General Gun Maw, 46, is the Kachin Independence Army’s (KIA) vice chief of staff and heads the Foreign Affairs Department of the KIA’s political wing, the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO). He was interviewed by Edith Mirante, of Project Maje, in the besieged town of Laiza on November 21, a week before the KIO met with Burmese government representatives in China. (more…)

Office of the Press Secretary: Grand Hyatt, Bali, Indonesia

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Just to give you a bit of background — this comes after many months of engagement between the United States and Burma, which we can speak to. (more…)

Harn Yawnghwe, the executive director of the Brussels-based Euro-Burma Office (EBO) and one of Burma’s most prominent exiles, recently ended his first visit to his native country in nearly half a century. The experience was, he said, eye-opening: Contrary to the misgivings that many exiles still have about recent moves toward political reform in Burma, most people he spoke to in the country said they were overwhelmingly positive about the situation developing under President Thein Sein’s administration. (more…)

Rangoon, Burma – Remarks by Michael H. Posner, Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor; and Derek Mitchell Special Representative and Policy Coordinator for Burma (more…)

The leadership of the National League for Democracy (NLD) has said party leaders will meet very soon to consider re-registering as a political party. On April 29, 2009, the NLD declared that it would take part in elections only if all political prisoners were released, the undemocratic principles in the 2008 Constitution were amended, and international groups monitored the election. The NLD boycotted the November 2010 general election because those conditions were not met. Mizzima reporter Ko Pauk interviewed WinTin, a central executive member and a co-founder of the NLD, on whether the NLD requirements are still valid. (more…)

‘’We can see the way clear ahead more than we have ever been able to.’ (more…)

Su Su Nway, a rights activist for farmers, workers and child soliders in Burma, was recently released from a 12-year prison sentence in the presidential amnesty. She served a long period of time in solitary confinement. She was in Insein, Kalay and Khamti prisons. While she was in solitary confinement, she urged the authorities to improve prison conditions. Mizzima talked to her after her release about her experiences and current issues. (more…)

Last week, one of Burmese President Thein Sein’s political advisers, Ko Ko Hlaing, told Radio Sweden  that Burma has only around 600 political prisoners—a figure much smaller than the more widely accepted estimate of around 2,000 (of whom some 220 were freed last week). The Irrawaddy contacted Ko Ko Hlaing to ask him about this disparity, and for his response to critics who say that the relatively small number of political prisoners released suggests that recent moves toward reform are losing steam. (more…)

Jakarta – While democracy is relatively new in Myanmar, the progress has been heartening, with the general election and the release of the country’s democracy icon, Aung San Suu Kyi, last year. Last week, the Myanmar government released hundreds of political prisoners with thousands more to come. Norwegian State Secretary Espen Barth Eide visited Myanmar last week to meet Myanmar leaders and Suu Kyi. After his visit to Myanmar, Eide stopped in Jakarta to meet with Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa and the House of Representatives. The Jakarta Post’s Tifa Asrianti talked with Eide about democracy in Myanmar and how Indonesia and other countries could help. Below are excerpts from the interview: (more…)

Mizzima correspondent Kyaw Kha talked by telephone with Burmese comedian Zarganar, who was released from Myitkyina Prison and arrived back at his home in Rangoon on Wednesday. (more…)

New Delhi – The 32nd General Assembly of the Asean Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA) held in Phnom Penh promoted Burma from an observer status to a full AIPA member. Fourteen Burmese MPs including seven MPs from the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party attended the one-week conference that ended on Saturday. (more…)

Washington, DC – Question: Can you please provide a read-out of Assistant Secretary Campbell’s meeting with Burmese Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin? (more…)

On Monday, around 200 protesters peacefully marched in downtown Rangoon to mark the fourth anniversary of the Saffron Revolution. Naw Ohn Hla, a leading female activist who in the past took part in Tuesday gatherings at Shwedagon Pagoda to pray for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, and who continues to pray for political prisoners still behind bars, was one of the organizers of this rare public commemoration of the events of September 2007, when the Burmese authorities violently cracked down on Buddhist monks. (more…)

In 2000, the hip-hop group Acid, of which the popular Burmese rapper Zayar Thaw was a part, released Burma’s first hip-hop album. Despite predictions of failure by many in the Burmese music industry the album stayed at number one on the Burmese charts for more than two months. (more…)

When No. 1 Electrical Power Minister Zaw Min told the media that the government would continue the Myitsone Dam project on the Irrawaddy River, he added that Burma was currently using 1,500 megawatts of electricity and it was more than enough.
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Thee Lay Thee traditional dance troupe leader comedian Godzilla, and comedians Sein Thee, Zee Thee and dancer Chaw Su Myo returned to Burma this week after four years in exile. Comedian Pan Thee, Kyel Thee and dancer Mya Sabai Ngone have remained in Thailand. Comedian Zarganar formed the popular dance troupe. In 2007, members left Burma after severely criticizing the former Burmese junta in performances inside the country and in foreign countries. Zarganar was arrested in June 2008 while helping Cyclone Nargis victims. He is serving a long prison term in Myitkyina Prison in Kachin State. Before the troupe returned to Burma, Mizzima correspondent Kyaw Kha talked with Godzilla about the decision to return and their future plans. (more…)

In her latest weekly conversation with listeners, Aung San Suu Ky says her campaign to free political prisoners ‘is not easy but worth doing.’ (more…)

A Burmese exiled activist cum economist Zaw Oo attended the three-day Economic Forum in Naypyitaw on August 19-21, where he read a paper. President Thein Sein, the former prime minister who now leads the military-dominated, nominally civilian government, also attended. Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, the general-secretary of the disbanded National League for Democracy, also attended the forum,  after meeting with Thein Sein the day before. (more…)

IN AN exclusive interview with The Straits Times, US special representative and policy coordinator for Myanmar Derek Mitchell (right) lays out his goals and addresses some of the difficult questions surrounding the South-east Asian country. (more…)

In her latest weekly conversation with listeners, Aung San Suu Kyi offers hope for a resolution to Burma’s prolonged ethnic conflict. (more…)