Myanmar Activity Linkage

The trip: We were in Bagan, Myanmar, aka Burma, on Oct. 19, the day the Cardinals won the National League pennant. This ancient temple area is one of the most magical areas in the world, especially while celebrating a big Cardinal surprise. We made sure everyone knew we were proud to be from St. Louis with our shirts — Cardinals and the Pitted Olive.

Travel tip: Credit cards were not accepted where we were. There were no ATMs, so bring cash, especially dollar bills for tipping. You can't have too many.

Posted by 020 at 1:19 AM | Permalink | Comments

A group of women who regularly brave Burma's military spies to pray for detained opposition heroine Aung San Suu Kyi gave food to Buddhist monks Wednesday, after being banned from the country's famous Shwedagon Pagoda.

The group, lead by the former head of the women's wing of the National League for Democracy, Daw Naw Ohn Hla, made the religious and political gesture at the prominent Tha-tha-na-gon-ye monastery of Abbot Sayadaw U Zawana in Bahan Township Yangon.

Political activists have regularly prayed for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi at the Shwedagon that dominates the Yangon skyline since July 2004. The popular opposition leader has been confined to her house after a group of militia and thugs ambushed her cavalcade in May 2004. Aside from rare foreign visitors she has been isolated and apparently, at times, ill.

The prayers were previously held in the Tuesday corner of the Shwedagon because that is the day Suu Kyi was born. The pagoda's authorities recently banned 'political prayers' at the Tuesday hall and loudspeakers around the temple warn visitors not to engage in political activities.

Suu Kyi has been the focal point of the opposition to the military that has ruled since a 1962 coup. Her NLD party won a 1990 election by a landslide, which was ignored by the ruling generals.

The regime has arrested student leaders engaged in the 'prayers for peace' campaign and last month temporarily detained activists who attempted to pray at the Shwedagon.
Burma's police chief Brig-Gen Khin Yi said last month that activists were exploiting the country's sacred places for political reasons.

Suu Kyi has notably attempted to win the moral high ground with righteous behavior and self-sacrifice in her campaign to move Myanmar towards democracy. The ruling generals have countered by building and restoring Buddhist temples.
news.monstersandcritics.com

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Myanmar's military rulers adjourned a constitution-drafting convention on Friday which is expected to reconvene for its final session next May, delegates said.
Convention convener Lieutenant-General Thein Sein told the 1,000-plus delegates, most of them handpicked by the junta, they would resume their work at "a time convenient for all," one delegate said.
"Although he did not say exactly when, it is understood that the convention will resume in May next year for the last session," the delegate told Reuters.
The junta, which has run the former Burma under various guises since 1962, says the convention is key to a seven-stage "roadmap to democracy" laid out in 2003 by former Prime Minister Khin Nyunt, who was ousted in October 2004.
Western governments, analysts and diplomats say it is nothing but a smokescreen to preserve the generals' grip on power, especially while opposition figures such as Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi remain under house arrest.
Critics point to a key objective of the convention which ensures a "leadership role" for the army in politics.
The military started the national convention process in early 1993 but never committed to a schedule to conclude the exercise boycotted by major opposition parties, including Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy.
The United States said on Thursday it would renew efforts early next year to pass a U.N. Security Council resolution to prod the junta to allow greater freedom and improve human rights.
"We remain concerned about the deteriorating humanitarian and political situation in Burma, which poses a threat to stability in the region," State Department deputy spokesman Tom Casey said in Washington.
The United States has repeatedly pledged to ask the Security Council to take action on Myanmar, but has not yet introduced a promised draft resolution.
Russia, a permanent member of the 15-nation council with veto power, and others on the council have argued that Myanmar did not constitute an international threat to peace and security, which is the council's mandate under the U.N. Charter.

Posted by 020 at 4:46 AM | Permalink | Comments

Poppy trade is flourishing in Myanmar, thanks to the activities of a rebel group that has the support of the country's military regime, a media report said.
It is boom time for cultivation and production of poppy as prospective buyers from other states have been gathering in western Myanmar.
Though intravenous drugs are particularly popular in northeastern India, opium abuse is equally prevalent in the region. The sale of raw opium grown in Cikha sub-township near India's Manipur state is on the rise, the Mizzima News reported.
The United Wa Army (UWA), under ceasefire terms, has entered the local market under the protection of the military junta, the anti-military news service said.
Shipment of the contraband is done mostly by the army vehicles, while free transportation is arranged by the rebel group. Four to seven cadres of the UWA stay regularly in Cikha and buy raw opium and cam with the help of the Myanmar Army, the report said.
The group monitors harvesting and collection of opium and makes purchases for the year. Raw opium is collected thrice annually.
Between September and November, the UWA bought more than 150 kg of raw opium from Cikha, while around 12,795 kg was sold from Tedim township in Chin state between May and August.
The UWA pays Kyat 100, 000 for 1.5 kg in the local market. There are around 20 poppy fields - three acres on an average in the 30 villages surrounding Cikha - and around 87 acres of land under poppy cultivation in Tedim.
www.hindustantimes.com

Posted by 020 at 4:41 AM | Permalink | Comments

EU to provide more humanitarian aid to Myanmar

The European Union (EU) has pledged another humanitarian aid of 2 million U.S. dollars to Myanmar through the World Bank, a local weekly reported Thursday.
The EU aid, pledged by EU Minister Counselor (Health and Food Safety) Patrick Deboyser during a recent visit to Myanmar, will be used for health and livestock-related projects in the country, the Khit Myanmar quoted Minister of Livestock and Fisheries Brigadier- General Maung Maung Thein as saying.
According to the Yangon-based European Commission, EU extended 8 million euros or 10.48 million dollars' humanitarian aid to Myanmar in 2006 and has drawn an aid program to Myanmar for 2007 with regard to the social sector.
Earlier reports said that the EU has allotted 40 million euros' aid to Myanmar for use in the latter's education and health sectors for a period of seven years between 2007 and 2013.
As of the end of 2004, the EU had extended 11.65 million euros to the country, according to the European Commission.
Source: Xinhua
www.english.people.com.cn

Posted by 020 at 4:39 AM | Permalink | Comments

Slovenia has established diplomatic relations with Myanmar, the country in southeastern Asia formerly known as Burma. The documents to that effect were exchanged at the headquarters of Slovenia's mission in New York on Monday, 18 December by Ambassador Roman Kirn and his Burmese counterpart Kyaw Tint Swe. In the brief meeting on the occasion, Ambassador Kirn informed his opposite number of Slovenia's preparation for EU presidency in the first half of 2008, and provided him with general information about the Slovenian economy. Ambassador Tint Swe also talked about the state of Myanmar's economy, noting that it expanded by 13% last year. The ambassadors agreed their countries had the potential to boost economic cooperation.
Source: Slovene Press Agency STA

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