Burma’s main opposition party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), has dismissed the national referendum on the draft constitution, which is planned for May, because of its lack of legitimacy, according to a party statement on Thursday.
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The Burmese government’s newly-approved referendum law has banned monks and prisoners from voting, and made campaigning against the referendum punishable by up to three years in prison.
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Travel and tour companies are confused following a government edict restricting who may serve as tour guides for trips to Putao in northern Burma.
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Somewhere in the dilapidated city of Rangoon is a man on the run since August last year. He has sheltered in over 10 homes so far. But he expects to continue avoiding arrest by Burma’s dreaded military or intelligence forces.
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Maungdaw, Arakan State:  Twelve villagers of Thinn Baw Gwe (Kol Loon) in Maungdaw Township have been sentenced to seven years in jail by the Maungdaw High Court on February 24 for renovation of a mosque and Hafez Khana (Quaran memorial center), said a close relative of one of the victims on condition of anonymity.
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Burma’s second largest city, Mandalay, has had another fire, after a building in a privately owned residential compound for students went up in flames early this morning. It was the third major fire to hit the city in as many days.
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A 10-year old Arakanese boy was killed when Thai police opened fire on a truck carrying illegal Burmese migrants in Hat Yai, Thailand, the boy’s mother said.
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The latest targeted sanctions by the United States against cronies of the Burmese regime are aimed at embarrassing East Asia’s two leading financial centers-Singapore and Hong Kong, says a money laundering expert.
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Natural gas was found during drilling of a tube well in a village in Maungdaw Township in western Burma, with the gas still flowing from the mouth of the well, according to a local office report.
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UN envoy to Burma Ibrahim Gambari said on Thursday that he would urge the country’s military government to take steps to make its roadmap to democracy “credible and inclusive” when he visits the country next week. (more…)

US President George W. Bush vowed Thursday that he would be “not the least bit shy” in pressing China on human rights and disputes on Darfur and Myanmar when he attends the Beijing Olympics in August.
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The Burmese military regime’s planned referendum in May continues to draw mixed reactions. Its announcement yesterday that there are stiff penalties in store for those who oppose the referendum-on a constitution which nobody has seen-shows that the junta is not only holding its “road map to democracy” close to its chest, but is also intent on keeping its hands firmly on the steering wheel.
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Should Burma’s expatriate population be allowed to vote? If so, how may this be accomplished? For the throngs of Burmese citizens residing abroad, from the squalor of refugee camps to the high-rises of Manhattan, the question may at first appear uncontroversial.
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There are a number of self-canceling phrases on the world scene: Cuban freedom, Chinese human rights and Sudanese peace treaty. The latest one may be Burmese democracy.
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In the multi-party generation elections held in 27 May 1990, by the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) (now State Peace and Development Council, SPDC), the National League for Democracy party won a landslide victory with obtaining 82% of majority in nationwide constituencies. Then, during the coordinating meeting of the SLORC and its State and Divisional Branches at the operational meeting room at the Ministry of Defense on 3 July 1990, the Commander-in-Chief again pledged as follows. (more…)

Myanmar’s opposition party headed by Aung San Suu Kyi on Wednesday condemned the assassination of a top Karen rebel leader, who was a critical link between the insurgents and the pro-democracy movement. (more…)

A huge fire which raged for 13 hours through a big market building in Mandalay, Myanmar’s second city, injured 21 people and destroyed more than 1,500 shops, official media and witnesses said on Tuesday. (more…)

About 20 well-known Burmese political prisoners including members of the 88 Generation Students group have been charged and could receive sentences of up to 20-years, according to sources close to the activists. (more…)

Burma’s military rulers on Tuesday announced that it has set the rules for a referendum on a new constitution, but critics said no independent commission to monitor the polling has been set up. (more…)

The International Labour Organization today said it has successfully negotiated with Burma’s ruling junta for the extension of its liaison office in Rangoon. (more…)