Junta Watch:

[GWR]

Note the conflict between the headline and paragraph 4:

Burma junta chief to meet Gambari

Rangoon (dpa) - The leader of Burma's junta, Senior General Than Shwe, agreed Tuesday to meet with visiting United Nations special envoy Ibrahim Gambari in the regime's capital of Naypyidaw, United Nations sources said.

Gambari arrived in Burma Saturday to assess the situation in the country in the aftermath of a brutal crackdown on peaceful monk-led protests last week that left at least 10 people dead, according to the government's tally. The real death toll is feared to be much higher.

On Sunday, Gambari was allowed to meet for an hour with the country's democracy icon, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, in Rangoon, the former capital and Burma's largest city, but details of their talks have yet to be disclosed.

On Tuesday, he was finally granted an audience with Than Shwe, 74, who heads the State Peace and Development Council, as Burma's junta styles itself.

Burma has been ruled by generals since 1962, and there is little likelihood that the military clique currently running the country would forfeit power to Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy party, which won 1990 election but has been blocked from assuming office for the past 17 years by the junta.

There is skepticism about what Gambari's mission would accomplish. On his last visit to Burma in May 2006, he was also allowed to meet with Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest since May 2003. A week after his departure, the junta slapped another year on Suu Kyi's detention term.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon instructed Gambari in a recent telephone conversation to deliver a message to the generals, UN spokeswoman Marie Okabe said.

"The secretary general asked his envoy to call on the Myanmar authorities to cease the repression of peaceful protest, release the detainees and move more credibly and inclusively in the direction of democratic reform, human rights and national reconciliation," Okabe said in New York.

May expire soon:
http://www.bangkokpost.com/breaking_....php?id=122248

[Wisarut]

Khun Theppahchai Yong pointing out that the Burmese comedians now goiving a satirical joke toward the Junta

Thai Top Brass: Our food is cheap, we can chew giant lobster and then throw away ...

South Korea Top Brass: Our Mobile phone is cheaper than Burmese Longyee, we can throw away as we please.

Burmese Top Brass: The life of people is cheap, we can kill as many as we please!

// -------------------------------

Burmese Gurrgeon boasted that we can replace the brain of those dyfunctional patient with pig brain ... and those with pig prians have beocme Burmese Generals!

REF: http://www.komchadluek.net/2007/10/c...news_id=158450

[GWR]

[Mugshot: The Nation]

Ailing Burmese Prime Minister dies

Burma's ailing Prime Minister Lt Gen Soe Win has died at the military hospital in Mingalardon, Rangoon on Tuesday, sources said.

Soe Win, who returned to Burma on Monday from a secret medical treatment in Singapore, died at about 5:00 p.m (local time), Mizzima News online quoted sources as saying.

The Burmese Prime Minister is known to have been suffering from Leukemia and had secretly received medical treatment in Singapore.

Soe Win, who is a Senior General Than Shwe loyalist, is also known as "the
Butcher of Depayin" for orchestrating the Depayin massacre in 2003 by ordering mobs to attack on pro-democracy leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's motorcade.

Sources said Soe Win will be replaced by Lt-Gen Thein Sein and Tin Aung Myint Oo will be promoted to Thein Sein's position as Secretary-I.

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2007...s_30051148.php

[GWR]

Army major defects in Burma, telecom connections patchy

Oslo - While telephone and internet connections with Burma remained difficult Wednesday, a former army major who fled to neighbouring Thailand said he defected since he did not want to shoot at civilians and monks.

Swedish radio news and Oslo daily Aftenposten published the interview with Major Win and his son who arrived in Bangkok Tuesday after five days on the run from Burma.

"If he had refused to obey orders, he would have been killed," the major's 17-year-old son said.

Father and son said they hoped to seek asylum in Norway or Sweden.

Win said he had heard rumours of some 200 killed during the protests, but had not witnessed any killings and could not confirm the numbers.

The Oslo-based opposition radio station Democratic Voice of Burma on Tuesday said it had received accounts suggesting some 200 people were killed but underlined that the figures were difficult to check.

Official Burma tallies suggest some 10 people were killed.

Earlier, the Oslo-based station's news editor Moe Aye told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa that telephone connections with Burma were difficult.

Some telephone numbers in the former capital Rangoon were out of order while it was not possible to get through to other cities, he said, adding that the internet connection was irregular.

Another development was that the army was trying to force people to give food and money.

"They raid markets for pork and chickens," he said, adding that shopowners were afraid to open their shops.

Raids included a market in Hlaingthayar on the outskirts of Rangoon.//dpa

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2007...l_30051191.php

Defected Burmese officer meets Norwegian diplomats

OSLO -- Norwegian diplomats met Thursday with a Burmese army major who said he defected to neighbouring Thailand because he did not want to shoot at civilians and monks, a Norwegian Foreign Ministry spokesman said.

Bjorn Svenungsen confirmed that the meeting took place at the Norwegian embassy, but declined to offer details or if the Myanmar officer, who in recent interviews was identified as Major Win, had applied for asylum.

The former officer and his son, aged 17, arrived in Bangkok Tuesday after five days on the run from Burma.

In recent interviews with Norwegian and Swedish media, they said they hoped to seek asylum in Norway or Sweden.

..........

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2007...l_30051324.php

[GWR]

Myanmar junta tightens screws, sets Suu Kyi conditions
By Aung Hla Tun

YANGON (Reuters) - Despite gradually easing its iron grip on Myanmar's main city on Thursday, the junta continued to round up scores of people and grill hundreds more arrested during and after a ruthless crackdown on pro-democracy marches.

In the first official remarks since a visit by U.N. envoy Ibrahim Gambari this week, junta chief Than Shwe said he would talk to detained democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi if she abandoned her "obstructive measures" and support for sanctions.

Protestors consisting of refugees and workers from Myanmar burn a poster of junta chief Than Shwe during a protest outside Myanmar embassy in Kuala Lumpur October 4, 2007. (REUTERS/Zainal Abd Halim)
Than Shwe told Gambari that Suu Kyi, who has been in detention for 12 of the last 18 years, was "confrontational" and for "utter devastation", state television said without explaining what the last accusation meant.

He told Gambari that if Suu Kyi "announces publicly she has given up these four things, he would hold direct talks" with her, it said.

Gambari was dispatched to Myanmar to persuade the generals to end their ruthless crackdown on protests and talk to Suu Kyi, but reports of verbal and physical abuse suggest Than Shwe is paying scant regard to his calls for restraint.

"That is one of the top concerns of the international community," said U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, due to attend a meeting of the 15-member Security Council on Friday to discuss the crackdown in a country now under military rule for an unbroken 45 years.

JAILED FOR CLAPPING

A relative of three women released said detainees were being divided into four categories: passers-by, those who watched, those who clapped and those who joined in.

"They're looking for the people who led the demonstrations. The people clapping will only get a minimal punishment - maybe two to five years," said Win Min, who fled to Thailand during a crackdown on a student-led uprising in 1988.

Leaders could be looking at up to 20 years behind bars, he said.

People in central Yangon's Kamayut district said soldiers had arrested scores of people on Wednesday night for trying to impede a raid on the Aung Nyay Tharzi monastery a few days earlier and giving protection to fleeing Buddhist monks.

Another 70 young monks rounded up in other swoops across the city a week ago were freed overnight from a government technical institute, complementing 80 monks and 149 women believed to be nuns released on Wednesday.

One freed monk, who did not want his name revealed, said some had been beaten when they refused to answer questions about their identity, birthplace, parents and involvement in the protests, the biggest challenge to the junta in nearly 20 years.

"The food and living conditions were horrible," the monk, from Yangon's Pyinya Yamika Maha (A) monastery told Reuters.

Among those detained in the middle of the night on Wednesday was a Myanmar U.N. staff member and her two relatives. They were released, along with her driver, on Thursday, a U.N. source said.

The evening state news broadcast said that since the crackdown on peaceful protests led by monks began last week, 2,093 people had been arrested and 692 released after interrogators deemed them innocent.

INDIA PROTEST

The junta's crackdown has provoked scores of protests around the world and on Thursday hundreds of Buddhist monks in yellow robes marched in India chanting hymns, and waving placards that read "Stop Killing" and "No violence against democracy."

Gambari was to brief Ban after arriving in New York on Thursday in the midst of international outrage at the use of soldiers against peaceful columns of Buddhist monks and civilians demanding an end to military rule.

Official media say 10 people were killed, including a Japanese video journalist, although Western governments say the final toll is likely to be far higher.

The body of 50-year-old Kenji Nagai, shot dead near Yangon's Sule Pagoda, returned home on Thursday for an autopsy whose results could lead to Tokyo making good on a threat to scale back economic assistance to Myanmar, one of Asia's poorest countries.

Fears of a repeat of 1988, when the army killed an estimated 3,000 people in a crackdown lasting several months, were not realised, but even China, the junta's closest ally, made a rare public call for restraint.

China praised Gambari's mission -- which Western diplomats said Beijing helped facilitate -- saying it gave his efforts a "positive appraisal".

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp...c=Worldupdates

[GWR]

[Image: The Irrawaddy]

http://www.irrawaddy.org/

UN Chief Says Envoy's Trip to Burma Wasn't Success
By Edith M Lederer/AP Writer/United Nations
October 4, 2007

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said his special envoy delivered "the strongest possible message" to Burma's military leaders about their bloody crackdown on democracy activists, but added that he couldn't call the trip "a success."
Ban said he would meet with the UN Security Council on Friday to discuss what to do about human rights abuses in Burma, calling the situation there a top international concern.

"We will discuss closely with the Security Council members what action to take in the future," he said Wednesday.

Ban did not say if he had specific steps in mind. But China, which as a permanent member of the council can veto its actions, is a close ally of Burma's military government.

Special envoy Ibrahim Gambari was scheduled to sit down with Ban on Thursday to report on his four-day trip to the Southeast Asian nation, where troops quelled mass protests with gunfire last week and continued to round up suspected activists.

Asked about Gambari's visit, Ban said, "You cannot call it a success."

But, he added, "I was relatively relieved that he was first of all able to meet with leaders of the Myanmar [Burmese] government as well as Madame Aung San Suu Kyi," the opposition leader and Nobel peace laureate who is under house arrest.

Gambari urged the junta's leaders to stop repressing peaceful protesters, release detainees, move toward real democratic reform, respect human rights and reconcile with their political opponents, the UN spokesman's office said.

In discussing the situation in Burma, Ban singled out the strong statement sent to the junta by the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which includes Burma.

Asean expressed "revulsion" at the crackdown on peaceful protesters and strongly urged the military regime "to exercise utmost restraint and seek a political solution."

http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=8883

[GWR]

Originally Posted by GWR

[Mugshot: The Nation]


http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2007...s_30051148.php

Correction

October 5, 2007 - Mizzima on Tuesday (October 2, 2007) inadvertently reported that the Burmese Prime Minister Lt-Gen Soe Win died at Rangoon's Mingalardon hospital at about 5 p.m. (local time), based on information provided by sources close to the Burmese premier and the military establishment.

However, on careful follow up, family sources of Soe Win told Mizzima that the premier is not dead and is currently in the Intensive Care Unit of Mingalardon hospital in Rangoon. He was reportedly, visited by three senior leaders of the Burmese military junta including Snr. Gen. Than Shwe on Tuesday.

"He is still in the Mingalardon hospital. But doctors said his condition is critical," the family source told Mizzima.

However, the Mingalardon hospital authorities refused to answer Mizzima's queries.

Mizzima sincerely apologizes to all our readers for the wrong reporting and pledges to continue to provide more accurate information in the future.

http://www.mizzima.com/MizzimaNews/N...-Oct-2007.html

[Jromerz]

A 49 minute documentary by Evan Williams getting deep into the reality people face everyday in Burma:

Burma's Secret War
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-YVdpQHdqo

[GWR]

Burma releases detained monks but diplomats not hopeful

Rangoon - The Burmese junta has released hundreds of Buddhist monks arrested in a crackdown on the largest anti-regime protests in 19 years, but few see such lenience as a sign of positive change in the brutal regime's tactics towards dissent, diplomats and activists said Saturday.

The New Light of Myanmar, a government mouthpiece, announced Saturday that 404 of the 513 monks arrested since September 26 had already been released from prison, together with 30 women who had been caught in the authorities dragnet of 18 monasteries in Rangoon, citing military sources.

The regime previously said that altogether 2,093 people had been arrested in their latest crackdown on dissent, of whom 692 had been released.

Authorities now acknowledge that they raided 18 monasteries in Rangoon last month as part of the crackdown on the monk-led rebellion, which started on September 18 with peaceful barefoot marches through the streets of the city and peaked on September 25 with 100,000 anti-government protesters.

The Burmese junta crushed the "saffron revolution" on September 26 and 27, killing at least 10 people, according to official figures. Anti-government activists in Rangoon say the death toll was closer to 200.

Residents near the Yeywey crematorium in Rangoon saw government personnel burning 71 bodies on the night of September 26, and people living near Insein prison have witnessed three to four dead bodies being brought out nightly from the notorious jail, where many of the protesters were detained and reportedly beaten.

In is unlikely that the full extent of the atrocities committed against Burmese revered monkhood and the laymen who joined their peaceful protests will ever be disclosed.

Calls for an independent investigation into the events have been ignored. Confidence in the United Nations' ability to do anything to pressure the regime is limited and dwindling fast, diplomats said.

UN special envoy Ibrahim Gambari visited Burma between September 29 to October 2 to deliver a strong message of disapproval to the country's ruling generals and returned to New York on Thursday with a report for the UN Security Council.

After the 15-member council met Friday it failed to reach a consensus on future actions against the regime or even a joint statement of condemnation.

What was decided was that Gambari will visit Burma again in mid-November, but whether he visits depends on whether or not the junta grants him a visa.

"After his critical statements in New York I doubt they will let Gambari come back again," said Lars Backstrom, the Finnish ambassador to Burma and Thailand.

Backstrom and the Danish ambassador were briefed by a deputy director of the Burmese Foreign Ministry in Naypyidaw, the country's new capital, on Friday.

"There were no surprises," said Backstrom of the briefing. Like many Burma-watchers, the diplomat expressed pessimism about Burma's prospects for democracy in the aftermath of the latest protests and crackdowns.

"This was just another sad chapter in a very sad history of the country," said Backstorm in an interview in Bangkok with Deutsche Presse-Agentur.

Senior General Than Shwe, who heads the ruling junta, has offered to meet with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi on the precondition that she drops her calls for "confrontation" and support for western sanctions against the country.

Ironically, Suu Kyi has not been able to call for anything over the past four years as she has been kept in near complete isolation under house arrest in Yangon. She has no telephone, and the last person she has met besides her maid and personal doctor was Gambari, who held talks with her on September 30 and again on October 2.

Observers speculate that Than Shwe has set preconditions for a dialogue with Suu Kyi in order to blame their eventual failure on the 1991 Nobel peace prize laureate.

"The military has the upper hand. That's the fact," said Backstrom. "Time is on their side."

Deutsche Presse-Agentur

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2007...l_30051555.php

[GWR]

No action on Burma: UN Security Council

New York - With the UN Security Council divided over actions to support democracy in a country ruled by a military junta, special envoy Ibrahim Gambari said Friday he plans to return to Southeast Asia and Burma in early November to see "all people and stay as long as possible."

Gambari said his three-day visit to Burma was "tightly controlled" by the military and he was not allowed to see the people he wanted to see. As a compromise, he said the government allowed him some liberty but he had to comply with some of their own programme.

Gambari had planned to return to Rangoon by mid-November, but he now said the visit was pushed up so he can visit some Asian capitals and return to Rangoon. The planning for the trip is underway, Gambari told reporters after briefing the council about his findings and meeting with the body behind closed doors.

He said he had demanded the military leaders take action on a series of issues he presented them, including national dialogue with a deadline to achieve "results reflecting the will of the people."

"We want time-bound, concrete and serious results," Gambari said, adding that opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi is also "very anxious" to see those results.

Gambari met with Suu Kyi twice during the three-day visit, describing her as "frail, but looking better this time than last November when I met her" in Rangoon. He said "deep mistrust" exists between Suu Kyi and the military leaders and the UN is trying to bridge that mistrust.

When asked whether Suu Kyi had called for sanctions against the military, Gambari told reporters he could not interpret what she had said.

Gambari told the council that as of Friday, a total of 2,095 people arrested had been released, including 728 monks, and the government had promised to free more.

Gambari rejected the military's assertion that the popular demonstrations were instigated by opposition elements and the protests were limited to Rangoon and Mandalay.

"It is clear that the demonstrations over the past few weeks are for the most part the expression of deep and widespread discontent about socio-economic conditions in the country," he said.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon branded the repressions as "abhorrent and unacceptable," and said the "unknown predicament" of thousands of people arrested without due process is a matter of serious concern.

The 15-nation council issued no official statement on the situation in Burma after hearing Ban, Gambari and council members. The United States and Britain called for strong measures like sanctions while China said the Burma people should resolve their own problems.

US Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad expressed impatience with the inaction, saying it was "time for the council to do more than listen to briefings."

In Washington, the White House urged the council to respond "seriously" - including with possible sanctions. The US has already imposed sanctions on the regime's leadership, including a travel ban and an assets freeze.

"What we are considering is any further steps, whether it be additional sanctions or other types of actions," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said.

Khalilzad said the US is ready to submit a draft resolution to impose sanctions on Burma's military junta, a move supported by British Ambassador John Sawers.

Sawers and Khalilzad said the situation in Burma is a threat to international peace and security, but that description was rejected by Chinese's Ambassador Wang Guangya, who also opposed a council statement suggested by his American counterpart.

Russia and some other council members preferred Gambari's diplomacy, saying that he should return to Burma as soon as possible. Ban said Gambari will return to that country in mid-November.

Singapore's Ambassador Vanu Gopala Menon told the council that any solution to the problems in Burma must include the military. His country currently chairs the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), which has condemned the repression of demonstrations.

"The military is a key institution in Burma that cannot be automatically wished away," Menon said, speaking as Asean chair. "If the military is not part of the solution, there will be no solution."

The Burma UN Ambassador U Kyaw Tint Swe, who also addressed the council, argued that Menon was not speaking as head of the Asean group at UN headquarters, but only in his national capacity.//dpa

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2007...l_30051562.php

[GWR]

Rather patronizing caption on the photo! I also half-suspect that Than Shwe wouldn't know her from Adam, as he is not exactly well-read:

Activist drawn to Myanmar

By FLORENCE A. SAMY

PETALING JAYA: She is known as “that Malaysian woman” among the Myanmar military junta and is introduced that way to foreign delegates.

Although her name is not mentioned, the foreign delegates know exactly whom the regime is referring to, as she is no stranger to Myanmar.

She is none other than Debbie Stothard, a Malaysian human rights activist who has struck a nervous chord among the much-hated junta.

Such was the junta’s fear that Stothard has been banned from entering Myanmar, a poverty-stricken country where recent protests saw unarmed monks killed for taking part in a democracy rally following a 500% fuel price increase.

“Being banned from Myanmar is like a badge of honour. I must be doing something right if they are trying to keep me out of the country,” she quipped when contacted in Bangkok recently.


[Photo: The Star - On the ground: Stothard conducting one of the many training sessions that Altsean-Burma organises to help Myanmars develop and improve themselves.]

She is in the centre of it all. Reportedly a confidante and spokesman of Aung San Suu Kyi, she is actively involved in the human rights movement in Myanmar and the fight to free Suu Kyi.

Stothard’s passion for Myanmar was ignited after the nationwide massacre in 1988, sparked off by an economic crisis and resulting in the deaths of more than 3,000 people following student-led anti-junta rallies.

“I had a very compelling call to get involved. Myanmars are very inspiring and resilient people who smile and still have a spirit of generosity despite their hardships.

“People are fascinated that I’m a Malaysian working on Myanmar, but for me, it is truly an honour and privilege. It is quite funny that more Myanmars know me than Malaysians,” she added.

However, Stothard, who is in her 40s, is no stranger to the fight against human rights violation, being part of it for more than 20 years in Malaysia and other Asean countries.

It has been over 10 years since Stothard visited Myanmar, but she still keeps abreast, especially through the Bangkok-based Altsean-Burma (Alternative Asean Network for Burma) where she works as a coordinator.

Altsean is a regional network of organisations and individuals that supports the human rights movement and democracy in Myanmar.

Stothard said Myanmars yearned to learn and positively change the community and were willing to walk through jungles laden with land mines just to learn how to better themselves.

“I don’t feel a sense of sacrifice in helping them but rather a sense of satisfaction to see how people and community transform for the better,” she added.

On the present protests and killing of monks, Stothard said it was not an overnight phenomenon and it had built up to a point where “it is now or never.”

“Everyone hates the military regime so much so that some lift their sarong at the military, which is the ultimate insult to them.

“People realise that no one is going to stand up for them and they have to do it on their own even if it means dying in a hail of bullets. The monks are trying to make a difference despite the risk faced. It is both tragic and inspiring,” she said.

Asean must have stronger political will to act against the junta and UN special envoy to Myanmar Ibrahim Gambari is obligated to ensure that the regime stops its brutal killings and human rights violation, she said.

Stothard met Suu Kyi in 1997 when the Nobel Peace Prize winner invited her for a meeting after hearing her voice over the radio.

“I’m amazed by her strong will and warmth and understand why she commands such respect,” said Stothard, whose days as a journalist and university student sparked her interest in the human rights cause.

Her stint as a journalist in The Star in the early 1980s (1981-1983) opened her eyes and exposed her to situations she never knew before.

“It has helped me to be resourceful and persistent and be a proactive communicator and do things that would have been a fantasy 10 to 20 years ago,” she said.

“I have no regrets. The experience has been exhilarating and satisfying. I am lucky to have family and friends who support me, although they initially thought I was crazy!”

On what the future holds for Myanmar, Stothard said she was looking forward to seeing a free Myanmar one day.

“Will it happen? Absolutely! I am convinced that it will be free in my lifetime. People in Myanmar are willing to take a bullet for freedom. The monks’ sacrifice and deaths should not be in vain,” she added.

Bangkok-based group in which Debbie Stothard works. Alternative ASEAN Network for Burma:
http://www.altsean.org/

Interactive map of the recent protests and the crackdown:
http://www.altsean.org/Photogalleries/ProtestsMap.php

[GWR]

http://www.myanmar.com/newspaper/nlm/

Paragraphs 9-12 are particularly recommended:

New Light of Myanmar

Ovada sought from Sayadaws of Yangon Division Sangha Nayaka Committee
Monks are to follow Viniya rules of the Buddha, rules and regulations and instructions
If they breach any one of those orders action may be taken against them

Nay Pyi Taw, 6 Oct � A ceremony to seek ovada from Sayadaws of Yangon Division Sangha Nayaka Committee (All Ganas) was held at Yangon Division Sangha Nayaka Committee (Sudhamma) in Bahan Township, Yangon, yesterday afternoon.

Director of Yangon Division Administration Department U Hla Soe supplicated on religious matters saying violent disturbances occurred in some townships of Yangon Division due to some members of the Sangha and laypersons.

During the disturbances, monks of the monasteries who did not take part in the disturbances faced threats and insulting group throwing bottled water at their monasteries. Troublemakers committed assaults even on eminent monks.

The Minister for Religious Affairs presented the true events to State Sangha Maha Nayaka Committee on 24 September 2007. The committee issued Directive No 93 the same day prohibiting all acts that violate Vinaya (discipline).

Yangon Division GAD imposed section 144 (curfew) in townships it deemed necessary in Yangon Division the next day. Disturbance-makers and some members of the Sangha organized and deceived by a certain party and other troublesome so-called �88' generation students, and bogus monks specially kept for causing unrest in defiance of curfew ganged together to incite unrest.

Security forces responsible for enforcing peace and stability and the rule of law in Yangon Division systematically restored the situation in accord with the law. But the violent protesters ganged up on security personnel and even tried to grab their weapons.

All the people including members of the religious order must observe laws enacted or issued by the State.

According to objective information, witnesses and other evidences, security forces had to carry out search of Ngwe Kyayan Pariyatti Sarthintaik, Dhamma Zeya, Shwetaungmaw and Satilayama monasteries in South Okkalapa Township, Dhammathukha monastery in Tamway Township, Moegaung monastery in Yankin Township, Meggin, Kyauksataw Ashe, Pyinnya Tagon, Dhamnma Waipula and Shwekyin Taikthit monasteries in Thingangyun Township, Mingalayama and Pyinnya Yamika monasteries in Botahtaung Township, Sasana Theikpan and Sasana Gonyi monasteries in Bahan Township, Takkathila Zeyathikdi Pahtan monastery in Dagon (East) Township, Thirizeya and Pandisayama monasteries in North Okkalapa Township, totalling 18 monasteries where U Gambhira, U Vicitta, U Obhasa, U Pakata, U Kovida, U Ottara, U Khanti, U Kusala, U Aggavamsa, U Neminda, U Nanataja, U Ottama, U Sinninda, U Janinda, U Kusala, Shin Gandera, U Vunnasara, U Tejaniya, U Kontinna, U Jatiya, U Candavara, U Kevala, U Somana, U Acitta, U Pannajota, U Kosalla, U Pannavamsa, U Nandobhasa and U Catila, who led, generated, participated and supported the disturbances were residing, due to unavoidable circumstances.

In the raid, the members could not differentiate between monks and novices and bogus ones. So, they took 513 monks, one novice, 167 men and 30 women for questioning.

It is regrettable that the operation revealed that in some monasteries, women sleep in the buildings where monks reside, and the members found 42 uncensored pornographic VCDs, one uncensored pornographic DVD, three pornographic books, two pornographic wall sheets, four pornographic photos, a Kama Siddhi treatise, a photo of a woman, 10 condoms, one sexual tonic medicine sachet, dildo (with belt), one statuette of a woman and a man hugging each other, 13 women's wear longyis (sarongs), eight panties, one purse, a love letter, perfume/glycerin bottles, men's wear longyis, T-shirts, Jeans, two cordless phones, three loan agreements, one men's wear Rolex wrist watch, 10 alcohol bottles, one 9mm pistol round of ammunition, 18 different kinds of swords, three wooden nanchatkus, one axe, six wooden rods, one iron rod, 13 catapults, documents about lists of bets, 30 booklets featuring football match fixtures and documents about football match bets, documents, ledgers and receipts about two-digit and three-digit illegal lotteries, three sets of playing cards, one anti-government poem book titled Thway Mawgun, one paper sheet featuring anti-government letter titled Nyinyut Kya Yin, three paper sheets featuring facts about Myanmar Young Monks Union, one diary dated on 18.9.2007 featuring expressions that Myanmar Young Monks Union made demands to the government, documents about news records and speeches of NLD, one badge of fighting peacock, �88� generation student group's invitation cards for Waso robes donation, one Nazi headband, and two US headbands.

After interrogating those who were taken from the monasteries, up to 5 October, 404 monks, one novice, 158 men and 30 women who were found innocent had been released. Now, 109 monks and nine men are under questioning.

Foreign media and anti-government groups made fabrications that in the incidents, there were casualties of some monks. In reality, only a dead body with a tattoo depicting party political affairs and a yellow robe on his neck was found to be floating in the Pazundaung creek. He was only a bogus monk wearing a yellow robe.

It was found that the internal and external elements did not even spare the monks practising Pariyatti and Patipatti in their monasteries and persuaded them to take to the streets. Their acts were in total disregard of the Sasana and the Buddha's teachings, and they attempted to tarnish the image of Buddha's Sasana and sow discord between the government and the people. As a result, the Sasana as well as the country was affected. So it proved that the destructionists were sticking to the means of confrontation and utter devastation.

As U Gambira, U Vicitta, U Obhasa and U Padaka, who led the instigation to cause disturbances, escaped, the Sayadaws and members of the Sangha are requested to expose bogus monks. Although authorities and security members pay respects to the real monks, they had to take action against those bogus monks trying to tarnish the image of the Sasana in order to ensure community peace and tranquillity, the rule of law and perpetuity of the Sasana. Therefore, the Sayadaws and members of the Sangha who are safeguarding the Sasana are requested to give Ovada.

Later, Chairman of Yangon Division Sangha Nayaka Committee (Shwekyin) Sayadaw of Sasana Alinyaung Monastery in Dawbon Township Bhaddanta Jotika, Chairman of Yangon Division Sangha Nayaka Committee (Muladwara) Sayadaw of Gandayon Monastery Bhaddanta Jayasena, Chairman of Yangon Division Sangha Nayaka Committee (Weiluwun) Sayadaw of Bilin Monastery in Sangyoung Township Bhaddanta Pannawbhasa and Chairman of Yangon Division Sangha Nayaka Committee (Thudama) Sayadaw of Legaing Monastery in Dalla Township Bhaddanta Ardisavamsa gave the Ovada.

They said that as the security members could not distinguish real monks and novices from bogus ones they had to take monks and novices they had found. But the monks and novices who were found innocent have been released and sent back to their monasteries. Action will be taken against those involved in the violent protests in accord with the law. Those who got involved unwittingly in and those being threatened to join the protests have been released. There was growing concern over rumours that some monasteries will be raided at night. Now, the public concerns have subsided. It is required to expose U Gambhira and some monks who were acting in collusion with such foreign radio stations as BBC, VOA and RFA. And our media need to refute fabricated news aired by foreign media. Officials are to inform the monasteries as to notifications of local authorities in order that those who haven't learnt yet the notifications through the newspapers and televisions may know them. Officials are to strive to get a large number of monks know that only monks who led the protests and bogus monks who were found together with things that have nothing to do with monks were arrested and action was taken against them.

Monks are to follow Vinaya rules of the Buddha, rules and regulations and instructions issued by the State Sangha Maha Nayaka Committee and the law issued by the State. If they breach any one of those orders action may be taken against them. It was pleased that monks had been defrocked during interrogation and then they had been ordained and sent back to their monasteries. The handling of situation during the violent protests and measures taken by officials for purification of the Sasana amounts to serving the interest of the Sasana. Officials are to make continued efforts for perpetuation, purification and propagation of the Sasana. If monks and disciples make concerted efforts it is sure that achievement will be made.

Next, the ceremony ended with the recitation of Buddha Sasanam Ciram Titthatu.

Sayadaws of all Ganas of the committee, heads of district GADs, Head of Yangon Division Religious Affairs Department U Soe Naing and district heads and Director of Yangon Division Immigration and National Registration Department U Hla Daung and district heads were present.

http://www.myanmar.com/newspaper/nlm/

[GWR]

Lee Kuan Yew says Burma's ruling generals are "rather dumb"

Singapore - Singapore's senior statesman Lee Kuan Yew believes Burma's ruling generals are "rather dumb" when it comes to managing the country's economy and will not be able to survive indefinitely, a published interview said Wednesday.

However, the Army must be part of the solution to the problems facing the country, he said. If the Army is dissolved, all of Burma's administrative instruments will go with it, and the country will have nothing with which to govern itself.

Lee, Singapore's founding prime minister and currently minister mentor, spoke with a columnist from the University of California's Los Angeles Media Centre and a new-media expert from the University of Southern California.

The contents were published in The Straits Times.

"These are rather dumb generals when it comes to the economy," he was quoted as saying. "How they can so mismanage the economy and reach this stage when the country has so many natural resources?"

Lee said that Singapore hoteliers who sunk millions of dollars into Burma on his advice have now found their hotels empty.

He has tried to advise the generals to take Burma out of isolation, referring specifically to former junta member Khin Nyunt, who is currently under house arrest.

"He's the most intelligent of the lot," Lee said of Khin Nyunt, who as prime minister and head of military intelligence was once part of a troika in the military junta, but apparently fell out with the current regime chief Senior General Than Shwe and was stripped of his posts in 2004.

Lee said he could not understand how the generals could believe that they could let Burma remain isolated, adding that even medicines were being smuggled from Thailand.

Referring to recent excesses by the junta, Lee said that the rulers must have pushed "a hungry and impoverished" people to revolt. Among the excesses were moving to a new administrative capital, Naypyidaw, complete with expensive buildings.

"We will see how it is, but whatever it is, I do not believe that they can survive indefinitely," Lee said.//dpa

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2007...l_30051980.php

[GWR]

See previous post for Lee Kuan Yew's assessment of the Burmese Junta's Generals as "rather dumb":
http://www.angkor.com/2bangkok/2bang...&postcount=135

Generals, soldiers jailed for refusing to shoot monks

Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Tachileik, Shan State, Myanmar

Myanmar's ruling junta have detained five generals and more than 400 soldiers for disobeying orders to shoot and beat monks and other activists who took part in recent protests in Yangon, an official said Monday.

The official, who asked for anonymity out of fear he would be punished by the junta, said it was the first sign of divisions in the country's secretive establishment.

"The five generals expressed their refusal to deploy their troops against the monks openly. They were then quickly put into detention by the junta.

"Some 400 soldiers of the Sikai Division near Mandalay (Myanmar's second largest city) also put down their guns in front of the monks, and asked for their forgiveness as they fully realized they had committed the biggest sin," he told The Jakarta Post.

The official refused to disclose the names of the generals or give further details on where the generals and the soldiers were detained.

Following Myanmar's recent wave of anti-government demonstrations, which drew more than 100,000 protesters at its peak last week and saw the military shooting at civilians and monks, the Myanmarese administration announced that 10 people, including a Japanese photographer, had been killed during the protests.

Foreign diplomats and Myanmarese dissidents said the true death toll was much higher.

The official said that most civil servants like himself did not like what the junta had done to the monks but were too afraid too show their feelings.

"Monks are a symbol of our religion and our life. People are very angry that the military dared to shoot them. It is considered the biggest sin to kill monks," the official said.

He said that many civil servants and other workers were beginning to quietly express their dissatisfaction by staying at home and not working.

Shwe Myo Thant, secretary-general of the Chiang Mae-based Nationalities Youth Program, an organization of 12 ethnic groups working to empower Myanmar people, agreed that many workers were boycotting the junta by staying home.

"They want to show the military that they disagree with the violent crackdown. By not working, we hope that they can put more pressure on the junta to open dialog. Beside the civil servants and the workers, the monks are also continuing their protest inside their monasteries by staying silent and refusing to pray for the government," he told the Post on Sunday at his office in Chiang Mae.

Analysts have speculated that the disobedience of some military generals could be the beginning of cracks inside the military establishment, leading to civilians taking power in a manner similar to the events in Indonesia during the May 1998 riots, which led to the fall of Soeharto.

http://www.thejakartapost.com/detail...010.B06&irec=5

[GWR]

October 11, 2007 10:15 AM
Suu Kyi ally dies in Myanmar after torture, says rights group

YANGON (AFP) - A member of detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's party has died after torture and interrogation, a rights group said Wednesday, as possible talks between her and the junta failed to develop.

Win Shwe, a 42-year-old member of the opposition National League for Democracy, was arrested on September 26 near Myanmar's second city of Mandalay, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) said in a statement. He was held along with four other people for joining anti-government protests led by Buddhist monks in Mandalay.

"He died as a result of torture during interrogation. However, his body was not sent to his family and the interrogators indicated that they had cremated it instead," the Thailand-based watchdog said.

AAPP is run by former political prisoners who now live in exile in neighbouring Thailand. The group monitors conditions in Myanmar's notorious prisons. More than 2,100 people were arrested last month during the biggest anti-government protests seen here in nearly two decades.

Nearly 1,000 are still being held, according to official figures. During the crackdown the junta unleashed baton charges, tear gas and live rounds, killing at least 13 people and sparking an international outcry. Aung San Suu Kyi's NLD party could not immediately confirm the activist's death.

..........

Non-specific link:
http://www.bernama.com.my/

Detainees Dying Under Interrogation, Say Burmese Sources
By Shah Paung
October 10, 2007

A member of Burma’s opposition National League for Democracy has died in a police interrogation center, a Burmese rights group reported on Wednesday.

The report follows news from another rights group on Tuesday that two university students arrested on September 27 had also died while being interrogated.

The NLD member, 42-year-old Win Shwe, who belonged to the party’s Kyaukpadaung Township branch in Mandalay Division was arrested on September 26, together with four other activists who took part with him in supporting demonstrations by protesting monks. The fate of the other four is not known.

The Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma) said Win Shwe’s family had been informed that he had died three days ago but had been given no further information. His body was not returned to the family, and the AAPP said it had been buried secretly.

The AAPP said Win Shwe had been detained at a police center in Palake, near Mandalay. Other detainees had died under interrogation and their bodies had been secretly disposed of, the AAPP said.

“This is a terrible crime,” said AAPP Secretary Tate Naing. “This government has been contravening human rights beyond the limit.”

The AAPP is compiling lists of missing people and certified deaths. Bodies of monks had been found in Rangoon’s Pazundaung River in recent days, it said.

The deaths of the two Rangoon University (Eastern Campus) students were reported to The Irrawaddy on Tuesday by a reliable source from his hiding place. The bodies had been secretly cremated. Shortly after speaking to The Irrawaddy, the source was arrested while talking to an exile radio station.

The source told The Irrawaddy that the two zoology students had died from drowning during their questioning in Rangoon’s Kyaikkasan interrogation center.

http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=8968