Yangon: The latest suspension of Myanmar’s constitutional talks dashes any hope of ending the process this year and is likely to deepen international frustration at the lack of democratic reform, analysts said Wednesday.
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Pu Bo Mya Plaw, Myanmar: Former French commandos are helping train ethnic Karen guerrillas locked in a decades-long struggle against Myanmar’s military junta, rebel leaders said on Tuesday.
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Sangkhalaburi – With no respect for basic human rights, the Burmese military junta in Wear Kwao in northern Ye Byu Township, are forcing villagers to work as labourers and torturing them simply for not speaking Burmese, according to refugees who recently fled the area.
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In the hands of the Burmese military junta nothing is safe not even culture. The regime has banned Moulmein, based groups from performing theatre in Mon State. The reason for not allowing the drama performances to be held is not clear.
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Marine police Friday afternoon rounded up 53 illegal immigrants from Myanmar (Burma) who tried to sneak into Phuket by a boat, The Nation reports.
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The leader of Shan State Army – South (SSA-S) Col Yawd Serk insisted that his group does not use children, denying allegations by Burma’s ruling junta, the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) that he pressed boys into military service, according to a report by Reuters.
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Chinese energy company PetroChina has reached an understanding to buy almost a tenth of Burma’s huge gas reserves. Those gas dollars will most likely be squandered on guns rather than education and healthcare. Many more dollars will probably flow as a pipeline plan, road, and railway projects suggest Beijing is close to opening trade routes through Burma-a long-held dream.
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US President George W Bush last night referred to Burma as an example of one of the increasingly few undemocratic nations of the world in his State of the Union address, saying the spread of democracy had been one of the main success stories since the Second World War. In an address littered with references to democracy, freedom, evil and terror, the president focused on America’s continuing push for democracy throughout the world as a means of fighting “tyranny.”
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Singapore: United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan is understood to have suggested that the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) encourage the military-ruled Myanmar to move towards democracy, according to Malaysia. This comes in the context of moves by some Western powers to take the `intractable’ issue to the U.N. Security Council.
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As expected, Burma’s military leaders adjourned the latest round of constitutional talks at the National Convention yesterday. The move has prompted observers in Rangoon to suggest that Snr-Gen Than Shwe pulled the plug.
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