Free Arakan : Free Arakan

Burma-Bangladesh Maritime Talks Begin

2008-11-18T18:15:40Z

Burma-Bangladesh Maritime Talks Begin

11/16/2008

An 11-member Burma team led by Deputy Foreign Minister U Maung Myint
arrived yesterday in Dhaka to discuss the maritime demarcation boundary
with their Bangladesh counterparts, according to an official report.

The talks between the two neighboring countries began today in Dhaka
under the name "technical committee-level talks with a view to adopt a
method of demarcation".

The technical committee-level talks between the two countries on the
maritime boundary first began on 30 March this year in Dkaha, after
having stalled for 22 years.

The Bangladesh technical committee went to Rangoon in September 2008 for a second round of talks.

This is the third time the technical committees of the two countries
will sit for talks at the conference hall of the foreign ministry. The
Bangladesh team will be led by Deputy Secretary of the Foreign
Ministry, MAK Mahmud.

MAK Mahmud said, "Myanmar's trespass on Bangladesh waters is not on our
agenda. We shall focus on setting a method of principles for
delimitation. If we reach a consensus over the issue the tension will
ease automatically."

He also said the equal-distance method of demarcation is applicable for
two countries facing each other, but it will not work for adjoining
countries like Bangladesh and Burma.

Bangladesh claims that its maritime boundary is at 92 degrees, 17
minutes, 30 seconds East Longitude per the Territorial and Maritime
Zones Act of 1974.

Tension between the two neighboring nations mounted earlier this month
after Bangladesh Navy forces sent warnings to the Burmese warships and
an exploration rig that had crossed Bangladesh's maritime boundary.

Bangladesh accuses the Burmese warships and oil and gas exploration rig
of intruding into Bangladesh waters in the Bay of Bengal. The Burmese
ships completed the oil and gas exploration in Bangladesh's claimed
territory, in deep-sea blocks 8-13, in disregard for the Bangladesh
Navy warnings.

Afterward, Burma withdrew its warships and the rig from the disputed
waters, but tension over the border still remains between the two
countries.

Suu Kyi put on Four Drip

2008-09-17T15:58:07Z

By Hla Hla Htay in Rangoon

September 16, 2008 09:51pm

(From www.news.com.au)

BURMA'S
detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has accepted food rations
for the first time in a month, after her doctor found her so weak that
he placed her on a drip.

The doctor administered intravenous fluids
on Sunday to the 63-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner, who has been
confined to her lakeside Rangoon home for most of the last 19 years, an
official said.

"She accepted her food supplies Monday evening,
after she was given a drip by her doctor, who found that she was too
weak on Sunday," the official said.

Her lawyer Kyi Win yesterday described her as "malnourished" after she had refused to accept her daily rations since August 16.

Her
National League for Democracy (NLD) party released a statement today
saying that she was not staging a hunger strike, but was eating
"thriftily" from the small supplies stored in her home.

However, the NLD said that her health was weakening because she had given most of the stored food to her ailing housekeeper.

"Daw
Aung San Suu Kyi was eating thriftily because she gave her food to her
housekeeper, Daw Khin Khin Win, who is not in good health," the
statement said, using an honorific before her name. "Daw Aung San Suu
Kyi's health is weakening."

Khin Khin Win and her daughter stay
voluntarily in the home to care for the woman known in Burma simply as
"The Lady". The maid's daughter was hospitalised on Friday with kidney
problems.

Concerns for Aung San Suu Kyi's health have mounted over the last month.

The
lawyer Kyi Win has also denied that she was on a hunger strike, but
said she had stopped accepting food deliveries to press for greater
human rights.

Her action came amid a rare series of meetings with Kyi Win to discuss filing a formal legal appeal against detention.

Kyi
Win has also been in talks with military officials on loosening the
terms of her confinement, by allowing her to receive magazines and
letters from her family, or allowing her maids to move freely in and
out of her home.

The Burma official said that Aung San Suu Kyi
had been allowed to receive copies of news magazines such as Time and
Newsweek, but so far she had not been allowed to receive any messages
from her family.

She has had no communication from her two sons since 2003, according to NLD.

Both
the government official and NLD spokesman Nyan Win said that she would
likely meet with the junta's liaison officer later this week, if her
strength improves.

"We hope there will be some progress and good results after the meeting," Nyan Win said.

"We are also expecting to develop to higher-level talks between Daw Suu and senior leadership from this dialogue."

Aung
San Suu Kyi has refused to meet with anyone other than her lawyer and
her doctor since early August, declining to hold talks with visiting UN
envoy Ibrahim Gambari and with the liaison officer, Labour Minister
Aung Kyi.

Aung San Suu Kyi's NLD won a landslide victory in a
1990 election but the junta never allowed it to take office. The
military has ruled Burma since 1962.

Five Detainees Missing in Arakan

2008-08-14T04:52:23Z

8/13/2008

Five detainees who were arrested on the 20th anniversary of the 8-8-88 uprising in Taungup are currently missing, as family members do not know where they are being detained by the authority, said one family member.

"We went to Thandwe prison yesterday to see them but the authorities at the prison denied that there are any youths from Taungup who were arrested recently," said the relative.

According to a local source, the authority brought the youths to Thandwe, a district town in southern Arakan, soon after they were arrested by police in Taungup.

"We received information from high officials that they are in Thandwe, but they are not there. Now I have heard the authority has detained them at army headquarters in Taungup. I am really worried about the reason why authorities have detained them at army headquarters," he said.

A source from the NLD youth wing in Taungup said over the phone that the authority has detained the five demonstrators at Sakhaka 5, the military Operation Command, based in Taungup.

A youth said, "We are preparing to send a letter to high officials here to request their release immediately. If no, we will be carrying out our plan to demand our colleagues' release."

The five missing detainees are Ko Moe Nay Soe, Ko Than Lwin, Ma Ni Ni May Myint, Ko Khin Maung Maung, and Ko Maung Maung Thet. They were arrested by the police on 8 August while they were marching in the streets of Taungup in commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the 8-8-88 uprising in Burma.

Bloody massacre of 300 innocent civilians in Arakan committed by Burmese military regime

2008-08-13T17:29:24Z

Never Forget 13th August!!!

Never Forget 13th August!!!

�

BLOODY 13 AUGUST

By Khine Mongan

It
was Sunday on 13 August 1967. The day was cloudy unlike other wet
August days in Sitetway (Sittwe), the capital of Rakhine State in
Western Burma. General Ne Win was at the helm of the Burmese junta
ruling the country.

The capital town is situated at the mouth
of the Kalandan River that flows into the Bay of Bengal. Hundreds of
people marched along is roads and streets, each of the protester held a
banner, and cried out �Rice, rice, - give us rice�, �We Rakhine don't
eat boiled rice�, and �Down with the military regime�. At that time the
Burmese junta started selling rotten boiled rice to tackle the
artificial famine created by themselves in Rakhine State.

Each
year, Arakan (Rakhine) produce rice abundantly: in one working year
Arakan harvests enough rice for three years. That August, the rice
warehouses in every township were full of rice. But the Burmese junta
would not sell enough rice to the people of Rakhine State. Disregarding
the local needs, the junta exported the whole supply of rice stored in
the government warehouses to foreign countries. The farmers received
only 8% of the actual open-market price of rice for their rice sales to
the regime. Hundreds of people: children, old people, pregnant women,
workers and farmers died of diseases caused by malnutrition resulting
from hunger. This happened in Rakhine State, also known as Dhanyawaddy
the Land of rice!

At that time I was a student midwife in the
Akyab General Hospital (now, Rakhine State Hospital, Sittwe). That
Sunday was a day off for me. I went into the downtown area to join the
protesters, but I failed to join them, as I did not know the exact
location of the demonstration. So I went to see my family, and my
mother explained what had happened the night before.

The
rice mills and warehouses are on the Satt-ro-gya, a tributary creek of
the Kaladan River. Many people had already gone there to force the rice
warehouses open, my mother said. Hungry people started raiding the rice
warehouses and taking the rice bags away. My 12-year-old brother had
merely collected 3-4 kgs of rice when the army and navy arrived.

The gun-toting uniformed men caught some demonstrators from the spot.
My brother fled and got on to a boat that operated by a rope: he was
swinging from the end of a rope to cross the stretch of water and reach
the other bank. One soldier saw him and pushed him into the water.
Luckily he was able to swim across the creek. He had to hide from the
view of the military and move surreptitiously from one house to another
before he got home at midnight all wet and with about one kg of rice in
his possession.

My mother fearing all the arrests and
insecurity told me to go back to the student nurses� hostel. We,
students, were not allowed to go out of our homes after 6 pm. I got to
the hostel at about 3:30pm. The military to bring the situation under
control, stopped people from going to the rice mills and storage areas.
The protesters defied the ban, marched on shouting slogans to open the
warehouses. Finally, as the hungry people desperately needed rice and
kept trying to reach the storage areas braving the repeated warning by
the military, the junta ordered the soldiers to shoot. More than a
hundred people, including women and children, were gunned down. The
military just loaded the severely wounded into trucks and nothing of
them has ever been heard. Many of the wounded never reported to the
hospital but took medical treatment secretly for fear of arrests.

It was about 4 o�clock: the Akyab General Hospital was very quiet. The
view of the Kaladan River from the hospital offered spectacular
scenery. The Principal Surgeon�s house and the nurses� quarters
compound were to the right in front of the hospital. We noticed
truckloads of soldiers on the road. Soon the soldiers rounded off the
roadside, the hospital compound, the Principal Surgeon�s house and the
nurses� quarters. Everywhere we saw guntoting soldiers none was allowed
to go on the road or to the hospital. The trucks stopped at the
entrance of the hospital one by one. The soldiers, who were standing in
their trucks, got off when we saw the trucks full of wounded people.
Some women ran towards the hospital, but the soldiers held them at
gunpoint. People came running and tried to pull the women away. The
women refused to go back shouting at the top of their voice.

We saw the wounded people were being carried into the hospital, then
the trucks drove away with some wounded people still inside. WHY? HOW
MANY? WHO were THEY? We asked ourselves awestruck. We then realized
that those people were already dead. I wanted to go there to help, but
only on-duty nurses were allowed to go into the hospital. I could not
sleep the whole night, and got up early next morning and went to the
hospital.

There were many wounded people in the overcrowded
surgical ward, the eye ward, the Buddhist-monks� ward, and the
gynecological ward. They were lying on beds, on the floor, on the
trolleys and there was a long line in front of the operation theatre
and X-ray room. In the gynecological ward, there were no beds, no
mattresses. All wounded people were lying on the floor with no space
left. It was very difficult even to step around. They were all men. The
female patients had been moved to the nurses� sickroom. It was the
busiest day of my training life: pushing trolleys and wheelchairs from
place to place, from ward to ward with wounded and groaning people. The
nurses, the students, the doctors and all of the hospital staff were
restless, on duty the whole day and until midnight. From early morning,
crowds of people gathered in front of the hospital, looking for their
missing sons and daughters, husbands and fathers. They looked at the
inpatients� list and dead people�s list. Many people were missing. No
one knew how many people were dead and wounded. The government stated
that only 21 people were killed. The list of the dead only included
those who died in the hospital.

We heard that the critically
wounded, senseless and dead or presumably dead were picked up and drove
away out of the city and buried in undisclosed grounds. Slowly words
came out from the soldiers� quarters that even many of the people who
gained consciousness and shouting for help in the trucks were buried
alive to ensure that the true story of what happened that day and how
many were killed remains undisclosed.

The Rakhine people each
year remember with heavy hearts the mass killings on that day,
remembering the atrocities and the ethnic cleansing of the Burmese
junta perpetrated ever since upon their own people. The women hope that
if their missing husbands and sons were alive today they would have
taken up guns against the repressive, inhuman and racist Burmese
military junta to clinch freedom.

3 Nasaka Deserters Arrive in Bangladesh

2008-08-12T06:56:48Z

8/11/2008

Dhaka: Three men arrived on Friday in Bangladesh after deserting their posts with Nasaka, the infamous border security force based in western Burma.

The three were identified as Thwe Naing, Private No. TA 360757, Zaw Myo Tun, Private No. 360756, and Aung Than Win, Private No. 353584. They were serving at Nasaka headquarters in Kyi Kan Byint in Maungdaw.

Ko Zaw Myo Tun said, "We were tortured by officials in Nasaka and the officials also urged us to oppress the local people. We do not want to oppress people, so we deserted from Nasaka."

The three men are now sheltering in Bangladesh and are preparing to apply as refugees with the UNHCR office there.

"We are preparing to seek safety as refugees with UNHCR if we have the chance, because we are worried about our security here," he said.� According to a local source, most Nasaka men ranked as privates are facing hunger as their salaries are insufficient for their survival, and many men have deserted Nasaka due to this hardship.

He said, "The monthly salary is only 21,000 kyat for a Nasaka man, but in Maungdaw, the price of ordinary rice is 25,000 kyat a [50-kilogram] sack. All private Nasaka men are facing hunger due to their salary being inadequate for their daily survival."

"[Hunger] is also another reason for us to desert from the law enforcement of Nasaka," another deserter Ko Thwe Naing added.

Many Nasaka men on the western border are now involved in many sectors of corruption in order to get extra money from outside their jobs to maintain their daily life.

Police Raid Two Monasteries in Sittwe

2008-08-10T05:19:31Z

8/9/2008

Sittwe: Police raided two monasteries in Sittwe yesterday night in search of monks who are wanted by authorities, said an abbot from Sittwe.

The abbot said, "A police force led by the Inspector Soe Win from police station

number 2 with the help of some Rayaka ward authorities raided Kyin Thi Nat Kong monastery and Say Gri monastery last night.
Kyin The Nat Kong monastery is located in Ta Rar Thi Su Ward and Say Gri monastery is located in Bauk Thi Su Ward in Sittwe.

"I heard the police were searching for some monk leaders who prepared to stage a demonstration yesterday in Sittwe on the occasion of the historic 8-8-88 uprising," the abbot said. The police rummaged through all the rooms as well as the boxes of monks

at the monasteries, but no one was arrested during the raids.

According to a source from Sittwe, security has been tight in Sittwe recently and many armed forces have been deployed at key places in the city.

Meanwhile, information is being spread among the people that monks in Sittwe are preparing to stage another demonstration today.

Tropical storm hits Mon State , dozens of houses destroyed

2008-08-09T16:50:31Z

News - IMNA
Saturday, 09 August 2008
A tropical storm lashed Mudon Township Mon state last night destroying dozens of houses and farms.
At about 8 last night the storm hit Mudon town, and many villages in the area.
"Roofs of dozens of houses were blown off by the storm in Kaw-Pharao and Sat thit quarters. Most farms near the town were destroyed," a Mudon resident, told IMNA.
"At least 20 houses were flattened by the storm and many homes had their roofs blown off in my village," a Set-thawe villager said.
Many villages in southern Mudon Township were hit and Set-thawe, Ah-bit, Kyaik ywe villages suffered major damages. Due to the seriousness of the situation the Military Southeast Command, Major-General Thet Naing Win will come on inspection and till then residents have been told not to repair the houses.
Local authorities are preparing for the Major-General's visit and have placed tight security along the Moulmein -Ye motor road.
The storm also hit Moulmein uprooting trees, local resident said.
A tornado hit the day before yesterday and roofs of two houses in Pa-nga village, Thanpyuzayart township were blown away and some tree were uprooted in Set-thawe village Mudon township.

Protests in Arakan state's Taungup, 20 arrested

2008-08-09T05:07:51Z

News -

Mizzima News

Written by Phanida
Friday,

08 August 2008

Chiang Mai - Commemorating the 20th anniversary of the '8.8.88'
uprising today, at least 20 youths in Taungup town in Burma's Arakan
state were arrested after they took to the streets and began marching
in protest.
The
protesters, mainly youths from Nat Maw village, were whisked away by
the police as they marched across Taungup township police station,
sources said.
Thein Naing, Joint Secretary of the Taungup
Township National League for Democracy, Burma 's main opposition party,
told Mizzima that about 25 people from Nat Maw village on Friday
marched along the streets of Taungup town.

They begun marching
from Chaung Kauk ward and came along Ottama street but when they
arrived in front of the township police station, the road was blocked
with barbed wire barricades. They were taken away by the authorities,"
Thein Naing said.
Villagers of Nat Maw, about three miles from
Taungup town, on Thursday held a similar protest march joined by a
larger crowd of nearly 200 people.

On Thursday, about 200
villagers of Nat Maw held a commemoration service on the eve of the
20th anniversary of '8.8.88' protests at two Buddhist monasteries and
held a brief demonstration in front of the monasteries.
About
200 students, and youths including youth members of the NLD offered
'Swan' to the monks in commemoration of fallen comrades and held a
brief demonstration in front of the monasteries," Thein Naing said.
While
it was not clear, how the demonstrations were held on Thursday, so far
there are no reports of any arrest related to the event.

Sources said, authorities had tightened security, with security personnel seen everywhere in and around Taungup town.
Thein
Naing said, Burmese Army LIB 544 based in Taungup had taken charge of
security and police had blocked the road as well as the water way.
"Soldiers in full battle gear are seen every where in the town. I think I saw at least 60 of them," Thein Naing said.
Taungup town is about 250 miles northwest of Rangoon , Burma 's former capital.

Meanwhile,
in Rangoon , sources said heavy security presence is felt, with
soldiers seen everywhere in important street junctions and squares
including Sule Pagoda square in the heart of the city, and Shwe Dagon
Pagoda, the holiest shrine of the country.
Observers believe the
heavy security presence is preventive measures by the junta to stop any
movement or protests by activists in commemoration of the 20th
anniversary of popular protests in August 8, 2008, which was brutally
suppressed by killing at least 3000 people.

College Teacher Commits Suicide in Sittwe.

2008-08-08T12:20:45Z

8/8/2008

Sittwe: A teacher from the Government Technical College in Sittwe, the capital of Arakan State, committed suicide on Tuesday. The reason behind the suicide remains unknown.
U Aung Win Naing, aged about 45 years, committed suicide by taking poison.
The authority from the college has not publicly disclosed the incident because they are anxious that the news may provoke unrest among the students. Despite this, the information has been spreading among the students, many of who are mourning his death.
A source from Sittwe said the funeral was held on Thursday in Sittwe and many people, including teachers and students, were in attendance.
According to a report the authority is now conducting an enquiry to learn why the teacher committed suicide.

Rumors of Protests Spread in Sittwe

2008-08-08T05:34:24Z

8/7/2008

Sittwe:Rumors that anti-govern- ment protests will occur soon in Sittwe have been spreading throughout the city, while additional security forces are being deployed by authorities at many key areas in the Arakan State capital, said a town elder.

He said, "I do not if the rumor is true or not, but many people are talking about it. The people are enthusiastically watching events in Sittwe since the rumor began."

Since the rumor began, the high authority has deployed many additional security forces at key places in Sittwe, including Tows hall, U Ottama garden, Lawkar Nanda, Bura Gri temple, U Raykyaw Thu monastery, the inland water jetties, and the former Sittwe college compound.� A monk from Sittwe said over the phone that, "There are many sorts of rumors in Sittwe. One of them is that anti-government demonstrations will break out in Sittwe in the month of August. Nevertheless, I am taking care and do not allow the young monks to visit outside the monastery except at food offering times."�

According to a source from Sittwe, the military authorities are closely watching many monasteries in Sittwe that played a leading role in last year's Saffron Revolution. Some monasteries are facing questions by a local intelligence unit about whether monks from rural towns have come to stay at the monasteries.

A shopkeeper from Sittwe said, "The situation in Sittwe is normal in the daytime, but at night, many security forces can be seen on the streets and at important government buildings. It may be that something will happen in the near future."

Security forced are being deployed at key places throughout the city at night after some unidentified people spread anti-government posters in the streets and markets of Sittwe.

The posters urged Arakanese people to stage demonstrations against the military government. "It is proof, because some democracy activists, including monks, are preparing to stage a demonstration in Sittwe. If they were not planning it, why the anti-government posters spread in Sittwe?" the shopkeeper said.

It has also been learned that many people in Sittwe are waiting anxiously after the rumor of anti-government protests began spreading.

Warrants Out for 17 Farmers in Arakan

2008-08-05T05:06:46Z

Mrauk U: The Mrauk U Township authority has issued warrants for 17 farmers from a remote village in the township for being unable to pay money to the township authority in accordance with their demand, reports one farmer in the group.
He said, "U Hla Myo, Chairman of Mrauk U Township, issued the warrant for us as we could not afford his demands for leasing farms from the authority."

The farmers are from Out Thakan Village under Bu Wrat Village Tract in Mrauk U Township, and they are now attempting to avoid arrest by the authority.

A village source said the 17 farmers from the village began cultivating 48.13 acres of vacant land in 1997. Afterwards, the township authority announced the farmlands were owned by the state, and locals were not allowed to cultivate the land without the authorities' permission.

After the announcement, the villagers appealed to the Chairman of Mrauk U Township to lease the lands to them on a yearly basis.

U Hla Myo agreed to lease the land to the farmers and ordered them to pay 15 tinns of paddy per acre during the harvest season to Mrauk U Township.

"We have given the paddy to the authority every year in accordance with their demand since 1997, but last year U Hla Myo asked for 60,000 kyats per acre from us. We could not pay that high amount. So now the authority has issued a warrant to arrest us. So now we are culprits because we could not pay the demand," he said.

On 22 July, 2008, a group of police led by Senior Clerk U Maung Ni and Village Chairman U Maung Hla Aung came to the village to arrest the men, but they had luckily managed to escape being arrested that day.

The village source said the police force had come to look for U Kyaw Zan, U Aung Kyaw Thein, U Kyaw Tun Oo, U Maung Gri Chay, and U Tun Aung to arrest because they could not pay the authorities' demand for leasing the farmland.

Funding and Scholarships links

2008-08-04T17:21:10Z

Written by Khaing Aung Aung
Friday, 13 June 2008

Useful educational links:

Burma Study Abroad website contents

Scholarships Data Base

Myanmar Scholar Blog

Good programmes to study social sciences and humanities:

ISHSS.UVA in Amsterdam

The Gate Cambridge Scholarships:

Cambridge Scholarships

Fundings and scholarships

Asian Development Bank - Japan Scholarship Program

http://cms.services.unimelb.edu.au/scholarships/pgrad/available/international/adb

Scholarships and Grants for Women

http://un-instraw.org/wiki/training/index.php/Main_Page

The World Bank Scholarship and Fellowship Programs (Click �Learning�)

http://www.worldbank.org/

The Fulbright Scholarship Program, US State Department, Washington

http://www.foreign.fulbrightonline.org/

The Gates Scholarship Program at the University of Cambridge, UK

http://www.gatesscholar.org/about/

The ASEAN Scholarship Program, Ministry of Education, Singapore

http://www.moe.gov.sg/education/scholarships/asean/

The Heinrich Boell Foundation Southeast Asia Regional Office, Thailand (Germany)

http://www.boell-southeastasia.org/en/web/index_112.html#scholarship_program

Prospect Burma, London, The United Kingdom

http://www.prospectburma.org/

The Open Society Institute, New York, USA

http://www.soros.org/grants

Cetana Educational Foundation, Portland, Oregon, USA

http://www.cetana.org/Home.html

Myanmar Egress, Yangon, Myanma/Burma
http://www.myanmaregress.org/

Unforgettable revolutionary leader: Khaing Moe Lunn

2008-08-04T07:43:01Z

Saturday, 02 August 2008

Khaing Moe Lunn, an Arakanese revolutionary leader, is always in our hearts, and we will never forget our hero who gave his life for the freedom of people in Arakan which is now colonized by a group of Burman militants.

On a Saturday in 1944 Khaing Moe Lunn was born. He is a well-respected, revolutionary leader for the people of Arakan. He is remembered for his leadership, sacrifice, transparency and loyalty. On a Saturday in 1977 he died.

Khaing Moe Lunn helped to establish the Arakan Liberation Party (ALP) on 9 April 1967 in Yangoon. It was founded by him and fourteen other Arakan men fighting for democracy. Originally the leader of the ALP was Khaing Pyi Thein, but the arrest of the original members on November 26th 1968, prevented any further democratic activism by the ALP and Khaing Pyi Thein�s leadership ended. Determined to revive the ALP and its pro democracy-efforts, Khaing Moe Lunn planned its revival while imprisoned. The (BSPP) Burma Socialist People Progressive party gave amnesty to most ALP members including Khaing Moe Lunn, as the remark of the triumph of assembly of International Sanghā. Actually they are imposed for 20 years imprisonment.

In 1971, Khaing Moe Lunn and seven jailed members of the ALP were released and relocated to the Winkha camp, occupied by the KNU. There, Khaing Moe Lunn survived as a medic and produced and sold charcoal.

On 7 January 1973 he decided to reestablish the ALP and begin fighting for democratic change in Burma. Khaing Moe Lunn by this time determined that given the long history of oppression and genocide of the Arakan people by the Burmese military, peaceful means were not working As a result Khaing Moe Lunn established the Arakan Liberation Army.

When Khaing Moe Lunn approached the KNU for an alliance, the KNU had already given its� support to the Arakan Independence Organization (AIO) led by ALP�s original leader Khaing Pyi Thein. The KNU believed that Khaing Moe Lunn should speak with the KIO and work with them. Because at that time the KNU believed that one ethnic group should have one armed group. So, they wanted him to join the AIO and he sent many telegraphs to Khaing Pyi Thein. But the message didn�t get through. Without support of the AIO or the KNU, Khaing Moe Lunn decided to go to Vietnam to seek assistance. At last, the KNU gave their support to the ALP.

Then ALP and ALA grew stronger and stronger because there were many people who were interested in Arakan liberation and thanked the organizer, Khaing Soe Naing Aung, present vice president of ALP eastern border. They captured arms from the enemy. They tried to march to the Arakan State across the Rakhine mountain ranges, but failed. They first marched from WinKha camp to Thawlaetaw camp. On the 5th of June he decided to march with his forces from the Thawlaetaw camp through the Arakan State to the Chin State. On 20th of June they began this 1800 mile march. Before they reached Arakan State, they got the Arakan peoples support. On their journey they formed alliances with the (SSPP) Shan State Progressive Party, (SNLF) Shan Nationality Liberation Front and (PNO) Pa-O National Organization and they marched to the middle of Shan State to Northern Shan State. These forces met up with the KIA and moved to the far side of the Chintwin River. In April 1977, they reached the Naga Mountain ranges in Chin State near the border of India. The allied forces fought many battles galliantly, but were outnumbered, poorly equipped and low on rations.From there they marched to nearby Himawanta mountain ranges to avoid the enemy as much as possible. Khaing Moe Lunn told his friends that they will save their ammunition until they reached ithe Arakan State After suffering severe losses and seeing many friends die, Khaing Moe Lunn led his remaining forces on a journey back home to continue the fight from their home state.

On Saturday, June 4th 1977, eight miles away from the Morbane village on the way to the Arakan State with Burmese military forces closing in, Khaing Moe Lunn raised his pistol to his head and ended his life rather than suffer capture and torture at the hands of the Burmese.

Khaing Moe Lunn was ethnically a Rakhaing but he was above the racial prejeduice and dreamer of a liberated Arakan with the united strength of all Arakan people.He was one of the rare Rakhaing leaders with a clear vision for the people of Arakan.He knew very well that struggle of Arakan liberation will not be successful until and unless the second major community of Arakan known as the Rohingya are being incorporated into the liberation forces.So,he decided to meet the Rohingya leaders so that ALP aqrmy can be formed with all races of Arakan.

He went to meet a revolutionary Rohingya known as Sheik Ahmed later named as Bo Khaing Re Myint in ALP. He was a business man at Messod/Thailand engaged in trading border trade.Bo Khaing Moe Lunn persuaded him to take the responsibility to participate and recruit Rohingya youths in ALP.

ALP was blessed with Rakhaing and Rohingya people to carry on historical mission, unfortunately,they army could not reach to Arakan territory.U Khaing Ren Myint@Hj.Sheikh

Ahmad alongwith other ALP Rakhaing and Rohingya comrades were arrested who were sentenced to death,however,they were later released by general Amnesty. Now U Khaing Re Myint Lives in Malaysia.

U Khaing Re Myint once visited the mother of BO Khaing Moe Lunn,when she met him she cried a lot embracing him telling that he found back her son who sacrificed his life for Arakan and requested to continue the uncomplete liberation struggle of Arakan as dreamed by her son until death.

Bo Khaing Moe Lunn was a real,visionary, far-sighted and politically sagacious Arakan leader blessed with all gifted qualities of a leader whose loss can not be recovered in the golden history of Arakan.All Arakan people disregarding race,religion and languge honor and salute this great son of the soil of Arakan.

Maungdaw income tax officer arrested

2008-08-03T04:09:45Z

Saturday, 02 August 2008
Maungdaw, Arakan: An officer of the Maungdaw Income Tax Department, U
Aye Win was arrested by the special Crime Investigation Department of
Maungdaw on July 30, said a local businessman.

The
officer was posted on the Burma-Bangladesh special trading gate in
Maungdwa town and his duty was to check and collect tax on
export-import goods from Burma and Bangladesh , he added.

On a
tip off, the officer was arrested after investigations at the outpost
revealed that he allowed contraband goods to be exported to Bangladesh
after taking bribes from traders of Maungdaw. He allowed mostly liquor
and other contraband goods which are not listed as export items, said a
trader who operates through the point.

This is the first time
an income tax officer has been arrested on the border trading point.�
His file has been sent to the authorities for necessary action.
Exemplary punishment to the culprit has been recommended as a lesson to
other officers working on the Burma- Bangladesh border trading points,
said a source in the Customs Department.

From BNI

Myitkyina hospital full of Dengue patients

2008-08-03T04:04:40Z

Saturday, 02 August 2008
Children suffering from Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever (DHF) are crowding the
Myitkyina Public Hospital in Kachin State 's capital Myitkyina in
Northern Burma , hospital sources said.

There
is now no place to admit new patients in the children's ward in the
hospital because it already has over 80 DHF child patients. However,
the hospital has officially declared that it has about 20 patients
detected with the DHF disease following blood examination, said a
hospital staff to KNG today.

Since last week, five or more
patients who are not in a serious condition, though affected by DHF,
have been attending the hospital for medication every day, a duty
health worker in the children's ward told KNG.

A woman
eyewitness told KNG today, this morning she saw that some patients were
outside the children's ward free space and corridors because the ward
is full with DHF child patients.

A nurse in the hospital said,
"The number of DHF child patients have suddenly gone up this week in
the hospital and most patients are between the ages two and 14.� The
patients are suffering from high fever which is not declining.� The
patients have been mainly diagnosed with malaria and are being treated
with antibiotics."

However, all the cost of medicines has to be
paid by the patients and they also have to pay 5,000 Kyat (US $4.2) per
night when they hire a health staff in the hospital for taking care of
them, according to hospital sources.

Sometimes, the health
personnel have been coming to the aid of patients who do not have money
to buy medicines. They are collecting the cost of medicines from among
themselves in the hospital, added a hospital staff.

Meanwhile,
private clinics in Myitkyina are also full with Malaria and DHF
patients. The military authorities, however, are yet to take action
despite the serious condition arising out of DHF in the township, said
residents of Myitkyina.

Residents added, the DHF disease is
serious and the infection is caused by mosquito bites. Mainly children
are affected in Myitkyina because the military authorities in the
township are yet to take up proper Malaria prevention programmes this
rainy season.

Last year during this time, there were very few
patients who came to Myitkyina Pubic Hospital with Malaria and DHF
diseases, according to hospital sources.

From BNI