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18 January 2002

Quashing the Hope

The UN Special Envoy Razali Ishmael's last trip to Burma in November generated a type of optimism that was not apparent in his previous visits. Mr. Razali's positive remarks about the ongoing talks between the generals and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi contributed to high hopes for a political settlement in Burma. The envoy had said he was optimistic that key issues preventing the dialogue from progressing would be resolved and that "significant progress" could be made in the near future. The leaders in the National League for Democracy (NLD) also described the visit as "very promising and encouraging."

The upbeat comments also resulted in speculations that the generals were about to announce a political breakthrough and that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi would be released from house arrest on Burma's Independence Day--4 January. Even the NLD leadership was expressing hope that something important was to be announced on that day.

That was when the junta decided to quash the rumors. The New Light of Myanmar while reporting the appointment of new commanders on 20 December quoted Deputy Intelligence Chief Major General Kyaw Win as saying, "there are no political changes in the offing."

Another indication that things were not going to be up to expectations came when the "Myanmar Information Committee" released two "Information Sheets" on 29 and 30 December. The information sheets were about a Japanese "Panel of Interviewers" interviewing "Government Spokesman Colonel Hla Min" of the Defense Services Intelligence. The interview conducted in August 2001 and televised in Japan in September made it clear that the State Peace and Development Council was proceeding according to its plan to complete a state constitution that will permit the military to play a leading political role in the future.

What the interview also revealed is that 10 months after the talks had been going on (they started in October 2000) the SPDC was not showing any seriousness about the dialogue and was still hoping to install a military-dominated "disciplined," or "functional," or "functioning" democracy. It was also expecting the international community to reward it for initiating the talks. By all indications, SPDC's was merely using the talks to convince the NLD to agree its preferred system of governance and to win the support and assistance of the international community for initiating talks with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

Going Nuclear

Burma does not need nuclear power for its energy needs. And, that is not the opinion of NewsDesk . A public statement by the SPDC's Ministry of Energy's Energy Planning Department said, "It is believed that future demands of electricity can be met with available natural gas resources and future development of hydropower resources which presently has only been utilized less than one percent of its potential. As the nuclear energy is not environmentally friendly and development of nuclear power requires high technology and also is capital intensive, it is only at the stage of initiating study on nuclear energy as an ongoing program on alternative energy sources."

This apparently is not the opinion of the generals in the SPDC. SPDC Foreign Minister Win Aung has indicated that Burma is keenly interested in exploring the use of nuclear energy and that it is committed to developing a nuclear research reactor for medical purposes and may consider generating nuclear power. And plans are already afoot to make the reactor a reality.

According to Reuter, there are reports about Burma signing a deal with Russia to acquire a nuclear reactor and about sending more than 200 Burmese technicians to Moscow for nuclear training in the past year.

The news agency said many Asian countries fear the potential danger that Burma's nuclear ambitions may pose for the region.

A Lucky Break

Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA) described as the "mass and class organization" of the SPDC and which has SPDC Chairman Senior General Than Shwe as its patron, has in recent days been staging mass rallies all over the country, including in the capital region, Rangoon. The purpose and underlying theme of the rallies, according to the New Light of Myanmar, are "to support national development and rural development tasks" undertaken by the state and "to take part in the nation-building undertakings and rural area development tasks."

What a lucky break for the generals! Just as the SPDC is having its hands tied by the ILO over forced labor, hundreds of thousands of people all of a sudden are coming forward "to take part in the nation-building undertakings and rural area development tasks."

The Final Lineup

The reorganization of the Defense Services that started in November last year following the dismissals of Adjutant General Lt Gen Win Myint and Quarter Master Lt Gen General Tin Hla finally seems to be over. After months of closely observing Rangoon media sources, NewsDesk can finally come up with a list of new commanders at different levels:

Maj. Gen. Ye Myint (SPDC member and former Central Command commander)

Bureau of Special Operations-1 (Magwe, Mandalay, and Sagaing Divisions and Chin and Kachin States)

Maj. Gen. Aung Htwe (SPDC member, former Western Command commander)

Bureau of Special Operations-2 (Kayah and Shan States)

Maj Gen Khin Maung Than (SPDC member, former Rangoon Command commander)

Bureau of Special Operations-3 (Irrawaddy and Pegu Divisions and Rakhine State)

Maj. Gen. Maung Bo (SPDC member, former Eastern Command commander)

Bureau of Special Operations-4 (Tenasserim Division, and Karen and Mon States)

Regional Commanders

Central Command Brig Gen Ye Myint

Coastal Region Command Brig Gen Aye Kyway

Eastern Command Brig Gen Khin Maung Myint

Northern Command Brig Gen Maung Maung Swe

Northeast Command Brig Gen Myint Hlaing

Northwest Command Brig Gen Soe Naing

Rangoon Command Brig Gen Myint Swe

Southern Command Brig Gen Aung Min

Southeast Command Brig Gen Thura Myint Aung

Southwest Command Brig Gen Htay Oo

Triangle Region Command Brig Gen Chit Than

Western Command Brig Gen Maung Oo

All regional commanders, except the Coastal Region commander, are in charge of "security and military matters" in their regions and they report to the commander of the Bureau of Special Operations concerned, who also "supervises and manages political, economic, and social tasks in the region." The Coastal Region commander, in addition to his military and security duties, also officiates as minister, supervises and manages political, economic, and social tasks of the region."

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