Aung San Suu Kyi attends Myanmar military parade

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Myanmar's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi attends the country's annual military parade for the first time.

Myanmar's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has joined the country's generals at an annual military parade for the first time ever in the capital Naypyidaw.

Her appearance at the Armed Forces Day parade comes as President Thein Sein is being urged to deal with deadly Buddhist-Muslim violence that has left 40 people dead in the past week.

Speaking to about 6,000 troops the country's army chief, senior general Min Aung Hlaing, reaffirmed the military's involvement in politics.

He said the military performs a "role in the national politics in accordance with the people's desire when the nation faces ethnic conflicts or political struggles."

"We will keep on marching to strengthen the democratic path wished by the people," he said.

Just hours after the parade, a mosque and Muslim homes were destroyed by hundreds of people in the town of Zeegone about 150 kilometres north of the country's main city Yangon, according to police and local residents.

"Soldiers and police fired warning shots into the air to disperse the mob," a resident said.

Front-row seat

Activists have expressed disappointment Ms Suu Kyi, a Nobel laureate who was under house-arrest for 15 years by the former junta, has remained largely silent about several episodes of sectarian bloodshed since last year.

Ms Suu Kyi was given a front row seat for the parade, which involved thousands of troops as well as military vehicles rolling through the regime's purpose-built capital as fighter jets soared overhead.
The pro-democracy leader was seen chatting with generals including Zaw Win, deputy minister for border affairs.

Ms Suu Kyi's relationship with the army has come under scrutiny as she prepares for elections in 2015, and her presence at the parade will be seen as a sign of warming ties with the military.

A spokesman for her National League for Democracy party said when asked why Ms Suu Kyi chose to watch the parade: "She attended as she was invited."

Suu Kyi's father, the country's late independence hero Aung San, created the army and led the struggle against British colonial rule.

In January Suu Kyi admitted she remained "fond" of the military, despite allegations it has committed rights abuses in Myanmar's ethnic conflicts, including rape and torture in northern Kachin State.

A controversial 2008 constitution crafted by the former junta - currently being reviewed by parliament - reserves 25 per cent of parliamentary seats for armed forces personnel.

AFP

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Burma welcomes a (free) press

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Myanmar has given permission to 16 publications to run daily following decades-long censorship, according to AFP.

Beginning 1 April, newspapers in Myanmar will be able to publish daily, the first time since 1964. Previously, state-owned newspapers were the only dailies allowed to print. Decades-long restrictions on private papers were put in place by a junta regime to rule out any public dissent.
The news was first announced in September and is one of the many reforms under President Thein Sein, elected in 2011. The government ended media censorship in August and soon followed by announcing that daily newspapers would be allowed in April. Censorship was applied to everything from newspapers to song lyrics and even fairy tales.
Journalists in Burma were some of the most restricted in the world, subjected to routine state surveillance, phone taps, imprisonment and censorship so intense that independent papers could not publish on a daily basis. Even photos of Aung San Suu Kyi were barred.
Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi announced that her newspaper is one of many publications planning to run daily. Suu Kyi’s paper, the D-Wave, is currently published weekly and focuses on the National Democratic League’s activities.
"Newspapers are really important because they are the mirror of the people," said Nyan Win, a spokesman for Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy told AFP.
Last week, a proposed bill that would restrict publishers was shot down due to imense criticism from journalists. The bill would have banned reporting on topics such as criticism of the military-drafted 2008 constitution, and would have prohibited publication of any news that could "disturb the rule of law," "incite unrest," or "violate the constitution and other existing laws."
Despite these advances, the country ranks 151st out of 179 in the 2013 ranking of press freedom.

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Obama to name Julia Pierson as new Secret Service director

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 (COURTESY OF SECRET SERVICE) - Julia Pierson.

By Scott Wilson, Published: March 26

President Obama will appoint Julia Pierson, a veteran U.S. Secret Service agent and senior official, as the first female director of the agency, White House officials said Tuesday.
Pierson, 53, began her career in the Secret Service as an agent in Miami three decades ago. She serves as the service’s chief of staff.
 
She does not need Senate confirmation for the post, which White House officials said would be announced Tuesday afternoon.

Obama’s selection of Pierson comes after an extraordinarily difficult year at the service, and amid calls that the next director make internal changes at the agency whose masculine culture was exposed during an overseas trip last year.

In April, in preparing for Obama’s visit to Cartagena, Colombia, for a summit of the hemisphere’s leaders, several Secret Service agents brought prostitutes to their hotel rooms, where an argument ensued.

In all, 13 agents and officers were involved in a scandal that shadowed the president's summit and exposed a culture within the service of macho behavior while on the road with the president’s protective detail.

The Secret Service’s principal responsibilities are protecting the president and investigating counterfeiting and fraud.

The service’s director for most of the past seven years, Mark Sullivan, announced his retirement last month after apologizing for the scandal.

In a statement Tuesday about Pierson’s impending appointment, Sullivan said:
“I have known and worked with Julie for close to thirty years. She was an excellent Assistant Director and Chief of Staff, demonstrating sound judgment, leadership, character, and commitment to our Country, the men and women of the U.S. Secret Service and those we serve and protect. This is a historic and exciting time for the Secret Service and I know Julie will do an outstanding job.”

source: The Washington Post

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Myanmar President declares state of emergency in Meikhtila after three-day riot

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YANGON, March 22 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar President U Thein Sein declared a state of emergency in four townships in Meikhtila District of Myanmar's northern Mandalay region as riot escalated after its outbreak on Wednesday, according to state-run radio and television Friday.
Four townships including Meikhtila, Wandwin, Mahlaing and Thazi are covered by the state of emergency.
The declaration is made in view of the fact that administration in the regions can not be carried out effectively by local authorities and for the sake of security, stability and tranquility, the announcement said.
Under the state of emergency, the armed forces would intervene for the restoration of law and order, the announcement added.
The declaration of the state of emergency came one day after the president returned to Nay Pyi Taw from nine-day state visits to New Zealand and Australia on Thursday.
Arson and looting continued on Friday morning, local sources said.
A total of 10 people including one Buddhist monk have been killed and 45 injured in the violence in Meikhtila over the last three days, Meikhtila Hospital confirmed with Xinhua.
The riot was sparked by a brawl between buyers and sellers over a bit of gold clip at a gold shop on Wednesday.
During clashes between two different groups numbering over 200 with dissatisfaction over the trade dispute, the gold shop along with some other nearby ones, religious and office buildings, jeeps and motorcycles were burnt and destroyed by the rioters.
Since the first night of the incident, local authorities imposed curfew on Meiktila banning gathering of people of more than five in an initial bid to restore peace and tranquility.
The authorities have warned that effective action would be taken against those who led the riots to disrupt the community peace.
So far, more than 3,000 people were left homeless out of around 500,000 population in Meikhtila.

Nepalnews.com

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35 die in fire at Karen refugee camp

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  Karen refugees take shelter on the road near the Ban Mae Surin refugee camp on Friday night after fire burned down their thatch huts. (AP Photo)

MAE HONG SON: Rescue workers picked through the ashes of hundreds of shelters on Saturday after a ferocious blaze swept through a camp for Karen refugees in Mae Hong Son, killing 35 people.

Around 100 people were injured in the fire that broke out Friday night at the Mae Surin camp, provincial governor Narumol Paravat told AFP by telephone, giving a reduced toll from the 45 dead previously stated.

"The final death toll is 35. There was confusion in the body count," she said. Earlier reports had put the number killed at as many as 62.

Only a handful of homes survived the inferno, according to an AFP photographer at the scene, who said some refugees had already started cutting bamboo to build new shelters.

 The blaze is believed to have destroyed between 300 and 400 houses and left more than 2,000 people homeless at the remote mountainous camp.

Dr Paisarn Thanyawinitchakul, the chief of the Mae Hong Son Public Health Office, said most of the victims could not escape the blaze and some died of suffocation.

A senior national intelligence official said most of the dead were women, the elderly and children. About 200 people were injured and were being treated in hospital.

Khun Yuam district chief Sangkom Klapthiangsaen said the blaze, apparently sparked by a cooking fire, burned more than 300 huts, mostly made of bamboo and roofed with dried grass, before it was brought under control on Saturday morning.

Security sources said the blaze was not an act of sabotage, and confirmed that it was caused by an accidental cooking fire.

Sakotu (surname not given), one of the Karen refugees who survived the fire, said he first heard people shouting,"Fire, fire!" He then went out of his house and tried to help others douse it.

"The wind was strong, causing the fire to spread quickly and we had to run for our lives," said Sakotu, 20, who later discovered that his mother had been injured in the blaze and was now being treated in Khun Yuam hospital.

Rescue workers were on the scene at the remote mountainous camp area, Mae Hong Son provincial governor Narumol Paravat told AFP by telephone.

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, informed of the fire while on an official visit to New Zealand, ordered officials to provide all needed assistance to the victims.

She asked the Interior Ministry, the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department and the armed forces to set up an emergency centre to ensure sufficient food, drinking water, medicines and clothing for the affected refugees.

Deputy Interior Minister Chatt Kuldiloke and ministry officials visited the camp on Saturday to oversee the establishment of temporary shelters and provision of medical treatment.

Hospitals in Mae Hong Son had dispatched teams of medical personnel to tend the injured.

Chatchai Promlert, director-general of the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department, said he had instructed the department's regional centres to assist as well.

A school, clinic and two food warehouses had also been destroyed, the department reported.

Temporary shelters for the homeless are being provided by the International Rescue Committee (IRC), the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).

"We have been able to get into the camp with food supplies and plastic sheets for shelters," said Vivian Tan, a spokeswoman for the UNHCR.

The camp, located about 90 kilometres west of Mae Hong Son, town houses about 3,300 Karen refugees, she said.

It is one of nine refugee camps on the Thai-Myanmar border set up more than two decades ago to offer asylum for ethnic Karen fleeing the fighting between the Myanmar army and rebel troops.

There are an estimated 140,000 refugees in camps in Thailand.

After a new quasi-civilian government replaced the long-ruling junta in Myanmar two years ago, Thailand announced it wanted to shut the border camps, raising concern among their residents.

But so far the displaced residents have been allowed to stay and the Thai government has stressed that it will only send them back when it is safe.

 http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/341953/30-killed-in-camp-blaze

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ACO investment prepares for $700m spending spree in Myanmar

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New York-based buyout firm ACO Investment is reportedly set to inject $700m into Myanmar in an attempt to capitalise on the South East Asian country’s economic potential.
ACO co-founder Hari Achuthan told Bloomberg the firm plans to put $200m in the Yangon International Airport and offer $500m for two telecommunication licences in the country.
The Myanmar Posts and Telecommunications Ministry plans to award the licences in June with Singapore Telecommunications, Malaysia’s Axiata Group and Norway’s Telenor ASA named among likely bidders.
The investments will be made out of ACO’s new global infrastructure fund, it said.
Myanmar has recently opened itself up for foreign investors by implementing democratic reforms, which have prompted the US and Europe to lift previously imposed sanctions against the country.
Back in October KPMG became the first of the ‘big four’ professional services firms to expand into Myanmar. In September that year, Myanmar-based private equity firm Bagan Capital opened an office in the capital city of Nay Pyi Taw.
Achuthan said, “What we’re looking for is a frontier market that has a tremendous amount of growth ahead of it.
“In the Asian markets, if you’re looking for growth, we would rather look at Myanmar versus the saturated markets of Thailand or Indonesia.”
He added that whilst investing in Myanmar is risky, the potential rewards are much higher than in countries that are perceived as safer.
Achuthan also revealed that the firm is considering investing $500m in a solar farm and a further $200m in a wind farm project in Vietnam and looking at potential bids for airports in Chicago and Turkey.
Copyright © 2013 AltAssets

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Questions as Thein Sein team meets minority groups

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Before the ceasefire. Rebel soldier ally of the Kachin Independence Army in Kachin state, Burma.AFP: Soe Than Win

Karon Snowdon for Radio Australia

Updated Wed Mar 20, 2013 1:45am AEDT

A high-ranking Myanmar government delegation has held talks with representatives of the country's ethnic minority groups in Australia.

Representatives of the Karen, Kachin and Mon peoples voiced their concerns over alleged continuing human rights abuses by the military.
The allegations come despite the existence of ceasefire agreements.
The meeting was ordered by President Thein Sein following demonstrations during his visit to Australia, the first by a Myanmar head of state since 1974.
President Thein Sein's visit has been a diplomatic success but the differences between the government and the ethnic diaspora were on show at the Sydney meeting.

Progress to democracy

The president of the Australian Karen Association, Irwin Oo, later acknowleged the former Burma's progress toward democracy.
But his presentation centred on claims the 2011 ceasefire in Kachin state was breaking down.
"Why have they not declared a nationwide ceasefire? Why are they not getting a political solution? Instead they keep fighting with Kachin," Mr Oo said on Radio Australia's Asia Pacific program.
Seng Maw Laipai, from the Sydney Kachin community, said independent human rights reports have documented abuses against displaced Kachin.
"There is an obvious perspective of public relations that is going on," she told Radio Australia.
"For me ... to be able to believe what they are saying is difficult."
Fighting continued and international aid had been blocked to 100,000 displaced people inside the country, she said.
The deputy minister for information U Ye Htut, said the government is determined to entrench the peace process and will prosecute what he says are isolated instances of abuse.
President Thein Sein said his schedule would not allow him to meet the activists personally.

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