FFSS by Ko Kyaw Thu

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Happy Birthday (Mother Day)

Dear Mother,

Happy Birthday!!!!!!!

I pray for you to...

Be Peace at All........................

Be Freedom from All........................



By your Silly Son,

Should Be War

BEST OF THE WEB TODAY

The Case for Inhumane Intervention

By JAMES TARANTO
June 11, 2008

When a cyclone hit Burma (alias Myanmar) recently, the repressive regime that rules that country dawdled for weeks before allowing international relief teams to enter the country. "Aid agencies estimate more than one million storm survivors, mostly in the delta, still need acute help," reports the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. "Cyclone Nargis killed more than 78,000 people. . . . More than 58,000 are still missing and unaccounted for."

Madeleine Albright, the secretary of state during President Clinton's second term, blames George W. Bush. Before he came along, she claims in a New York Times op-ed piece, "diplomats and foreign policy experts" were moving toward "an integrated world system" in which "the international community would recognize a responsibility to override sovereignty in emergency situations--to prevent ethnic cleansing or genocide, arrest war criminals, restore democracy or provide disaster relief when national governments were either unable or unwilling to do so":

During the 1990s, certain precedents were created. The administration of George H.W. Bush intervened to prevent famine in Somalia and to aid Kurds in northern Iraq; the Clinton administration returned an elected leader to power in Haiti; NATO ended the war in Bosnia and stopped Slobodan Milosevic's campaign of terror in Kosovo; the British halted a civil war in Sierra Leone; and the United Nations authorized life-saving missions in East Timor and elsewhere.

Three guesses as to what caused this brilliant plan to collapse:

The invasion of Iraq, with the administration's grandiose rhetoric about pre-emption, was another matter, however. It generated a negative reaction that has weakened support for cross-border interventions even for worthy purposes. Governments, especially in the developing world, are now determined to preserve the principle of sovereignty, even when the human costs of doing so are high.

Thus, Myanmar's leaders have been shielded from the repercussions of their outrageous actions.

What principle, exactly, is Albright putting forward here? The 1990s interventions she cites favorably are all cases in which, in her account, the intervening power was motivated by humanitarian concerns rather than national interest. But she also approves of the liberation of Afghanistan because it was "clearly motivated by self-defense."

On what basis, then, does she object to the liberation of Iraq? It was both a humanitarian intervention (toppling one of the world's most brutal dictators) and an act of self-defense ("the administration's grandiose rhetoric about pre-emption" is merely a dysphemistic way of saying this).

Is Albright's idea that intervention is acceptable for reasons of humanitarianism or national interest but not both? Maybe. That would explain the Clinton administration's intervention in Iraq, which Albright does not mention in this article. Although the administration did not take action to remove Saddam Hussein from power, it did bomb the country and support strict U.N. sanctions.

In 1996, as the hard-left radio show "Democracy Now!" recounted some years later, Albright, then ambassador to the U.N., gave an interview to CBS's "60 Minutes":

Correspondent Leslie Stahl said to Albright, "We have heard that a half million children have died. I mean, that"s more children than died in Hiroshima. And--and you know, is the price worth it?"

Madeline Albright replied "I think this is a very hard choice, but the price--we think the price is worth it."

That the sanctions killed half a million Iraqi children was almost certainly a pro-Saddam canard. But Albright did not dispute the premise. Instead, she defended as "worth it" the policy that purportedly killed several times as many people as are believed to have perished in this year's Burma cyclone. You can see why her New York Times op-ed does not reprise this case for inhumane intervention.

Even if Albright is unable to articulate the principles that guided the Clinton administration's foreign policy, maybe she is right that it was better than its successor's. Let us test her specific claim that the Bush administration's policy to Iraq is to blame for the intransigence of the Burmese junta. Did that regime behave differently when Clinton was in the White House and Albright at Foggy Bottom?

Nope. This is an excerpt from the State Department's 1999 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices:

Burma continued to be ruled by a highly authoritarian military regime. Repressive military governments dominated by members of the majority Burman ethnic group have ruled the ethnically Burman central regions and some ethnic-minority areas continuously since 1962, when a coup led by General Ne Win overthrew an elected civilian government. . . .

The Government's extremely poor human rights record and longstanding severe repression of its citizens continued during the year. Citizens continued to live subject at any time and without appeal to the arbitrary and sometimes brutal dictates of the military regime. Citizens did not have the right to change their government. There continued to be credible reports, particularly in ethnic minority-dominated areas, that soldiers committed serious human rights abuses, including extrajudicial killings and rape. Disappearances continued, and members of the security forces tortured, beat, and otherwise abused detainees.

The Clinton-Albright foreign policy was a failure even on its own terms (or at least on the terms she sets forth in today's op-ed). And indeed, why would you expect U.S. humanitarian interventions against repressive regimes in Haiti and the Balkans to make the Burmese junta any more willing to risk its own power to help the people over whom it rules? Albright's position is simply incoherent.

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Oral Statement - Burma

6/06/2008

Oral Statement - Burma

Situation of Human Rights in BURMA

Mr Chairman,

The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) maintains its serious concerns regarding the institutionally entrenched, systematic and widespread violations of human rights occurring in Burma.

ORAL STATEMENT

Situation of Human Rights in BURMA

Mr Chairman,

The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) maintains its serious concerns regarding the institutionally entrenched, systematic and widespread violations of human rights occurring in Burma.

Since the last session of the Human Rights Council, the military junta not only has not undertaken any action in favour of national reconciliation, but on the contrary has tried to legitimize its grip on power by holding a national “referendum” on a draft constitution.

The referendum was held on 10 May 2008 in a context of humanitarian crisis, following the cyclone “Nargis”. The FIDH strongly condemns the way in which the referendum was carried out, in a climate of fear, intimidation and repression – which prevented any free debate about the draft.

Following the cyclone “Nargis”, and despite the enormous needs of more than 2 million persons, the military regime blocked foreign aid for more than 2 weeks, in complete disregard of its obligation and responsibility to protect the Burmese population. Such a delay has been endangering the life and health of hundreds of thousands of persons.

This is an additional element in the long-established list of serious human rights violations in which the military authorities have been engaging.

Consequently,

The FIDH strongly urges the Human Rights Council to adopt a resolution

Urging the authorities to cooperate fully with the Human Rights Council’s special procedures and mechanisms, and in particular to invite the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Myanmar, Mr. Thomás Ojea Quintana.

Calling the junta to establish and follow-up an inclusive political dialogue in the country.

Condemning the referendum process and rejecting its results, as they constitute a flagrant violation of international standards on free and fair electoral process.

The resolution should also call upon the Special Rapporteur to visit Burma and include in his report an assessment of the human rights violations resulting from the management of humanitarian crisis by the military regime, as well as the violations perpetrated in connection with the referendum.

In addition, the resolution should establish concrete benchmarks for the political process in Burma, and call for the strict respect of international standards, i.a.:

The immediate release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and all other political prisoners and prisoners of freedom of expression, as well as human rights activists.

The immediate lift of any kind of restrictions to foreign humanitarian aid, including UN agencies and NGOs.

The resolution should finally call the Security Council to adopt a resolution on Burma calling for immediate concrete steps from the junta on the issues just raised, making reference to the regime’s responsibility to protect.

Thank you very much for your attention.

First Step for Myanmar

Friday June 6, 11:48 PM

U.N. envoy pushes Myanmar on prisoners

GENEVA (Reuters) - The United Nations human rights expert for Myanmar urged the military junta on Friday to investigate reports that its soldiers shot dead a number of prison inmates during the recent devastating cyclone Nargis.

Tomas Ojea Quintana, who reports to the world body's Human Rights Council, also called for aid to be allowed to flow freely to victims of the storm and said he had heard that critics of a referendum held in its wake had been arrested.

The Argentine lawyer, making his first report to the Council, said some 1,000 prisoners at the town of Insein had been forced inside a hall after their jail's zinc roofs were torn off in the storm on May 2, and many panicked.

"In order to control the situation, it is reported that soldiers and riot police were called in and opened fire on the prisoners in that area. A number of prisoners were allegedly killed during the operation," his 16-page report said.

A Thailand-based rights group said at the time soldiers and police had killed 36 prisoners to quell a riot. Ojea Quintana did not cite any total for the deaths.

"The authorities should conduct a thorough and transparent investigation to clarify the facts and identify the perpetrators of those arbitrary killings," he said.

Ojea Quintana urged the Myanmar authorities to honour an agreement with the U.N. to "allow international humanitarian workers and supplies unhindered access to the country and particularly to the areas affected" by Nargis.

FALSE PICTURE

On Friday, the Myanmar military accused "unscrupulous" citizens and foreign media of giving a false picture of the effects of the cyclone, which left 134,000 dead or missing and 2.4 million people in desperate need of help.

Dozens of Irrawaddy delta villages, some visited by Reuters, have yet to receive any relief assistance since the storm.

Ojea Quintana, who succeeded Brazilian lawyer Paulo Sergio Pinheiro as Myanmar investigator on May 1, said people reported detained for protesting over the constitutional referendum, were among 1,900 political prisoners in the former Burma.

These included monks rounded up after protests last September. All should be freed, he said, starting with Aung San Suu Kyi, opposition leader and Nobel laureate under house arrest or in prison for nearly 13 of the last 18 years.

"Given her responsibility as National League for Democracy (NLD) General Secretary, her arrest affects the political rights of many other members of the NLD and of the people of Myanmar," his report added.

Ojea Quintana noted that his predecessor Pinheiro had reported after a rare visit to Myanmar last November that at least 31 people had died in the crackdown on monk-led protests.

The new investigator urged the authorities in Yangon to set up a mechanism to trace people reported missing since then and voiced hope he would also be allowed to visit the country soon.

In March, the Council unanimously condemned Myanmar for what it called "systematic violations" of fundamental freedoms.

(Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; Editing by Robert Evans)

President Bush Disappointed by Burmese Regime's Extension of Aung San Suu Kyi's House Arrest

Source: The White House, USA
Published Friday, 30 May, 2008 - 13:25

I am deeply troubled by the Burmese regime's extension of National League for Democracy General Secretary and Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi's house arrest on May 27. Aung San Suu Kyi's current house arrest dates back to May 2003, when she was detained following the murderous assault by regime-sponsored thugs on her motorcade in Depayin. The United States calls upon the regime to release all political prisoners in Burma and begin a genuine dialogue with Aung San Suu Kyi, the National League for Democracy, and other democratic and ethnic minority groups on a transition to democracy.

The United States will continue to help the people of Burma recover from the devastation of Cyclone Nargis and will continue to support the Burmese people's long term struggle for freedom. Laura and I look forward to the day when the people of Burma know true liberty and democracy.

Mr. Bishow Parajuli

May 25, 2008
UN appoints new head of Myanmar operations
YANGON - THE United Nations announced on Sunday the appointment of diplomat Bishow Parajuli as its country head for Myanmar, replacing Charles Petrie who was abruptly expelled by the junta last year. The newly-appointed representative of the UN Development Programme (UNDP) will coordinate the work of all UN agencies in Myanmar, spokesman Aye Win told reporters. The appointment of Parajuli, a Nepalese national who previously served as director of the UN's World Food Programme in Egypt, was announced in the junta's daily newspaper, the New Light of Myanmar. 'Mr Bishow Parajuli ... presented his credentials to U Nyan Win, Minister for Foreign Affairs,' the newspaper said. The junta announced in November that it would not renew Petrie's mission, leaving the isolated country without a permanent UN head for six months. Mr Petrie's removal came during international pressure on the junta to reform after it violently crushed mass anti-government protests in late September, killing at least 31 people, the UN has estimated. The junta announced his expulsion after Mr Petrie released a statement warning of a 'deteriorating humanitarian situation' in the country formerly known as Burma. Mr Parajuli, who has 25 years experience managing humanitarian and development programmes, was appointed after long negotiations between the UN and the junta on who would replace Mr Petrie. 'This is somebody that the Burmese military is comfortable with,' said Myanmar analyst Aung Naing Oo. 'The Burmese military didn't want another Charles Petrie, that's for sure.' The junta was pushing for a non-Western resident representative and the UN wanted a representative with enough experience to fill the job, analysts said. 'On paper, he (Parajuli) sounds pretty good - being Asian and experienced with the World Food Programme,' said Human Rights Watch's Dave Mathieson. 'He's got an enormous challenge ahead of him to coordinate relief efforts after the cyclone, reconstruction and to completely rehabilitate operations of the UN inside Burma and keep good relations' with the junta. UN agencies and about 50 countries opened a donor conference in Yangon on Sunday to raise money for Myanmar after Cyclone Nargis. Delegates were expected to press the junta to make good on a promise to allow in foreign aid workers. The May 2-3 storm left more than 133,000 people dead or missing. The United Nations says less than half of the 2.4 million people needing emergency international aid have received any assistance. -- AFP

Donation Trip

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Thanks to Free Funeral Service Society

Myanmar protester given life imprisonment

YANGON • Myanmar's military government has sentenced an activist to life in prison for holding up placards calling for parliament to open and for inflation to be curbed, his lawyer said yesterday. Ohn Than, believed to be in his 60s, was arrested on August 23 after he stood outside the US embassy in downtown Yangon and silently held up his signs.

"He was sentenced on Wednesday at western district court to life imprisonment and a 1,000-kyat (90 cent) fine," his lawyer Aung Thein said. "His sentence should not be like this," he added.

Ohn Than staged his protest as other activists were beginning to hold demonstrations against a surprise hike in fuel prices. After the arrests of key protest leaders, Buddhist monks took up their campaign, which snowballed in September into the biggest anti-government rallies seen in nearly 20 years.

Security forces opened fire on the crowds and beat protesters in the street to break up the marches, leaving at least 31 dead, according to the United Nations. Ohn Than, who is not affiliated with any political party, has been imprisoned at least twice before, and has been taken into custody at least seven other times because of his anti-government activities.

"I will appeal for him in May. He defended himself at previous trials. He claimed that the sentence was unfair because authorities supported another group that protested last year in front of the US embassy," Aung Thein said.

About 30 government supporters marched past the embassy in January 2007 to protest Washington's support for UN action against Myanmar. No action was taken against them.

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Gambri interview...

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Please,... Please Don't depend on Gambri...

We Don’t Do ‘Regime Change’

By Ibrahim Gambari | NEWSWEEK
Jan 28, 2008 Issue

Ibrahim Gambari is the U.N. point man on one of the world's toughest regimes to charm, Burma. Since taking the job in May, Gambari has visited Rangoon several times, urging the junta to respect human rights and recognize the opposition led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. His last two visits came after the bloody September crackdown on monks protesting the rising price of fuel. Gambari is one of few outsiders to meet the secretive and isolated junta supremo, Than Shwe. He spoke with NEWSWEEK'S Patrick Falby on the state of Burma. Excerpts:

FALBY: You briefed the U.N. Security Council before it issued its first condemnation of the junta, then met Than Shwe. How'd it go?
GAMBARI: Um, I was received. [Laughs] The secretary-general [Ban Ki-moon] asked me to deliver some very tough messages to the senior general. In the very hierarchical system that they have, it was important for Than Shwe to hear them: demands for a stop to the killings; a removal of the curfew; removal of the military from the streets of major cities Yangon [Rangoon] and Mandalay; release of persons detained as a result of the crisis, but also release of political detainees, including especially, Aung San Suu Kyi. He was, of course, taken aback because they're pretty isolated. They were somewhat surprised about how the world thinks of them. From their point of view, this was a small minority of monks instigated from outside.

You've gone to Burma twice since the crackdown. How have negotiations gone?
We suggested a commencement of dialogue—the appointment of a government liaison officer to talk with Aung San Suu Kyi. We suggested appointment of a review commission to look at the Constitution. The other suggestion was to establish a poverty-alleviation commission to address the root causes of socioeconomic discontent because, after all, it was the increase in fuel prices that triggered the crisis. They did some of the things; others are still pending.

Many people say these half steps show the regime is not cooperating.
I don't get involved with that. I just want to judge it by what they commit to do and what they do and what we want to do.

They haven't lived up to their commitments.
No, no they haven't but …

You're still optimistic?
I refuse to say whether I'm optimistic or pessimistic. We told them, "These are the things you need to do. I will come back, I will check it on my checklist." There are not many checks yet. But the curfew has ended, the military has been removed from the streets, a large number of detained people have been released—although I was unhappy with the fact that some of them were rearrested or new people were arrested. So far, they've taken some steps—not as far as we want and not on all fronts—but they have taken some steps.

Aren't you worried about looking soft on an international pariah?
No. Either you change the regime or you change the behavior of the regime. I don't have the instruments to change the regime. So if you want to change the behavior of a regime, what do you do? You have to talk.

So are you setting any deadlines for talks?
The talks are long overdue. The release of Aung San Suu Kyi and the other political prisoners is long overdue. Those are also the best way to avoid more sanctions.

Have sanctions worked at all?
Maybe so, maybe not. But if they are combined with real engagement and with some incentives at the appropriate time, they could work.

The junta argues that it is progressing with its "Seven-Point Roadmap." Do you agree?
You can't have a roadmap to democracy that excludes the [opposition's National League for Democracy]. The first step was the national convention, which took 14 years, but they're finished. The next is the constitutional drafting committee, which they have established. The people of Myanmar [Burma], the neighboring countries and the world can't wait another 14 years for the next step.

Many activists say that's not enough.
I was designated special envoy working on this matter only last May. May! This thing's been going on for decades. My predecessor was not allowed in the country for two and a half years. The special rapporteur for human rights was not allowed in for four and a half years. So we're not celebrating, but even if you're not satisfied, what is the alternative? The U.N. is not in the business of changing regimes. What we have the capacity for and the mandate for is to change the behavior of the regime. That's why we have consultations with all the key actors: China, India, ASEAN countries, the United States, the European Union, Japan, Australia.

What are the attitudes of those actors?
If there's any unanimity, it's in support of the secretary-general's office. All of them.

Even China, with all its interests in Burma?
Especially China. They don't want the situation to get out of hand. They have 2,400 kilometers of border and a substantial economic relationship. As a matter of fact, each time I've had difficulty getting the visas, China has been very helpful persuading the authorities to issue visas.

From ulmuka.blogspot.com

The World For Our Sons

ငါ႔သားေတြကို တစ္ေနရာမွာ ႀကီးျပင္းေစခ်င္တယ္

အဲဒီေနရာမွာ…

မတရားတာကို ငံု႔မခံဖို႔ ငါသင္ႀကားေပးခ်င္လို႔ တရားမွ်တမွဳတို႔ ဖူးပြင္႔ရမယ္

အားနည္းသူကို ေဖးကူဖို႔ ငါလက္ေတြ႔ျပခ်င္လို႔ ႏိုင္ထက္စီးနင္းမျပဳႀကရဘူး

ျပီးေတာ႔…

ဘာသာ၊ သာသနာကို အမွန္တကယ္ ႏွလံုးသားထဲက တန္ဖိုးထားႀကျပီး

အရာအားလံုးအထက္မွာ အမွန္တရားရွိမယ္ေပါ႔

စမ္းတ၀ါး၀ါးနဲ႔ လမ္းေပ်ာက္တံုးကေတာင္ အဲဒီလို ေရႊျပည္ေတာ္ကို ငါတို႔ေမွ်ာ္ခဲ႔ႀကတယ္

အခုလိုလမ္းႀကမ္းတာေလာက္ေတာ႔ စိတ္မပ်က္ခ်င္ဘူး

ဒါေပမယ္႔…

ေျမနိမ္႔ရာလွံစိုက္တဲ႔ မလြတ္ေျမာက္ႏိုင္ေသးရာအရပ္မွာ

ခရီးေဖာ္ေတြလည္း တျဖဳတ္ျဖဳတ္ေႀကြလြင္႔လို႔

ကိုယ္ယံုႀကည္ရာမေျပာရလြန္းလို႔ ငါလည္းဆြံ႔အေနခဲ႔ျပီ

သားတို႔ေခတ္ႀကရင္ ဒီလို ႀကယ္မသာ၊လမသာတဲ႔ည မရွိရဘူး

ဒီလို ျဗမစိုရ္တရား မေခါင္းပါးရဘူး။

လူဆိုတာ လူလို ႀကီးျပင္းခြင္႔ရွိရမယ္ေလ။

တျခားေနရာက ကေလးေတြ ေအာ္ေနႀကတယ္ Vox populi, vox Dei တဲ႔

အဲဒါမိ်ဳး မင္းတို႔ႀကားဖူးေအာင္ ငါလုပ္ေပးႏိုင္ပါေတာ႔မလား သားတို႔ရယ္…

ငယ္ငယ္ေလး

Statement by Rakhine Sangha Union

We Need YOU.....

Where is others???

မင္း….ေ႐ွ႕တစ္လွမ္းတက္ခဲ့ပါ။

ေတြေ၀ေနလား….
စြန္႕စားမွ အက်ိဳး႐ွိမယ္၊
တစ္လွမ္းတိုးမွ အေ႐ွ႕ေရာက္မယ္၊
မင္းရဲ႕ မ်ိဳးဆက္ေတြ
စစ္ဖိနပ္ေအာက္မွာ
ျပားျပားေမွာက္မေနေစခ်င္ရင္…
မင္း….ေ႐ွ႕တစ္လွမ္းတက္ခဲ့ပါ။

ေၾကာက္ေနလား…….
ေၾကာက္တတ္ရင္ ႏွစ္ခါ႐ံႈးမယ္
ဒီဘ၀ဆိုးကလြတ္ဖို႕
ကိုယ့္ကို ကိုယ္ ေပးဆပ္ဖို႕ကလြဲရင္
တျခားဘာမွ အသံုးမ၀င္ဘူး၊
ေၾကာက္ရင္းေနရတာထက္
တိုက္ရင္းေသရတာျမတ္တယ္ လို႕ယံုရင္
မင္း……ေ႐ွ႕တစ္လွမ္းတက္ခဲ့ပါ။

အားငယ္ေနလား ……
မင္းတစ္ေယာက္တည္း မဟုတ္ပါ။
တို႕တစ္ေတြ အတူထြက္ၾကမယ္
အနား႐ွိတဲ့လူခ်င္း လက္တြဲကူၾကရင္းနဲ႕
တို႕မ်ိဳးဆက္ေတြအတြက္
တုိ႕ေပးဆက္ၾကရေအာင္
မင္း….ေ႐ွ႕တစ္လွမ္းတက္ခဲ့ပါ။

ကိုယ့္ႏိုင္ငံ အေရးအတြက္
ကိုယ့္အသက္ကိုေပးမွရမယ္။
UN ကိုလည္းေမွ်ာ္မေနနဲ႕
ဂမ္ဘာရီလဲ ေတာ္ၿပီကြဲ႕။
Human’s Right လဲ အလကားပဲ
ပီနဲ႐ိုးလဲ ဖြတ္ၾကားပဲ။
ကိုယ့္ကိုကိုယ္သာ အားကိုးရာမွတ္လို႕
ဒီမိုကေရစီတိုက္ပြဲအတြက္
ေ႐ွ႕ဆက္ဖို႕လူေတြလိုတယ္
မင္း….ေ႐ွ႕တစ္လွမ္းတက္ခဲ့ပါ။

ေမမင္းဆက္

Gambari & India

Gambari says India's stand clear on Myanmar
18 Jan 2008, 1336 hrs IST,PTI

WASHINGTON: Seeking "concrete action" from nations perceived close to Myanmar, a top UN envoy has pointed out that India had "clearly" said that it wanted the military-ruled country to cooperate with the world body and initiate a more inclusive process of national reconciliation.

Secretary General's Special Advisor on Myanmar Ibrahim Gambari maintained that all the countries he had approached had supported the role of the office of Secretary General on the issue.

"But I am not satisfied with that. I want that general verbal expression of support to be translated into concrete action in support. In what ways - First get the right messages to the authorities in Myanmar to address the concerns of the international community to listen to their own people," Gambari told reporters.

"Having said that, I must say that India recently it is on record following the visit of the foreign minister of Myanmar said that they would want a more inclusive national reconciliation process and further cooperation with the Good Offices of the Secretary General's role. This is something which they have said clearly," he added.

His comments came as the 15-member UN Security Council issued a statement regretting "the slow rate of progress so far toward" meeting objectives they set out last October, a month after Myanmar's military junta crushed pro-democracy protests led by Buddhist monks. Gambari has visited Myanmar twice since the bloody military crackdown.

Stressing the importance of "further progress" toward the goal of reconciliation between the military regime and the opposition, the statement noted that an early visit by Gambari could help facilitate this.

Mid-April..??? They are still trying to play...

UNSC Regrets Myanmar's Slow Progress In Initiating Dialogue With Opposition

(RTTNews) - The United Nations Security Council has called for the early return of UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari while regretting the Myanmar junta's slow progress in initiating a dialogue with the opposition party to facilitate an early national reconciliation.

The Security Council on Thursday reiterated its support for Gambari's mediation efforts and for the objectives in its October 11 statement. The statement strongly deplored the junta's brutal crackdown and called for a "genuine dialogue" between the junta and the pro-democracy opposition.

The council said that it "underscored the importance of making further progress" on the objectives it set out in the October statement, which include protecting human rights and releasing all political prisoners and detainees. "An early visit to Myanmar by Gambari could help facilitate this," it said.

Gambari told reporters after meeting with the council that he has been asked to return to Myanmar later this month but the country's military rulers have said that it's not convenient and preferred a mid-April visit.

However, the Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the government that it's not acceptable, and the council is in the process of negotiating an early, rather than a later, return to Myanmar.

For comments and feedback: contact editorial@rttnews.com

FRONT PAGE OF CALENDAR FROM NARINJARA, ARAKAN

4th Boom

I got a news just now...

Boom in Thein Gyi Zay today again.


Government are trying to make noise themselves.


Be safe Brothers...

Does it call towards to Road Map?

Inside Army, They treat and ask their generations to polish Shoes in front of Ceremony.

ဘိနပ္တိုက္ကြ်န္ခံေနရေသာစစ္ဗိုလ္ခ်ဳပ္ေလးမ်ား

Bomb kills woman in Myanmar's new capital

YANGON, Jan 11 (Reuters) - A bomb exploded in the toilet of the railway station serving Myanmar's new capital on Friday, killing a woman in the first such incident since the ruling junta moved there in November 2005, an official said.

"A woman died in the explosion at about 4:30 a.m. inside the bathroom of Pyinmana Railway Station," a station official told Reuters. He gave no further information.

Small bomb blasts at public places such as Buddhist temples, markets and fairs are relatively common in the former Burma, which has been under military rule since 1962 and riven by multiple ethnic guerrilla conflicts.

The regime normally points the finger at dissident groups, ranging from pro-democracy activists in exile to ethnic militias who have been fighting for greater autonomy or even independence for more than five decades.

The ruling generals moved abruptly from the colonial era capital, Yangon, to Naypyidaw, an unfinished administrative centre in jungle-clad hills 240 miles (380 km) to the north, in November 2005.

The junta argued the move closer to the heart of the country would increase government efficiency.

Dissidents have posited alternative theories ranging from fear of a sea-borne U.S. invasion to establishment of a new dynastic capital in the tradition of Burma's ancient kings. (Reporting by Aung Hla Tun; Editing by Ed Cropley and Sanjeev Miglani)

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi

Aung San Suu Kyi taken to meet Myanmar official: witnesses


YANGON - MYANMAR'S democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi was taken from her home, where she has spent a total of 12 years under house arrest, to meet with a junta officer on Friday, witnesses said.

She was taken from her home at about 1pm local time in a convoy to a nearby military facility used for official meetings, the witnesses said.

She was expected to meet with Labour Minister Aung Kyi, who was appointed by the junta to handle contacts with her in the wake of a deadly crackdown on pro-democracy protests in September. -- AFP

Please Salute Them

Photos were taken from Niknayman

RELIGION-BURMA: Falling Back on Buddhism

By Moe Yu May

RANGOON, Jan 8 (IPS) - Burma’s military leaders lived up to their reputation as repressive rulers on the day this country celebrated 60 years of independence from British rule. This erstwhile capital's main road was closed for two hours on the morning of Jan. 4.

Elsewhere in this city of dilapidated colonial-era buildings, security officers in plain clothes and officials from townships were visible on the streets to monitor possible anti-junta protests. Near the Sule Pagoda road, where pro-democracy protestors had marched last September, members of the feared riot police stood guard.

It was a setting that prompted disgust in a 40-year-old Burmese university lecturer. ‘’I don’t feel any freedom especially in these days,’’ said the academic. ‘’A question that I keep asking in my mind is did our country really gain independence. I do really want to feel freedom.’’

In mid-August last year, there were some Burmese who dared to believe that such a feeling of freedom was possible. Small protests mushroomed across the country after the junta raised the price of oil overnight by 500 percent without advanced notice. For some among the country’s long-suffering public, that latest economic burden meant giving up regular meals.

By late September, this movement had expanded into a popular uprising, attracting tens of thousands of ordinary people on to the streets of Rangoon. The protests were led by this Buddhist nation’s respected monks.

But then came the brutal crackdown by the junta, where armed soldiers and riot police turned on the unarmed civilians and monks. A U.N. investigator revealed that at least 31 people were killed, but anti-junta groups have said that close to 200 lives were lost. In addition, over 650 monks and civilians were arrested and thrown into jails were torture and abuse are rampant.

Yet in the three months since, there are emerging signs that such a brief flicker of freedom has not been extinguished. Rather than take to the streets to get rid of the military leaders, who have ruled this country since a 1962 coup, Rangoon’s residents are doing so through the strength of Buddhist teachings, the Dhamma.

The residents have been organising Dhamma assemblies in many places to listen to sermons about morality from some of the country’s prominent monks. At times, these sermons have been used by the monks to give counsel and obliquely criticise the junta. A favoured approach by some monks is to draw lessons from the life of the Buddha.

These Dhamma assemblies, which tend to run for two hours in the evening, are drawing large crowds. One held on Dec. 29 in the Tarmawe Township had attracted close to 3,000 people. Another, at Rangoon University’s religious hall, drew a similar number of followers. A religious talk held in mid-December in a football field of a state high school in the Insein Township had one of the largest gatherings – close to 20,000 people.

Some of these sermons have been heard by those who could not make it to the prayer assemblies, too. That stems from a cottage industry of compact discs (CDs) that has emerged to copy and distribute some of the more spiritual and provocative sermons. The latest collection on offer in Rangoon is one of 19 Dhamma talks.

‘’I’ve been busy copying and sending out these CDs to other towns as well, though it costs me,’’ one Rangoon monk told IPS on condition of anonymity.

But video compact discs (VCDs) of another kind – humour-- are also circulating within Burma. The stars here are some of the country’s comedians who have been performing at festivals and fairs, a common feature of life after the monsoon ends in November. And the junta has been the subject of some of the barbs.

One of the jokes broadcast at a fair in a park in Rangoon that went down well with the public focused on the five enemies of mankind. They are water, fire, the king, the thief and a person who bears ill will towards another. On that day, a comedian added his own twist, saying: ‘’Now we have only three enemies left, since the king, the thief and the one who bears ill will towards another are the same.’’

The junta, however, has launched a predictable counter strike to crush the spread of laughter. Permission for a public show on Jan. 3 featuring a troupe of comedians was withdrawn. This performance, which was to have been held at the Kan Taw Gyi park, had already been advertised and tickets had been printed.

Such censorship is common in a country where the military regime has gained notoriety for stamping on press freedom, jailing political opponents, and placing the country’s pro-opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, under house arrest for over 12 years. The Burmese military has also been condemned by the international community for compelling ethnic minorities to do forced labour, for using rape as a weapon of war and for interfering with humanitarian programmes.

But if the dhamma assemblies and CDs in circulation serve as an indicator, it points to a growing anger against the junta that no amount of oppression would be able to wipe out. There are some political activists who say that this anger could boil to the surface this year, in a repeat of what happened in September last year, or in a different form.

The junta, however, is taking no chances. ‘’A military truck has been parked near our monastery since New Year and soldiers are on duty in the area,’’ said a monk who lives in Rangoon.

The Meaning of King or Man

Manful or Historic King never KILL, never MALTREAT, never BE IMPIOUS or never EXECUTE to armless Peoples, Monks, Students and Old Fellows.

The UK remains committed to international action on Burma

Miliband urges reconciliation in Myanmar

33 minutes ago

LONDON (AFP) - Foreign Secretary David Miliband called for national reconciliation in Myanmar in a statement Friday marking the country's 60th anniversary of independence from Britain.

AFP/Pool/File Photo: Foreign Secretary David Miliband, seen here in 2007, has called for national reconciliation in Myanmar...

He urged Myanmar's military rulers to engage in "constructive dialogue" following the junta's bloody clampdown on dissent in September, and stressed that Britain remained keen on "international action".

"Today marks the 60th anniversary of Burma's independence. We congratulate the people of Burma on this historic landmark," Miliband said.

"But for 45 of the last 60 years Burma has been under military rule. The brutal suppression of peaceful demonstrations last autumn was a sad reminder of the extent to which the Burmese people's aspirations for democracy, stability and prosperity have been frustrated. They deserve far better.

"We call once more upon the Burmese regime to embrace the path of constructive dialogue that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has called for. Only through a process of genuine national reconciliation can a better future for the people of Burma be realised.

"The UK remains committed to international action on Burma. We support the efforts of the UN Secretary General's Special Envoy to Burma, Ibrahim Gambari and we are working closely with our EU partners to bring pressure for change to bear on the regime."

Jan 04 2008 Street Show (around 1200 people)

We Salute Them...








Street Show in Myanmar wearing Myanmar Prisoner Dress intending to be Free all Political Prisoners.

Is it Independence Day???

Myanmar deploys riot police for Independence Day

Fri 4 Jan 2008, 9:39 GMT

[-] Text [+]

By Aung Hla Tun

YANGON (Reuters) - Myanmar's junta deployed riot police and fire trucks at potential flashpoints in Yangon on Friday to prevent pro-democracy protests on the 60th anniversary of independence from Britain.

Riot police took up positions outside the former capital's City Hall and the Shwedagon and Sule pagodas -- all key locations in mass anti-junta protests that erupted in September.

One government official, who did not want to be named, said local authorities had also been ordered to prepare gangs of "Swan-Arr-Shin", or "Masters of Force", thugs in case pro-democracy activists tried to demonstrate.

The junta, the latest face of 45 years of army rule in the former Burma, limited its celebrations to a military ceremony in the remote new capital, Naypyidaw, and a broadcast message from junta supremo Than Shwe.

Repeating an oft-touted slogan, the 75-year-old Senior General urged Myanmar's 53 million people to "make a firm resolve to build a new, peaceful, modern and developed discipline flourishing nation".

He made no mention of any dialogue with detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, whose party won an election landslide in 1990 only to be denied power by the army. The Nobel laureate has been in prison or under house arrest for most the interim.

At the headquarters of her National League for Democracy (NLD), about 350 people ranging from party faithful to Western diplomats held their own separate ceremony under the watchful gaze of secret police.

After killing at least 31 people in its suppression of the September protests, the junta is under unprecedented international pressure to talk to Suu Kyi about political reform and move towards restoring a modicum of civilian rule.

"We have not given up on the chance of dialogue," party spokesman Nyan Win said. "We do hope dialogue takes place and national reconciliation emerges in 2008. We want 2008 to be the year of reconciliation."

Myanmar was one of Asia's brightest prospects when it won independence from Britain in 1948. However, its economy has stagnated under four decades of military rule and a disastrous attempt at home-grown socialism.

(Editing by Ed Cropley and Alex Richardson)