managing director of Peregrine Capital Myanm=
ar.=20

The international business community in Yangon greeted news of the visa
revocations with dismay. "Considering how important Peregrine is, the whole
situation is very disturbing," said one banker. "This will certainly make
many people think very, very carefully before investing here."

Sources familiar with the case said Pillai would be leaving Myanmar on
Wednesday and executive director Hector Lwin on Thursday after being told
last week their visas were being canceled. They said Peregrine would be
laying off its 10 local staff, keeping only one representative, and its
expansive office in the International Business Center would be c! losed by
the end of January.

The decision marks at least a temporary end to Peregrine's troubled attempt=
s
to gain a foothold in Myanmar's slowly emerging market. The company has
spent close to US$5 million in unprofitable ventures, most notably the
Myanmar American Fisheries Company which is a joint venture with the
Ministry of Fisheries.

That venture soured when Peregrine had a contentious falling-out with Miria=
m
Marshall Segal, an American who had been doing business in Myanmar since
1976. She has close ties with top Myanmar officials including General Maung
Maung, Secretary of the Investment Commission.

Peregrine bought 80 percent of Segal's fishing company in 1994 for US$1.5
million and set up Myanmar American Fisheries Company. But in July 1995,
Peregrine ousted Segal as executive chairman of Peregrine Capital Myanmar
and sued her for breach of fiduciary duties and terms of her employment
contract.=20

Peregrine was awarded damages of US$4.1 million in a New York court on
October 10.=20

Segal, who is appealing the award, ex pressed little sympathy toward
Peregrine. "I could care less," she said on Tuesday. "I have no ill feeling
toward them but I think they were ill-advised."=20

Segal, now in Yangon on an extended business trip, said her appeal would be
heard in January.=20

According to sources familiar with the case, Pillai and Lwin received a
letter from the Immigration Department on December 12 telling them their
visas would be canceled as of December 16. They requested an extension and
were granted until December 19.

As reported last month in Asia Times, Pillai learned several weeks ago that
the Department of Investment and Company Administration had asked that his
visa not be extended, charging that he had provided erroneous information t=
o
the government. No reason was given for the cancellation of Lwin's visa.

********************************************************************

NATION: RIGHTS ABUSES 'CONTINUE' NEAR GAS PIPELINE
December 24, 1996
Yindee Lertcharoenchok

NYI SA, MON STATE, Burma - Rebutting claims by the Burmese junta
and international oil investors, ethnic Mon guerrillas have
reaffirmed the ongoing prevalence of forced labour and relocation
in the southern coastal area where the controversial Yadana gas
pipeline passes.

Human rights violations against local Mon. Karen and Tavoyan
civilians remain prevalent although the methods of forced labour
have changed to lessen international criticism against the
junta's poor human rights record, leaders of the New Mon State
Party (NMSP) said.

Nai Rot Sa, the NMSP secretary general, said that instead of
forcibly recruiting local villagers as a cheap workforce, Burmese
troops now forcibly tax or collect money from the people to hire
cheap labour.

The Mon group, he said, objects to such practices and has several
times raised the matter with the Burmese authorities.

There are some 40 Mon villages scattered in the narrow stretch of
land where the natural gas pipeline project, operated by a
consortium of transnational oil companies led by French energy
giant Total, will pass before reaching Thailand's Kanchanaburi
province.

Total, which is part-owned by the French government;
California-based oil company Unocal; Thailand's Petroleum
Authority of Thailand; and Burma's Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise
are investing in the multi-billion dollar project to tap natural
gas from an offshore field in the Burmese Gulf of Martaban for
sale via a sea and onshore pipeline to Thailand.

According to Nai Lave Mon. a member of the 27-member NMSP central
committee, about 10 Mon villages were relocated away from the
63-kilometre onshore route, and many of the villagers have fled
either to Thailand or border refugee camps.

Although most of the forced relocation took place prior to the
signing of the lucrative deal between Total and the Burmese
military regime in July 1992, Mon and Karen guerrillas, as well
as human rights groups, have blamed the likelihood of the project
for the eviction and forced labour.

They have urged the consortium to suspend the project, saying the
estimated US$400 million (Bt10 billion) annual revenue from gas
sales will only benefit the ruling regime and not the majority of
the population.

Total and Unocal, who have come under heavy criticism in their
home countries, have denied that they or the Yadana project have
been involved or contributed to any malpractice against civilians
on the ground.

Instead, they claim that the project will help create jobs, new
industries and opportunities for some 35,000 people who live in
the area of the pipeline.

To allay mounting international pres sure and criticism, Total
last month invited a number of foreign journalists to visit
several sites of the pipeline project, including facilities such
as schools and health care units they have set up for local
people.

Both Nai Rotsa and Nai Lave Mon were critical of the Total press
tours, saying they were organised purely to show the positive
aspects of the project while ignoring all the problems.

"During the [press] visits, all the abuse and malpractice [by
Burmese forces] stopped. It was just window dressing. But as soon
as they left, I everything returned to normal," Nai Rotsa said.

Nai Lave Mon said both local residents and the NMSP have been
adversely affected by the project and that those who were forced
out of their homes or to work without pay have not received any
compensation.

Both Total and Unocal have insisted that they paid the correct
compensation of about $1 million for the 525 acres needed for the
project and paid daily wages of between 200-300 kyat (around Bt33
at the official exchange rate or Bt833 on the black market) to
all the local workers.

Nai Rotsa said the NMSP, which always opposed the pipeline, never
promised that its troops along the coastal area would not disrupt
the project.

The Mon group, which agreed to a ceasefire with the junta in June
last year, has never been in touch with either Total or Unocal,
and has yet to hold discussions with the  military leaders on
whether the ethnic guerrillas will benefit from the Yadana
project.=20

*****************************************************************

THAILAND TIMES: 'DOZENS KILLED, THOUSANDS RELOCATED' IN BURMA
December 24, 1996
Agence Franc Presse

BANGKOK: Dozens have been killed and some 25. )() people forcibly
relocated in southern Burma as the military cracks down on the
country's last major ethnic  insurgency, a dissident student
group said yesterday.

Burma's ruling junta, the State Law and Order Restoration Council=20
(SLORC), is pursuing a "four cuts" policy to cut off finance
food, intelligence and recruits to ethnic rebels, according to a
statement received here from the All Burma Students Democratic
Front (ABSDF ).=20
    =20
Non-government organisation  (NGO) workers confirmed the SLORC's
newly established Coastal Region Military Command was
particularly targeting ethnic Karens to undermine support for the
Karen National Union (KNU).

The  KNU is the only ethni=E7 insurgency yet to reach a ceasefire
agreement with SLORC although other splinter groups maintain
armed resistance.

A major SLORC offensive against a KNU -held area further to the
north is expected this dry season, unless the KNU agrees to give
up armed struggle against the junta.

Villagers including ethnic Karen, Mon. Tavoyan and Burmans in the
country's southern coastal region are being forced to move from
areas where both SLORC and ethnic armies maintain a presence, and
instead settle at sites close to government military bases, NGO
sources said.

The  ABSDF statement said that since May over  5,200 families
from 99 villages have been threatened with death unless they
comply with the military-s relocation policy in Tenasserim
Division.

"During this forced location, brutal massacres have been talking
place in the area by the military," said the statement.

ABSDF  reported that in May,  36 people were killed at Eastern
Mergui township on Don island. In June a further 87 were executed
by the military at Kyunsuu township on the same island, the group
said.
    =20
Those executed reportedly had no connection with any of the armed
groups in the region.

A spokesman for the exiled students' group, Aung Myo Min said
that ABSDF representatives met with about 500 villagers at a
secret location within Burma near the Thai border last week.
    =20
NGO sources report that 2,000 villagers have fled towards the
border in the area of the Thai town of Prachuap Khiri Khan, while
thousands more are believed to be displaced within Burma.
    =20
"They do not necessarily want to come into Thailand. Now is
harvest time and relocated people are trying to stay close to
their villages," one source said.

*****************************************************************

SHAN UNITED REVOLUTIONARY ARMY: DECEMBER 22, 1996 PRESS RELEASE
December 22, 1996

On 10.11.96, at 08:30 am, SURA troops from company 451 of No. 759=20
Brigade ambushed Slorc troops on Kholam-Kunhing motor road.  One
SLORC troop died.

On 10.11.96, 12:00 hrs., SURA troops from company 152 of No. 758=20
Brigade attacked a column of Slorc troops near Wan Long village, Kenglom
tract, Kunhing township.  Slorc suffered 5 deaths.

On 11.11.96, 17:00 hrs., SURA company 152 of No. 758 Brigade again attacked=
=20
Slorc troops near Wan Long, Kenglom tract, Kunhing township.  Slorc lost=20
two lives.

On 6.12.96, at 05:00 hrs., company 159 of no. 758 Brigade of the SURA
clashed with SLORC no. 346 LIB on Kholam-Kunming road between Sai Mon and
Kung Mao villages.  The fight lasted for a short while during which 2
Burmese soldiers died and 2 wounded.  SURA captured 2 G-3 rifles and 200
rounds of ammo, 2 M-79 motor shells, and 8 G-3 magazines.

On 10.12.96, 06:30 hrs., SURA troops from no. 758 Brigade attacked Slorc no=
.
66 IB on Lai Kha-Mong Su road near Oo Mang and Mai Hoong Ha Ton villages,
Zalai Khum tract, Lai Kha townshi.  Slorc suffered 2 deaths -- a Sergeant
and a staff officer.  SURA seized 1 G-4 rifle, 100 ammo and 4 magazines.

On 15.12.96, SURA 758 Brigade, company 153 was secretly attacked by Slorc
troops near Ho Ya village, Mong Norng tract, Kae See township.  The battle
lasted for 2 hours.  Casualty unknown.

On 16.12.96, SURA no. 153 company, no. 758 Brigade, ambushed Slorc troops
from Mong Norng between Hai Pa-Wan Saw villages, Hai Pa tract, Mong Su
township.  One Burmese sergeant and one private died in the battle and SURA
captured 1 G-3 rifle.=20

On 16.12.96, 11:00 hrs., a battle broke out between SURA no. 757 Brigade,
company 151 and Slorc troops near Wan Norng Sim west of Loi La, Loi Ai
tract, Mong Nai township.  Casualty unknown.

On 19.12.96, troops from company 151 of no. 757 Brigade of the SURA, led by
Sergeant Ti Ma, ambushed a train (railway) south of Hai Phak village, Hai
Phak tract, Nam Zarng township.  Two railway police and 1 train driver were
killed.

On 15.11.96, 2 Slorc troops from No. 64 IB defected and surrendered to SURA=
. =20
The 2 Burmese soldiers were:
(a) Maung Soe Paing, 21, private - son of U Thit and Daw Ma Lay Sein, Magui
township, Magui division.
(b) Aung Naing, 20, private, son of U Bo Aung and Daw Hla Than, Along
township, Rangoon division.
 Both of them belonged to company -3 under company commander Capt. Thet
Naing; battalion commander Lt. Col. Myo Oak.
 They brought with them  G-3 rifles and 400 rounds of ammunition.

                                          - Shan United Revolutionary Army

***************************************************************************=
***

BANGKOK POST: ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS TO BE SENT TO CAMPS
December 24, 1996

TAK - More than 5,000 Burmese and Karen illegal immigrants will
be sent to refugee camps next month.

Thai officials and Karen Refugee Committee members  yesterday
agreed in Mae Sot to transfer 5,736 Burmese and Karens in Tha
Song Yang, Mae Ramat, Mae Sot, Phop Phra and Umphang districts to
refugee camps in mid- january.

The meeting was chaired by Col Suwit Maenmuen, commander of the
4th Infantry Regiment Task force, and Pastor Robert Thwe of the
committee.

*****************************************************************

NATION: BURMESE PROTESTORS STAGE RALLY
December 25, 1996
Chaiwat Pumpuang

RATCHABURI - About 200 Burmese staged a 24-hour, sit-in protest
in a safe area yesterday, demanding that the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) not admit Burma as a member.

The protesters, members of the Anti-Slorc Action Committee
(Asac), also called on Thailand to help restore democracy and
protect human rights in their home land.

Reporters and television crews were barred from covering the
event. Officials from the Interior Ministry, which administers
the Maneeloy safe area, threatened to seize films and cameras.

The group accused the Burmese ruling military junta of violating
human rights and suppressing political opposition.

It also condemned the State Law and Order Restoration Council
(Slorc) for not handing power over to the National League of
Democracy (NLD), led by Aung San Suu Kyi, when the NLD won the
1990 national elections.

The camp officials later detained some of the protesters and
confiscated their campaign leaflets for public and media
distribution.

Asean has announced that it will consider granting membership to
Burma Cambodia and Laos, currently observers to the regional
grouping, as a package at its annual meeting in Malaysia next
year. Thailand set up the Maneeloy safe area for the Burmese
students fleeing suppression in their home land. However most of
the students refuse to reside in  the centre, choosing to live in
Bangkok instead.

In a separate statement, exiled Burmese students of the All
Burma's Students for Democratic Front said yesterday that the
Slorc had forcibly relocated more than 25,000 villagers from 99
villages in southern Tenasserim Division since May.

But a Burmese government spokesman in Rangoon told Reuter that
the student charges were unfounded and denied that there is any
government move to relocate people in Tenasserim.

*****************************************************************

REUTER: MARUBENI OF JAPAN PLANS JOINT RICE VENTURE WITH SLORC
December 25, 1996

    TOKYO, Dec 25 (Reuter) - Japanese trade house Marubeni Corp <8002.T> sa=
id
on Wednesday it and the Burmese government are planning to launch a joint
venture in Burma by next spring to produce rice for feed.

    The joint venture is likely to start production on a trial basis in 199=
7
and will export the rice to neighbouring Asian countries, the Marubeni
spokesman said.

    "The final decision has not been made yet. But we're considering
investing nearly $1.5 million for this joint venture," he said.

    He did not give a specific production target.

    Burma's lower grain production costs and suitable climate for rice
production were the reasons the Japanese trade house considered that countr=
y,
he said.

*************************************************************

ASIAN AGE: ASSAM PLANS CARGO SERVICES TO BURMA
December 23, 1996

Guwahati, Dec. 23: The Assam government has taken up a number of plans to
expand the water transport service to augment revenue. An official report
said the government would explore the possibility of opening a cargo
service between Assam and Burma, which will not only help in putting an
end to the illegal border trade between two countries but also contribute
about Rs 20 crores to the state government exchequer. The ministry of
surface transport has already been requested to amend the Indo-Bangla
protocol for adding another water route, Assam-Chittagon-Rangoon, and
obtaining permission for loading and unloading of goods at Bangladesh
ports, it said.

The state inland water transport department is also making efforts for
more commercial cargo services between Calcutta and Guwahati and Calcutta
and Karimgan. The department is also expected to come to an understanding
with Trifed, a central government undertaking, for transporting one lakh
tonnes of limestone from Meghalaya to Bangladesh. This will fetch a Rs 6
crores revenue.(UNI)

**********************************************************************


RAINFOREST ACTION NETWORK: AIRPORT COMMISSION VOTES AGAINST HUMAN RIGHTS,
AWARDS CONTRACT TO MITSUBISHI
December 24, 1996

Media Advisory: December 24, 1996
Press contact: Mark Westlund - ranmedia@ran.org

"The San Francisco Airport Commission's vote sets two dangerous precedents.
Locally, it undermines the authority of the Human Rights Commission.  Globa=
lly,
it says it's okay to do business with criminal governments.  This is
unacceptable. We owe it to the good name of San Francisco to fight back -
and to fight back hard."

Randall Hayes-Executive Director, Rainforest Action Network

SAN FRANCISCO - The San Francisco Airport Commission voted yesterday to
accept Mitsubishi Heavy Industries of America's (MHIA) low-ball bid to
build a people-mover at SFO, in face of opposition from The City's Human
Rights Commission (HRC), and objections from area human rights and
environmental organizations.  Besides ignoring the HRC recommendation,
Commission president Henry Berman alleged that this project is exempt from
The City's Burma selective-purchasing ordinance due to a loophole in its
wording.  The Burma ordinance prevents The City from contracting with
corporations that do business with Burma's State Law and Order Restoration
Committee (SLORC).

The measure passed three to two, with commissioners Linda Crayton and Larry
Mazzola voting against awarding Mitsubishi the deal.  Commission president
Henry Berman acknowledged that the vote would almost certainly be
challenged in court.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) is supplying the material for a
SLORC-sponsored oil pipeline project with Total Petroleum and
California-based Unocal. The project will displace upwards of twenty
traditional communities in and adjacent to Burma's rainforest.  Total's
coordinator of operations for Thailand and Burma, Herve Chagneaux, has
acknowledged "I could not guarantee that the military will not be using
forced labor."  The Airport Commission sought guarantees from MHIA that MHI
would participate in the SFO project.  MHIA has never built a people-mover.

Spokespeople from Rainforest Action Network, Burma Roundtable, and National
Organization of Women testified against awarding the contract to
Mitsubishi.  Mitsubishi works with the military government of Burma, and
its corporate activities are among the most environmentally devastating in
the world.  Earlier this year 300 women sued Mitsubishi Motor Manufacturers
for sexual harassment in the largest suit of its kind filed in the United
States.

Rainforest Action Network works to protect the Earth's rainforests and
support the rights of their inhabitants through education, grassroots
organizing, and non-violent direct action.