UN chief says Myanmar should free Aung San Suu Kyi
AP / June 30, 2009

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called Tuesday on Myanmar's military-run government to free all of its political prisoners, including opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

The U.N. chief, who arrived in Japan earlier in the day for a three-day visit, will travel to Myanmar on Friday in a diplomatic bid to win the release of the 64-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate, who has spent more than 13 of the past 19 years in detention without trial.

"First of all, they should release all political prisoners, including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi," Ban told reporters in Tokyo. Daw is a title of respect in Myanmar

Suu Kyi is being held in Myanmar's notorious Insein prison and is being tried on charges of violating the terms of her house arrest after an uninvited American man swam to her closely guarded lakeside home last month and stayed two days.

Ban is set to arrive in Yangon, Myanmar's commercial capital, on Friday _ the same day Suu Kyi's trial resumes _ and is hoping to meet with her, U.N. officials said.

In Tokyo, Ban met with Japanese Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone to discuss Suu Kyi's trial and North Korea's nuclear and missile threats, according to the Foreign Ministry.

He is scheduled for talks with Prime Minister Taro Aso on Wednesday.
Ban's talks in Tokyo are also expected to center on Iran, where incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was declared the winner of a June 12 election but opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi has claimed fraud, calling for a new vote.

Ban has urged Iran's leaders to heed "the genuine will of Iranian people," but he has not said what the U.N. might do.

On North Korea, the U.N. chief and the foreign minister are expected to urge the regime to give up its nuclear program and return to international disarmament talks.

Ban's three-day visit to Japan comes amid escalating tensions on the Korean peninsula following Pyongyang's second nuclear test on May 25 in defiance of a U.N. ban.

The United Nations punished the communist regime over the atomic test by expanding an arms embargo and authorizing ship searches on the high seas in a bid to derail its nuclear and missile programs.

North Korea lashed out at the U.N. sanctions, saying it would bolster its nuclear arsenal and threatening war. Pyongyang is also reportedly preparing for a third nuclear test and more long-range missile launches.

Ban, who served as South Korea's foreign minister from 2004-2006, is scheduled for talks with Aso on Wednesday after meeting Japanese business leaders. He leaves for Singapore on Thursday before heading to Myanmar on Friday.

Officials say UN envoy arrives in Myanmar
AP / June 26, 2009

A U.N. special envoy arrived Friday in Myanmar to pave the way for a possible visit by the U.N. secretary-general that would be politically delicate because of the continuing trial of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Human Rights Watch and some governments have urged U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon not to visit now, arguing the trip could be exploited by the government.

The Nobel Peace laureate is in prison and being tried on charges of violating the terms of her house arrest after an uninvited American man swam to her closely guarded lakeside home last month and stayed two days.

But other countries say the alternative is to do nothing and miss an opportunity to have the U.N. chief press for Suu Kyi's release and push for more open and inclusive elections next year.

Details of Ibrahim Gambari's visit have not been disclosed. After arriving in Yangon, the commercial capital, he was driven to his hotel ahead of a trip later in the day to the capital of Naypyitaw to meet government officials, an official said on condition of anonymity.

A Western diplomat said Gambari would "prepare the visit of his boss."
Both men spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to release information to the press.

It is Gambari's eighth visit the U.N. chief's special representative to promote political reconciliation between the military government and the pro-democracy movement led by Suu Kyi.

U.N. spokeswoman Michele Montas said Thursday in New York that Gambari will report to the secretary-general on his Myanmar visit before Ban leaves for a trip to Japan on Monday.

Ban told The Associated Press earlier this week that he was looking at the "appropriate timing" for a visit.

Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party said it would welcome a meeting with Gambari. "I believe his visit will help ease the current political situation in the country," party spokesman Nyan Win said.

Another awkward factor is the possible delivery to Myanmar of weapons aboard a ship from North Korea, in defiance of U.N. sanctions. Although neither North Korean nor Myanmar authorities have confirmed such activity, U.S. and South Korean officials suspect that the Kang Nam is carrying weapons for Myanmar's military, and its arrival could coincide with Ban's visit.

The U.N. has called repeatedly for political reconciliation in Myanmar, including the release of Suu Kyi. The country has been under military rule since 1962, and the junta refused to recognize the results of 1990 general elections won by Suu Kyi's party.

Suu Kyi's trial has drawn outrage from the international community and from her local supporters, who say the military government is using the incident as an excuse to keep her detained through the 2010 elections.

Gambari's seven trips since becoming the special envoy in 2006 have failed to nudge the military regime toward talks with the opposition.

But Ban's visit to Myanmar after last year's devastating Cyclone Nargis was hailed as instrumental to getting the isolated government to admit more foreign relief workers.

North Korea Threatens Attack as U.S. Destroyer Tracks Ship to Myanmar
U.S News / June 22, 2009

Pyongyang issued fresh threats of retaliation Monday as U.S. warship tailed a North Korea cargo ship suspected of carrying missiles.

"As long as our country has become a proud nuclear power, the U.S. should take a correct look at whom it is dealing with," said a commentary in the Rodong Sinmun newspaper, which is regarded as a source of official viewpoints.

"It would be a grave mistake for the U.S. to think it can remain unhurt if it ignites the fuse of war on the Korean peninsula."

The newspaper also blasted President Obama's recent pledge to protect South Korea, saying it was an attempt to attack the North with atomic bombs.

According to YTN, the South Korean news network, the United States has deployed a Navy destroyer and is suing satellites to track a North Korean cargo ship, which was expected to travel to Myanmar via Singapore.

The ship is reportedly the first North Korean vessel to be tracked under new United Nations sanctions.

This mission comes as the Pentagon prepares for the possibility that North Korea may attempt to launch a missile toward Hawaii.

Last week, media in Japan reported the possibility of North Korea firing a missile over Japan in the direction of America's 50th state around the July 4th holiday.

"This administration - and our military - is fully prepared for any contingencies," Obamas told CBS.

According to Seoul's Chosun Ilbo newspaper, the Obama administration is considering sending former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger to China to persuade officials there to enforce the United Nation sanctions against North Korea.

EU Threatens Tougher Sanctions Against Myanmar
AFP / June 19, 2009

European Union leaders threatened Friday to slap new sanctions on the Myanmar regime unless it released Aung San Suu Kyi, as the pro-democracy leader marked her 64th birthday behind bars.

"The European Council calls for the immediate unconditional release of Aung San Suu Kyi, who has tirelessly defended the universal values of freedom and democracy," they said in a statement released after a two-day E.U. summit in Brussels.

"Unless she is released, with all other political prisoners, the credibility of the 2010 elections will be further undermined. The E.U. will respond with additional targeted measures," it said.

"We urge Myanmar to embark on a genuine transition to democracy bringing peace and prosperity to its people."

The Nobel laureate spent her birthday Friday at Yangon's notorious Insein prison, where she is being held on charges of violating her house arrest after an American man swam to her lakeside house.

Aung San Suu Kyi has spent 13 of the last 19 years in detention since the junta refused to recognise her National League for Democracy's landslide victory in elections in 1990.

After reading the statement to reporters, U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown said: "That means we are prepared to look at further sanctions."

Myanmar says no to reopening Stilwell Road, plan shelved
IANS / June 18, 2009

India’s plans of reopening the historic World War II Stilwell Road, linking the country to China via Myanmar, has come a cropper with Yangon rejecting moves to allow its territory for resuming age old road links, an official here said Thursday.

“The plan as of now stands cancelled with Myanmar objecting to the reopening of the Stilwell Road for security reasons,” Minister for the Development of the Northeastern Region (DoNER) Bijoy Krishna Handique told journalists.

The 1,726 km Stilwell Road connects India’s northeastern state of Assam to Kunming, the capital of southwest China’s Yunnan province, after cutting through the Pangsau pass in Myanmar. It touches almost all the important Southeast Asian capitals.

Named after American General Joseph Stilwell, who led its construction, Stilwell Road was a vital lifeline for the movement of Allied Forces during World War II as they battled to free China from Japanese occupation.

Chinese labourers, Indian soldiers and American engineers took three years to build the road. The Stilwell Road on the Indian side is about 61 km long. The major stretch of 1,033 km lies within Myanmar, while the stretch in China is 632 km.

China had already completed constructing their stretch of the Stilwell Road with the only major hitch being the rugged section of the legendary road in Myanmar, which Yangon refused to build.

Myanmar maintains that the Stilwell Road, which passes through its Kachin region, is infested with militant camps belonging to outfits from India’s northeast and hence reopening the road would provide better access to the rebels.

“Myanmar is of the view that reopening the Stilwell Road would only help Indian militants and hence the objection,” the minister said.

The Kachin region in the North Sagaing Division of Myanmar is home to about eight rebel groups of India’s northeast, including the S.S. Khaplang faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-K) and the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA).

India was hopeful that reopening of the Stilwell Road would greatly boost the economy and trade activities of the region with Southeast Asian countries.
“Now there are plans for an alternative route to connect the Northeast to other South Asian countries through the Sittwe Port in Myanmar. We need to build up infrastructure to enable using the Sittwe port,” the minister said.

There is strong demand for Indian automobile components, fruits, grains, vegetables, textiles and cotton yarn in most neighbouring countries. On the other hand, Indian traders are keen on importing electronic gadgets, synthetic blankets, teak, gold and semi-precious stones.

Assam, the gateway to the northeast, is about 2,000 km from the Indian capital New Delhi and some 3,000 km from the country’s biggest commercial centre, Mumbai.

Yangon, Bangkok and even some Chinese cities are much closer to most northeastern states than New Delhi or Mumbai.

For instance, Kunming in China is only 1,726 km from Ledo in Assam, where the Stilwell Road begins.

Only 250 km out of the northeast’s 5,000 km outer perimeter touches India. The remaining 4,750 km represents international boundaries with China, Myanmar, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Nepal.

China to build Myanmar oil, gas lines from Sept –media
Reuters / June 16, 2009

China will start building oil and gas pipelines through Myanmar in September that would enable it shorten the journey time for crude oil imports from the Middle East and Africa, the China Securities Journal reported on Tuesday.

"The section of the pipelines in Myanmar will be built under the name of CNPC but whether CNPC or PetroChina undertakes the construction of the domestic section has not been decided," the newspaper said, citing an unnamed CNPC official.

CNPC, China's largest oil and gas producer, operates most of its domestic businesses via listed PetroChina (601857.SS) (0857.HK)(PTR.N).
The oil and gas pipelines would help China cut out oil cargoes' long detour through the congested Malacca Strait as well as strengthen its access to rich energy reserves in Myanmar itself.

The gas line, with transportation capacity of 12 billion cubic metres a year, is projected to ship in natural gas to Kunming, capital of southwestern China's Yunnan province, which borders Myanmar, in 2012, the report said.
The pipe, with total length of 2,806 kilometres, will extend to Guizhou province and end in Nanning, capital of the Guangxi region.

The 400,000 barrels-per-day (bpd) crude oil pipe would run about 1,100 kilometres from a deep-sea port in Kyaukphyu Township in Myanmar's Rakhine State to China's Kunming before extending to Guizhou and Chongqing municipality.

Burma needs no Border Guard Force; KIA chief-of-staff
The Kachin Post / June 14, 2009

The chief-of-staff of Kachin Independence Army Maj-Gen. Gunhtang Gam Shawng said Burma does not need Border Guard Force in Kachin State to defend foreign enemies, according to the exclusive interview with The Kachin Post.

“There is no job for military, expect the police along the border with China or India,” said Maj-Gen. Gunhtang Gam Shawng. “There would be no war with neighboring countries because we live and interrelate friendly with Chinese and neighbors.” The Kachin State is situated in northern Burma, bordering with India in the West, and China in the East.

“It’s clearly saying that [Burma Army] just want to disarm [all ethnic armies] overnight,” said KIA chief-of-staff Maj-Gen. Gunhtang Gam Shawng. Burma Army introduced Border Guard Force plan to all ethnic cease-fire groups since May 2009. The plan intends to transform all ethnic armies to Border Guard Force before end of 2009.

Meanwhile some leaders of Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), a political wing of KIA, have been discussing with Burmese junta representatives regarding the issue of Border Guard Force. There would be no better future for the Kachin revolution against successive Burmese regime, if the KIO accepts the Border Guard Force plan, said Maj-Gen. Gunhtang Gam Shawng. BGF plan has no political solution for Kachins.

Burmese junta are trying to veil the truth of real situation in the country to international community by pointing out ethnic revolutionary groups as the arms groups which do not have political aims, said Maj-Gen. Gam Shawng. Burma army is insulting and disdaining the KIA by introducing the BGF plan.

Gam Shawng said KIA stands for the interest of the Kachins and Kachinland. “We’ll never surrender,” according to the fifth code of conduct of Kachin Independence Army.