UN envoy ends visit to India on Myanmar

NEW DELHI (AFP) - India said it was "worried" Myanmar was not moving fast enough on democratic reforms, although New Delhi remained opposed to imposing sanctions on the regime to speed up the process.

A senior foreign ministry official made the comment as United Nations envoy on Myanmar Ibrahim Gambari ended a three-day visit to New Delhi for talks with Indian leaders on its military-run neighbour."What worries us is that (Myanmar's) transition to democracy ... has not made rapid progress ... has not moved as fast as we would want," said the official who did not wish to be identified.The official said New Delhi would continue to "encourage" Myanmar to hold talks with pro-democracy groups "because we need a peaceful" neighbourhood.Gambari met with top Vice President Mohammed Hamid Ansari, Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon during his visit.Indian leaders have come in for heavy criticism over their muted reaction to the junta's violent crackdown on anti-government protests led by Buddhist monks last year.But Gambari said during a visit here in October that he was "encouraged" by Indian pledges to support efforts to resolve the Myanmar crisis.India's prime minister also emphasised the also met with his Myanmar counterpartIndia has cultivated close ties with Myanmar's military rulers in recent years, citing its huge energy requirements as well as its need to jointly battle separatist rebels who are active along the two countries' jungle border.

The country is also competing for influence with its main Asian rival, China.The official said Thursday New Delhi supported UN efforts for a return to democracy in Myanmar but opposed sanctions as "regimes like that know how to ride sanctions." "Many years of sanctions have not worked... we need to work together" to bring in democracy, he added.

Top US diplomat in Myanmar wants international pressure on junta for reforms

Top US diplomat in Myanmar wants international pressure on junta for reformsBy GRANT PECK,Associated Press Writer AP - Saturday, February 2BANGKOK, Thailand - Fresh international pressure is necessary to push Myanmar's military rulers toward reform because the momentum for change after last year's demonstrations has been lost, the top U.S. diplomat in the country said Friday.The appeal by Shari Villarosa, charge d'affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Yangon, followed signs that the ruling junta was again stepping up repression of dissidents.It also came after Myanmar's detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi said Wednesday she was dissatisfied with the progress of her reconciliation talks with the junta, and cautioned the public to "hope for the best and prepare for the worst."Myanmar's crisis attracted world attention when Buddhist monks last September began leading anti-government protests, the biggest in two decades. At least 30 people are believed to have been killed when the government suppressed the demonstrations, and thousands detained, though most have since been released.

Under pressure from U.N. special envoy Ibrahim Gambari, the junta appointed a "Minister for Relations" to talk with Suu Kyi, but their few meetings have borne no results, and junta leader Senior Gen. Than Shwe has made no further moves toward reconciliation."I think everybody hoped that there was genuine will on the part of Than Shwe and his senior generals to begin a real dialogue, and what is increasingly evident is that they have no intention whatsoever in engaging in a genuine dialogue," Villarosa said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press in Bangkok.Earlier this week, lawyers working with the pro-democracy movement said that about two dozen members of the 88 Generation Students group, whose small protests against a fuel price hike mushroomed into last September's massive demonstrations, would face trial.

They are charged with making illegal statements and could face up to seven years in prison if convicted.Last week, human rights group Amnesty International said the ruling military had continued to arrest political activists, despite its promise to the United Nations that it would halt arrests following September's demonstrations.Amnesty International said 1,850 political prisoners were behind bars, including 96 imprisoned since early November when the government told the world body it had stopped all arrests.Villarosa said it was crucial for Myanmar's fellow members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, along with its giant neighbors China and India, to push the junta to open up to dialogue and reconciliation with its opponents. The U.N. also needs to be involved, she said.

Laura Bush pushes Security Council on Myanmar

KANSAS CITY, Missouri (AFP) -

US First Lady Laura Bush has pressed Panama, which holds the UN Security Council's rotating presidency, to help keep pressure on Myanmar's junta, the White House said Friday.Bush, in New York for a heart disease awareness event on Thursday, met with Panamanian President Martin Torrijos, who was receptive to her message, spokesman Tony Fratto told reporters.

"Mrs Bush took the opportunity to remind and reinforce the importance for the UN Security Council to keep pressure on the military junta in Burma," said Fratto."President Torrijos said that he would of course want to keep the pressure on Burma to make the democratic changes that we all have been calling for," the spokesman said.In mid-January, the UN Security Council bemoaned the slow progress in initiating democratic reforms in Myanmar, where the junta in September crushed the biggest pro-democracy protests in nearly 20 years.

Myanmar junta takes aim at latest Rambo movie

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Police in Myanmar have given DVD hawkers strict orders not to stock the new Rambo movie, which features the Vietnam War veteran taking on the former Burma's ruling military junta, a Yangon resident told Reuters on Friday. Despite the prohibition, pirated copies of the movie are widely available on the streets of the former capital, where it is fast becoming a talking point among a population eager to shake off 45 years of military rule."People are going crazy with the quote 'Live for nothing, die for something'," one resident said, referring to the tagline of the fourth Rambo installment, which opened in the United States this week.

Even though it received lukewarm reviews, it is likely to be a sure-fire hit with opponents of the junta, with some even hoping it could spur a change of regime in the impoverished southeast Asian nation."This movie could fuel the sentiment of Myanmar people to invite American troops to help save them from the junta," one Yangon resident told Reuters by e-mail.In the movie, John Rambo, played by Hollywood superstar Sylvester Stallone, comes out of retirement in Bangkok to save a group of Christian missionaries taken captive by troops in the jungles of eastern Myanmar.As with previous Rambo films, it is short on plot and long on blood and guts -- although viewers appear to think it is all relative."Rambo acted very cruelly, but his cruelty is nothing compared to that of the military junta," a Myanmar student in Thailand, who did not wish to be named, told Reuters.

Cracked the Saffron Revolution Down in Burma

“FEAR”, the lady used to say, “is a habit.” This week, inspired in part by the lady herself, Aung San Suu Kyi, partly by the heroic example set by Buddhist monks, Myanmar's people kicked the addiction.

Defying the corrupt, inept, brutal generals who rule them, they took to the streets in their hundreds of thousands to demand democracy. They knew they were risking a bloody crackdown, like the one that put down a huge popular revolt in 1988, killing 3,000 people or more. In 1988 Burma's people were betrayed not just by the ruthlessness of their rulers, but also by the squabbling and opportunism of the outside world, which failed to produce a co-ordinated response and let the murderous regime get away with it. This time, soldiers are once again shooting and killing unarmed protesters (see article). Can the world avoid making the same mistake twice?

In New York for the United Nations General Assembly, Western leaders, led by George Bush, harangued the junta, and threatened yet more sanctions. They have probably already shot their bolt. Western sanctions have been tried and have failed, in part because Myanmar's neighbours have for years followed a different approach. Its fellow members of the Association of South-East Asian Nations waffled about “constructive engagement” while making economic hay in Myanmar from the West's withdrawal. India, too, anxious about China's growing influence, and hungry for oil and gas, has swallowed its democratic traditions and courted the generals

Suu Kyi to meet party colleagues

YANGON, Myanmar - Myanmar's military government announced that it will allow detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi to meet her party's officials Friday, the first such meeting in more than three years.

The announcement on state radio and television news Thursday came hours after U.N. special envoy Ibrahim Gambari left Myanmar, saying he had made progress in his six-day mission to promote a dialogue between the junta and Suu Kyi.
Aung Kyi, the government minister in charge of relations with Suu Kyi, will see her first to make arrangements for the meeting, state media said.
Suu Kyi has been detained since May 2003, and has not seen fellow executive members of her National League for Democracy since May 2004.
There had been signs that Gambari's trip did not go well, including his failure to be received by the junta chief, Senior Gen. Than Shwe, and the military government's rejection of Gambari's proposal of a three-way meeting involving Suu Kyi, a junta member and himself.

The government invited Gambari to return to Myanmar, and he expects to do so in the next few weeks, said a statement posted on the Web site of the U.N. Information Center for Myanmar at the conclusion of the envoy's visit.
The statement also said Suu Kyi, who has been detained continuously since 2003, has authorized Gambari to make a statement on her behalf, although it did not say when he would do so. Gambari met Suu Kyi for an hour just before his departure Thursday from Myanmar.

The statement would apparently be the first message from Suu Kyi since she was detained, and would be the first chance to gauge her reaction to September's bloody crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators and the U.N. mediation efforts afterward.

"We now have a process going which would lead to substantive dialogue" between the government and Aung San Suu Kyi, said the U.N. statement.
"The sooner such a dialogue can start, the better for Myanmar," said the statement, issued after Gambari departed for Singapore en route to U.N. headquarters in New York.

Ref: AP

SASANA MOLIA EVENTS ON SATURDAY AT NY

SASANA MOLIA memorial service and sermon by the International Burmese Monks Organization
There will be a memorial service and sermon to be given by the members of International Burmese Monks Organization.
Date: Saturday, 10, November 2007

Venue: 777 UN Plaza (corner of 44th Street and 1st Ave.)New York, NY 10017 (2nd Floor)

The members of sangha will be officiating the memorial service to recognize thepeople of Burma who have given their lives for justice, peace and democracy in that country.The detailed programs are as follows:

10:00 – 11:30 AM: Meal offering to the members of Sangha
11:30 – 12:30 PM: Memorial Service
1:00 – 4:00 PM: Sermon by the Sasana Moli Sayadaws
Please Note: Refreshments will be served to the attendees between 10:30-11:30 AM.
International Campaign for Burma (ICB - New York).
For further information,

please contact: Ko Ye Htut (347) 226-0572 Ko Kyaw Zwar Lwin (917) 478-7086 Ko Zeyar Win (917) 834-6590 Ko Zaw Win (917) 238-8273 Ko Kyaw Thu (646) 404-4831 Ma Sandi (917) 445-9222 Ma Shwe War (347) 229-4309 Ma May Thet (917)586-1726 Ko Aung Khant (516) 808-1515 Ko Aung Min Htun (917) 415-7809 Ko Zaw Latt (718) 864-2032

CRY, BELOVED BURMA

VIEW: Cry, beloved Burma -U Gambira And Ashin Nayaka

As monks, we believe in alleviating suffering wherever we see it, as part of the vows we have taken. We could not ignore our people’s suffering. We formed the Sangha Coalition when we saw that the country’s monks were unitedReligious orders of monks have been the face of Burma ever since Buddhism was introduced here more than 1,000 years ago. For a monk to involve himself in politics or to hold a political post is contrary to the ethical code of Theravada Buddhism. But in Burma today, this spiritual philosophy, rooted in compassion and non-violence, has assumed unexpected dimensions of defiance and recalcitrance, as monks challenge the hegemony of the military junta that rules our country.We are both Burmese Buddhist monks — a leader of the All Burma Sangha Coalition that led the recent protests, and a scholar teaching in the United States. One of us is in hiding today, because Burma’s military government met the peaceful protests of our Buddhist brothers and sisters with violence and brutality.Many monks and nuns have been abused and beaten, and thousands who have been arrested endure continued brutality. More than 1,000 are missing, and many are presumed dead.A few weeks ago, Burma’s monks began to march and pray and spread loving kindness in an effort to solve our nation’s problems peacefully. Burma is a country rich in natural resources, but its people are poor. When the government suddenly and capriciously increased the price of fuel by as much as 500% overnight, everyone was affected — and made even more desperate. As monks, we believe in alleviating suffering wherever we see it, as part of the vows we have taken. We could not ignore our people’s suffering. We formed the Sangha Coalition when we saw that the country’s monks were united.Those of us who are studying and teaching abroad share this unity, and have rallied to the support of those of us in Burma. And it is not only the monks who are united. When we started our peaceful marches for change, students, youth, intellectuals, and ordinary people joined us in the streets, in the rain.We thought that we could appeal to some, if not all, of the generals — Buddhists themselves — who control our country to join us in trying to right the many ills befalling Burma. At first, we tried to show our displeasure with military rule by refusing to receive alms from them. We turned our begging bowls upside down as a gesture of our feelings. We have not lost our loving kindness towards ordinary soldiers, nor even towards the leaders who ordered them to brutalise their own people, but we wanted to urge them to change while there was still time. We know that some people in the army and organisations close to the regime have been reluctant to use violence against the monks. We want to tell the people who are violent towards their own countrymen to stop and think whether their actions are in accordance with the dharma, whether they are acting for the good of Burma’s people. Some of the soldiers who were ordered to beat us and to stop us from marching actually refused to do so, because they understood the truth of what we were doing.We hoped to create a way out for the military leaders, a way to start a real dialogue with the people’s leaders and the leaders of ethnic groups, for the unity of the nation. But that hope was short-lived. The regime is now hunting down those who participated in the demonstrations and committing unspeakable acts of violence. They have attacked monasteries and arrested monks and nuns by force. Guards are everywhere, on all the streets, around the pagodas and residential areas. Wounded demonstrators are reported to have been buried alive in mass graves, and there are confirmed reports of bodies washing ashore in the waterways near Yangon (Rangoon). The regime is brutalising the Burmese people, and lying to the world about its actions.Brigadier General Kyaw Hsan, a representative of the military, recently told UN Special Envoy Ibrahim Gambari that the marchers in the streets were “bogus monks.” But we are genuine, and thousands of us — from Rangoon, Mandalay, Pegu, Arakan, Magwe, and Sagaing — demonstrated for peace. Some have said that the uprising in Burma is over. That is what the junta wants the world to think. But we believe that the protests represent the beginning of the end of military rule in our country. The generals who ordered the crackdown are assaulting not only Burma’s people, but also their own hearts, souls, and spiritual beliefs. The monks are the preservers of dharma; by attacking them, the generals attack Buddhism itself.We know that the international community is trying to help us, but we need that help to be more effective. We thank the many people and organisations abroad who are helping us regain the rights denied to us for more than 40 years. But we also appeal to the international community to make its actions practical and effective. The military government will do anything to remain in power, and their violent acts must be exposed to the world. They may control the streets and monasteries, but they will never be able to control our hearts and our determination.

U Gambira is the pseudonym of one of the leaders of the All Burma Sangha Coalition; Ashin Nayaka is founder of the Buddhist Missionary Society and a Visiting Scholar at Columbia University