Arakan Abbot Arrested
Khmer Rouge Jailer Faces 19 Years for 16,000 Dead
Clinton Warns Burma on North Korea Cooperation
Leaked Document Reveals USDP Tactics A leaked document from the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) led by Thein Sein, the Burmese prime minister, has outlined a wide range of tactics—including the use of cadres of hardcore criminals—aimed at achieving a landslide victory in the upcoming election. The document describes the election as a “battle” and sketches plans for the party’s election campaign. “Criminals and thugs must be organized. Otherwise, they could be used by other political parties to bully, torture and extort from us,” the 10-page document said. The military regime created the USDP on April 29, when Thein Sein and 26 ministers and senior officials formed the party out of the regime’s mass civic organization called the Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA), which was disbanded. All USDA assets were transferred to the USDP in early July, raising complaints by political parties that it was a violation of the election laws. When will an Interim Gov’t be Appointed? The current Burmese government including Prime Minister Thein Sein reportedly is set to be replaced before the election with an interim government led by Lt-Gen Myint Swe, now chief of the Bureau of Special Operations (BSO)-5 which controls the Rangoon Regional Military Command and Naypyidaw Regional Military Command. Military sources said the move is required to allow the government-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) to campaign and to stem complaints across the country and the international community that the election can not be fair and free because the junta-backed USDP and cabinet members are still involved with the military government. Boy Arrested With Banned Books Junta Forms New Missile Force The Burmese military junta formed a strategic missile force, the Directorate of Missiles, in September 2009 that will work with North Korean suppliers and report directly to Vice Snr-Gen Maung Aye, the commander-in-chief of the army, according to military sources who leaked classified information to The Irrawaddy. As part of the initiative, Burma has positioned a new air defense missile battalion close to the Thailand-Burma border, according to sources at the Coastal Regional Military Command in Mergui in southern Burma. Hydro-power Electricity Erratic in Shan State Electricity distribution from Burma’s Shweli hydro-power dam No. 1 in northern Shan State is intermittent and has not benefited local residents, according to business sources. A Muse resident told The Irrawaddy that locals in the China-Burma border towns of Muse, Nam Kham and Pang Sang used to acquire dependable and cheaper electricity from China, but after the completion of the Shweli hydro-power project in April they were instructed to use only electricity from the Shweli project. Local businessmen said the Shweli project does not provide reliable electricity for businesses. Don’t Feed the Elephants in Bangkok
Thai Probe of Journalists’ Deaths Called Incomplete Thailand’s government has failed to properly investigate the shooting deaths of two journalists killed while they covered recent political violence in Bangkok, a press freedom group said. The Committee to Protect Journalists concluded in a seven-page report that both the government and protesters during the March-May demonstrations “engaged in lethal recklessness that led to the deaths of two journalists” and injured nine other media members. The New York-based group alleged that initial government investigations and even the autopsies of the two men were “incomplete and opaque” and that investigations by embassies, victims’ relatives and news organizations had been obstructed. Indonesia Pledges to Step Up Tiger Protection Indonesia promised to impose stiffer penalties against poachers and illegal loggers as officials from 13 countries—Bangladesh, Bhutan, Burma, China, Indonesia, India, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Nepal, Russia, Thailand and Vietnam—gathered in Jakarta to try to save an estimated 3,200 tigers left in the wild from extinction. Indonesian Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan said his country has 400 Sumatran tigers, a nearly 50 percent decline from 25 years ago. Under current laws, poachers and illegal loggers face a maximum of five years in jail and a fine of up to US $11,000, but Hasan vowed to come down harder on violators. Tiger parts are in demand for traditional medicine, health tonics, decoration and even fashion. The animals are also threatened by habitat loss and declining populations of their prey. |
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