Review of 2005 in Burma and the Region
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Friday, March 29, 2024

Review of 2005 in Burma and the Region


By The Irrawaddy DECEMBER, 2005 - VOLUME 13 NO.12


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January
 
6—Burmese troops attack a Karenni National Progressive Party base camp near the border with Thailand’s Mae Hong Son province. Although no casualties are reported, the KNPP claims 50 artillery shells were fired at the camp, with a further 10 landing in Thai territory.
 
8—UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan visits tsunami-hit Sri Lanka two weeks after the killer wave strikes the region, describing the scene as “utter destruction mile after mile.” Meanwhile, the death toll in Indonesia—the country hit hardest by the disaster—rises to more than 100,000.
 
11—The Burmese army launches an assault o­n the Karen National Union 201st Battalion’s Kalaw Waw camp, near the Thai province of Tak, during Karen New Year celebrations. Thai security officials say 10 Burmese soldiers died in the clashes, and at least six KNU soldiers were injured.
 
17—Malaysian police halt demonstrations and arrest more than 150 Burmese nationals in front of the Burmese embassy in Kuala Lumpur. The demonstrators were protesting alleged human rights abuses in Burma’s Chin State, and are charged with holding an illegal gathering without authorization.
 
21—Lt-Col Bo Win Tun, 42, a military aide to the junta’s second in command, Deputy Snr-Gen Maung Aye, dies “on duty.” The government gives no official account of the incident, despite rumors that he was killed protecting his boss.
 
24—Several members of, or associated with, former prime minister Gen Khin Nyunt’s powerful military intelligence operation, are tried in Rangoon’s Insein prison. Defendants face charges that include corruption, possession of illegal foreign currency and abuse of power.
 
A US court charges suspected Wa drugs kingpin Wei Hsueh-Kang and seven fugitive members of his gang with masterminding o­ne of the world’s largest heroin trafficking operations from eastern Burma. The US Drug Enforcement Agency also places a US $2 million bounty o­n Wei’s head, alleging that his operation has smuggled more than a ton of heroin, with a street value of $1 billion, into the US since 1985.
 
February
 
6—Thailand’s prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, wins a second term in office. Following the resounding poll success of Thaksin’s Thai Rak Thai party, the opposition Democrat leader Banyat Bantadtan announces his resignation.
 
9—The chairman and general-secretary of the Shan National League for Democracy, Hkun Htun Oo and Sai Nyunt Lwin, are arrested following a meeting of opposition and ethnic minority leaders in Shan State o­n February 7. Others arrested include 82-year-old Shan politician Shwe Ohn, and Maj-Gen Sao Hso Ten, the president of the Shan State Peace Council. They are later charged with treason.
 
16—The National League for Democracy expels 18 members, accusing them of disservice to party policy and position. A party statement identifies nine of the group as youth members and four as delegates elected in the 1990 parliamentary elections. Party spokesperson U Lwin says all can appeal when the next nationwide NLD assembly is held.
 
Indonesia and Malaysia come into conflict over disputed waters surrounding the Sipadan and Ligitan islands off the east coast of Borneo Island, in the South China Sea. Tension flares after Malaysia’s state-owned oil and gas multinational Petronas makes an exploration deal with Anglo-Dutch petrochemicals giant Royal Dutch Shell. Both countries, in a show of strength, deploy warships and fighter planes to patrol the region.
 
17—The junta reconvenes the constitution-drafting National Convention in Nyaung Hnapin, Hmawbi Township, about 40 km from Rangoon. Some governments, including those of the US, Britain and Asean countries, as well as exiled groups, slam the assembly as lacking legitimacy by excluding representatives of Burma’s opposition and ethnic groups.
 
22—An International Labour Organization high-level delegation, led by former Australian governor-general Sir Ninian Stephen, arrives in Rangoon for a four-day official visit to evaluate the military junta’s commitment to stopping forced labor. The delegation, however, abandons the visit the following day as a planned meeting with junta leader Snr-Gen Than Shwe fails to materialize.
 
March
 
4—Singapore’s foreign affairs minister, George Yeo, speaks of Asean’s unhappiness with the Burmese military regime, which is due to chair the regional bloc in 2006. “Last year Asean countries took a firm position with the EU that Myanmar [Burma] could not be excluded from the Asean-Europe Meeting in Hanoi.



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