Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's pages

After conducting campaign roadshows across Burma, the National League  for Democracy will start trips to pass on Aung San Suu Kyi’s messages to  minorities in regions controlled by ...


Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – After conducting campaign roadshows across Burma, the National League for Democracy will start trips to pass on Aung San Suu Kyi’s messages to minorities in regions controlled by ethnic ceasefire groups.
 
The plan in response to a directive from party general secretary Suu Kyi follows the party’s first step in which NLD leaders travelled widely to meet grass-roots members and the general public to discuss their problems ...

Authorities in the city of Pegu, in a bid to pre-empt any potential  unrest, made their presence felt at today’s funeral of two young men  witnesses said were killed ...
 


Chiang Mai/New Delhi (Mizzima) – Authorities in the city of Pegu, in a bid to pre-empt any potential unrest, made their presence felt at today’s funeral of two young men witnesses said were killed at the hands of soldiers.

Aung Thu Hein, 23, and Soe Paing Zaw, 18, were reportedly hunted down by troops from Infantry Battalion 59 late on September 4 after a traffic altercation and ensuing brawl left ...

Pegu city residents are incensed by the fatal execution-style shootings  of two unarmed youths by Burmese Army officers after a road-rage  incident



Rangoon (Mizzima) – Pegu city residents are incensed by the fatal execution-style shootings of two unarmed youths by Burmese Army officers after a road-rage incident on Saturday night. The youths are to be cremated today by the army, which refuses to release the bodies to their families.

Joining local outrage, the Union Democratic Party (UDP) said in a statement yesterday that charges should be laid against the captains from Infantry Battalion 59 who reportedly shot dead Aung Thu ...

The Burmese Army has imposed travel restrictions on the Kachin Independence Organisation, a source in the ethnic group says.  General staff officer Captain Si Thu from the army’s ...
 


New Delhi (Mizzima) – The Burmese Army has imposed travel restrictions on the Kachin Independence Organisation, a source in the ethnic group says.

General staff officer Captain Si Thu from the army’s Northern Command’s headquarters in the Kachin State capital Myitkyina told Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO) liaison officer Major Dee Rum yesterday that KIO central committee members, staff and officers above sub-township level need to report travel plans first to the ...

The head of Burma's military government, General Than Shwe, will visit China next week. The Foreign Ministry says he will meet President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao in Beijing, see the World Expo in Shanghai and also visit Shenzhen. While Burma is the subject of Western sanctions, China is its main trading partner and a key ally.

ISN

Torrential rain and resultant flooding has forced thousands of people  from their homes in the Lower Burma city of Pegu and surrounding  districts, ...



Rangoon (Mizzima) – Torrential rain and resultant flooding has forced thousands of people from their homes in the Lower Burma city of Pegu and surrounding districts, residents said.

Some residents added that junta authorities had done nothing to help the displaced taking refuge in schools and temples, and one official even said residents should have prepared for the floods and taken care of themselves. 

Reports today said waters in the city were receding, after the government ...

An exodus of refugees in numbers never before seen along the  Thai-Burmese border could begin within days, the KNU/KNLA Peace Council  has ...



Mae Sot (Mizzima) – An exodus of refugees in numbers never before seen along the Thai-Burmese border could begin within days, the KNU/KNLA Peace Council has warned.

In a plea to the “international community”, the Peace Council this week said 6,000 to 10,000 people could initially be evacuated, but if the Burmese Army made a clean sweep of its capital, as many as 100,000 people could be affected.
 
The KNU/KNLA Peace Council signed an agreement with Burma’s ...

Critics of Canada’s Ivanhoe Mines say that a recent report in Burma’s  state-controlled media that Chinese weapons firm Norinco is to spend  nearly US$1 billion ...


Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – Critics of Canada’s Ivanhoe Mines say that a recent report in Burma’s state-controlled media that Chinese weapons firm Norinco is to spend nearly US$1 billion to develop the Monywa copper project’s long-stalled second phase is further evidence that the notorious weapons firm has bought Ivanhoe’s stake in Burma’s largest mining project – a charge the Vancouver-based miner has repeatedly denied.

The Myanmar Times, Burma’s state-controlled English-language business weekly reported ...

Junta military security and police this morning seized a year’s supply  of medicines from a Kachin rebel motorboat docked on the Irrawaddy River  in the Kachin State ...  


Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – Junta military security and police this morning seized a year’s supply of medicines from a Kachin rebel motorboat docked on the Irrawaddy River in the Kachin State capital of Myitkyina, the boat’s skipper said.

The seizure comes amid heightened tensions between the ethnic peoples of the northern Burmese state led by the Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO) and the Burma’s ruling military junta, which is raising the ante over ...

A majority of participants at a congress of ethnic Kachin groups has  rejected disarming despite a Burmese military junta threat to end the  ceasefire between the two sides,  ...



Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – A majority of participants at a congress of ethnic Kachin groups has rejected disarming despite a Burmese military junta threat to end the ceasefire between the two sides, a spokesman said. Meanwhile, the main Kachin militia are gearing up for war, a soldier told Mizzima.
 
The junta deadline for the Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO) to reply to its order for the group’s estimated 20,000 troops to disarm ...

Burma’s junta leaders including Senior General Than Shwe, who holds the  title of Commander in Chief of Defence Services, and his right-hand man,  Deputy Senior General Maung Aye, ...
 


Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – Burma’s junta leaders including Senior General Than Shwe, who holds the title of Commander in Chief of Defence Services, and his right-hand man, Deputy Senior General Maung Aye, resigned their military posts in a major reshuffle today.
 
Replacing them will be former Adjutant General Lieutenant General Thura Myint Aung and former Bureau of Special Operations (BSO) 3 chief Lieutenant General Ko Ko, who have become Commander in ...

At least 40 child soldiers have joined the ranks of the Burmese regime’s  new border forces, after a number of Democratic Karen Buddhist Army  battalions this month ...



Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – At least 40 child soldiers have joined the ranks of the Burmese regime’s new border forces, after a number of Democratic Karen Buddhist Army battalions this month came under junta command, a fellow soldier revealed today.

“In the past, they [the children] were DKBA soldiers but now they have become BGF soldiers,” a soldier from the Border Guard Force (BGF) central office told Mizzima. “As far as I ...

A renegade faction of the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA)  continues to keep the junta at arms length, refusing to subscribe to the  regime’s Border Guard Force ...
 


Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – A renegade faction of the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) continues to keep the junta at arms length, refusing to subscribe to the regime’s Border Guard Force scheme.

Led by Bo Moustache, approximately 1,000 DKBA troops remain outside the junta’s designs for the transformation of the Karen splinter army into a Border Guard Force under the junta’s leadership. 

The 906^th battalion, led by Major Nyan Min, 905 ^...

Two activists who had assisted farmers in central Burma in filing legal  proceedings against the seizure of their farmlands by local industry, ...    


New Delhi (Mizzima) – Two activists who had assisted farmers in central Burma in filing legal proceedings against the seizure of their farmlands by local industry, have been released.

Myint Maung and Thura Aung, from Aunglan Township in Magway Division, were released from Thayat Prison on Tuesday after winning an appeal through the Central Court in Mandalay Division.

The appeal was lodged against decisions taken by the Aunglan District Township Court and Magway Division Court.

In ...

The lawyer for nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi says she wants the Burmese people to keep a close watch on upcoming elections and speak out if the vote is not free and fair.

Nyan Win says, in talks held at her home, Ms Suu Kyi said the people, like the government, have a duty to ensure a fair election.

She says her National League for Democracy members should not ignore the election just because they are not participating in it.

Ms Suu Kyi says everyone should take an interest in the election as its only a part of the ...

The Communist Party of Burma (CPB) has given notice of its desire to  hold closed-door meetings with other organizations in order to formulate  a common agenda for ...   


Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – The Communist Party of Burma (CPB) has given notice of its desire to hold closed-door meetings with other organizations in order to formulate a common agenda for the post-election period.

In a statement issued on the 18^th of this month, the CPB said it is interested in formulating a Minimum Common Programme (MCP) for the country following the November 7 polling.

The CPB, which does not accept ...

The Communist Party of Burma (CPB) has given notice of its desire to  hold closed-door meetings with other organizations in order to formulate  a common agenda for ... 


Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – The Communist Party of Burma (CPB) has given notice of its desire to hold closed-door meetings with other organizations in order to formulate a common agenda for the post-election period.

In a statement issued on the 18^th of this month, the CPB said it is interested in formulating a Minimum Common Programme (MCP) for the country following the November 7 polling.

The CPB, which does not accept ...

Burma’s state censor has banned news journals using in their reporting  the seal and logo of the party that broke away from Aung San Suu Kyi’s  National League for Democracy party, ...
 


New Delhi (Mizzima) – Burma’s state censor has banned news journals using in their reporting the seal and logo of the party that broke away from Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party, National Democratic Front party leader Khin Maung Swe said.

The Press Scrutiny and Registration Division, the Burmese junta’s censor board had cut the NDF’s bamboo-hat logo from interviews and news presented by Rangoon-based ...

Burma’s state censor has banned news journals using in their reporting  the seal and logo of the party that broke away from Aung San Suu Kyi’s  National League for Democracy party, ...



New Delhi (Mizzima) – Burma’s state censor has banned news journals using in their reporting the seal and logo of the party that broke away from Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party, National Democratic Front party leader Khin Maung Swe said.

The Press Scrutiny and Registration Division, the Burmese junta’s censor board had cut the NDF’s bamboo-hat logo from interviews and news presented by Rangoon-based ...

Political prisoner Myo Win Wai, who voluntarily worked to collect the  dead after Cyclone Nargis struck, has needed surgery for 1½ years for a  serious medical condition but ...
 


Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – Political prisoner Myo Win Wai, who voluntarily worked to collect the dead after Cyclone Nargis struck, has needed surgery for 1½ years for a serious medical condition but authorities continue to deny him care, his father said.

Myo Win Wai, 25, had been diagnosed as requiring surgery for severe haemorrhoids in March last year but authorities ignored his condition and sent him far from his parents’ home ...

Vandals have struck Naypyidaw, the Burmese ruling military junta’s  capital, breaking signs and electric lighting in public areas, according  to ...



Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – Vandals have struck Naypyidaw, the Burmese ruling military junta’s capital, breaking signs and electric lighting in public areas, according to city police.
 
From early this month, “saboteurs” had destroyed direction signboards, traffic-light bulbs and fluorescent strips on lamp posts, and were still at large, an officer from Naypyidaw Police Station No. 1 said.
 
“In the past few days, someone has broken light bulbs in the Naypyidaw Circle area and destroyed direction signboards at bus stops. ...

Rats destroying crops during a months-long plague in Chin State has  caused serious food shortages in at least 120 villages in the state’s  south, ...


New Delhi (Mizzima) – Rats destroying crops during a months-long plague in Chin State has caused serious food shortages in at least 120 villages in the state’s south, but local authorities would “rather wait until people are dead” and are denying the UN food-supply body access to starving people, political parties and NGOs say.

Villagers in Mindat, Paletwa, Matupi and Kanpetlet townships were facing a food crisis as the rats had eaten food in the ...

A new railway in eastern Shan State is stoking fear of renewed heavy fighting between the Burmese military and ethnic armies. Two Shan rights groups have ...



Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – A new railway in eastern Shan State is stoking fear of renewed heavy fighting between the Burmese military and ethnic armies.

Two Shan rights groups have demanded that authorities halt construction of the Mong Nai-Kengtung railway, denouncing it as an expansion of the regime’s war apparatus in Shan State.

The Shan Women’s Action Network (Swan) and the Shan Human Rights Foundation (SHRF) made the assertion on Tuesday at a ...

The Modern Times journal this week became the fourth publication of its  kind in six weeks that Burmese state censors have suspended, as it had  changed an ...


New Delhi (Mizzima) -The Modern Times journal this week became the fourth publication of its kind in six weeks that Burmese state censors have suspended, as it had changed an article’s title,
according to a journal editor.

The suspension followed the change of a title of an article about weather conditions
on the cover of the journal’s volume one, issue five from the headline approved by
the junta’s censorship board, the Press ...

The Kachin’s main political organisation will try to conform to the  nation’s current political situation, the joint secretary of the group  said yesterday. The statement came after ...
 


Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – The Kachin’s main political organisation will try to conform to the nation’s current political situation, the joint secretary of the group said yesterday. The statement came after a weekend meeting attended by a broad cross section of delegates belonging to the northern Burmese ethnic group.

The Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) has rejected the junta’s plan to bring its forces under Burmese Army command within its Border Guard Force ...

Burma’s main junta-backed political party is reportedly giving agricultural loans to farmers in Kungyangone Township, Rangoon Division at the rate of 50,000 Kyat per acre. The loan was apparently conditional upon them ...    


New Delhi (Mizzima) – Burma’s main junta-backed political party is reportedly giving agricultural loans to farmers in Kungyangone Township, Rangoon Division at the rate of 50,000 Kyat per acre. The loan was apparently conditional upon them
signing a statement vowing to join and vote for the party.

Farmers can borrow from the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) for a maximum of five acres (two hectares) at ...

The main ethnic Kachin organisation has called a meeting this weekend to discuss its future. The decision follows the announcement by the junta’s electoral watchdog ...        


Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – The main ethnic Kachin organisation has called a meeting this weekend to discuss its future. The decision follows the announcement by the junta’s electoral watchdog that Burma’s first elections two decades will be held on November 7, Kachin leaders said.

Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO) departmental heads, Kachin religious leaders and representatives from cultural groups will exchange views during the gathering at the KIO head office in Laizar on the Sino-Burmese ...

Soldiers of the 90th Brigade based in Rangoon Division are guarding the  site of a blaze at municipal staff housing that broke out on Tuesday and  tore through the mostly ...  


Rangoon (Mizzima) – Soldiers of the 90th Brigade based in Rangoon Division are guarding the site of a blaze at municipal staff housing that broke out on Tuesday and tore through the mostly wooden structures in Insein Township, a witness said.

After starting in the early evening in tenant Kyee Sein’s room, the fire swept through three six-room wooden apartment buildings and about 20 of the 300 huts adjacent ...

A wave of officers and soldiers from battalions of the junta-allied  Democratic Karen Buddhist Army have joined a rebel brigade that has  rejected the junta’s ...


Chiang Mai (Mizzima) –  A wave of officers and soldiers from battalions of the junta-allied Democratic Karen Buddhist Army have joined a rebel brigade that has rejected the junta’s offer – in effect a demand – for it to bring its troops under Burmese Army command within a special border force in eastern Burma, according to Karen officers.

The troops joined the 5th Brigade led by Colonel Saw Lar Pwe, some DKBA officers said, ...

Eleven Arakanese youths held in Insein prison for about a year should be  acquitted of several charges, including bearing arms, dealing in drugs  and ...



New Delhi (Mizzima) – Eleven Arakanese youths held in Insein prison for about a year should be acquitted of several charges, including bearing arms, dealing in drugs and contacting an exiled organisation, one of the lawyers said ahead of the court’s verdict in their trial, citing the lack of evidence or witnesses in the prosecution’s case. 

The advocate’s comments followed the prosecutor’s submission of his written final argument in Rangoon West District special tribunal sitting ...

Karen National Union forces on Thursday ambushed a convoy carrying  senior military officials including Lieutenant General Khin Zaw of the  Defence Ministry and ...



Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – Karen National Union forces on Thursday ambushed a convoy carrying senior military officials including Lieutenant General Khin Zaw of the Defence Ministry and the junta’s chief negotiator with ethnic militia groups, Lieutenant General Ye Myint, killing at least one junta soldier killed, according to an officer from a rival Karen force.

A convoy of about 10 vehicles carrying Bureau of Special Operations commander Khin Zaw was ambushed at a checkpoint between Kawkereik ...

Drought-ridden areas of central Burma that have suffered food shortages  and low rainfall for three years are facing an even more severe famine  in what is one of ...



Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – Drought-ridden areas of central Burma that have suffered food shortages and low rainfall for three years are facing an even more severe famine in what is one of the poorest areas of the country, the World Food Programme says.

However, Burmese government meteorologist Dr. Tun Lwin says the areas will soon receive monsoonal rains, because of the La Niña effect.

Burma’s central “dry zone” covers nearly 10 ...

The regime’s biggest threat for the past half-century, besides Aung San  Suu Kyi, has been rebel armies from various ethnic groups. For decades  the regime has worked to increase ...            


The regime’s biggest threat for the past half-century, besides Aung San Suu Kyi, has been rebel armies from various ethnic groups. For decades the regime has worked to increase its presence in these rural areas by building paramilitary allies in hostile regions. The local militias suppress rebel activities in exchange for the freedom to produce and transport drugs with full military co-operation. As the military brokered more deals, its obsession ...

Karen rebels in a 15-member squad equipped with only automatic rifles  and the rain ambushed a government battalion with more than 100 troops  on Tuesday, ...
 


Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – Karen rebels in a 15-member squad equipped with only automatic rifles and the rain ambushed a government battalion with more than 100 troops on Tuesday, killing nine junta soldiers including the force’s deputy commander and wounding 14 others, the Karen National Liberation Army has said.

Having received advanced warning from villagers of the approach of the junta’s 110-strong 62^nd Infantry Battalion, the KNLA 22nd Battalion had lain in wait ...

HIV-positive prevalence rates in areas controlled by cease-fire groups  in the northern Burmese state of Kachin are more than 16 times the  average for the country, ...



Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – HIV-positive prevalence rates in areas controlled by cease-fire groups in the northern Burmese state of Kachin are more than 16 times the average for the country, resulting in concerns a disaster is imminent if the region fails to receive sufficient help, an NGO said of its quarter-long survey of the problem.

Since 2008, the Burmese junta has denied health organisations access to the region to help battle the virus ...

A plague of rats has grown so pervasive in three villages in Falam  Township in northern Chin State that villagers have had to add home-made  guns to their ...
 


New Delhi (Mizzima) – A plague of rats has grown so pervasive in three villages in Falam Township in northern Chin State that villagers have had to add home-made guns to their arsenal in the battle against the pests, villagers said.

Rats have destroyed about seven acres (2.8 hectares) of rice paddy, maize and tomato farms since the infestation hit on July 15, forcing villagers to fashion their own firearms instead ...

Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – Outbreaks of plague and dengue fever are spreading through military units in Naypyidaw, the Burmese military regime’s seat of government, according to a military hospital source.

Infected soldiers were admitted to the new 1,000-bed military hospital in Naypyidaw for treatment. Moreover diarrhoea and dengue fever is spreading among residents in the capital’s neighbouring township of Pyinmana, home to 100,000 people.

“Children under-12 [of soldiers] in these Naypyidaw military units infected with dengue fever and plague were admitted to the children’s hospital and the troops infected with dengue and plague and their children over 12 were admitted ...

A group of students publicly distributed leaflets near a crowded  junction in Rangoon yesterday, urging people to boycott the junta’s  forthcoming elections and calling ...



Rangoon (Mizzima) – A group of students publicly distributed leaflets near a crowded junction in Rangoon yesterday, urging people to boycott the junta’s forthcoming elections and calling for the freedom to legally form student unions, witnesses said.

At least seven students near Hledan Junction in Kamayut Township handed out the leaflets to passers-by that described the junta’s elections scheduled for this year “a fake”. The gathering also commemorated the 48th anniversary of the July 7 ...

Burmese publications from next week will not be required to print  military junta propaganda, according to editors and the state censor ...



Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – Burmese publications from next week will not be required to print military junta propaganda, according to editors and the state censor yesterday.

The regime was apparently responding to growing criticisms against tighter censorship rules on news and articles related to political parties in the run-up to this year’s elections, the first to be held in the country in 20 years.

But the Press Scrutiny and Registration Division, the state censorship board, also warned local ...

The National League for Democracy party headquarters has transferred  about 2.55 million Kyats to its state and division branches yesterday  for distribution to families of ...



New Delhi (Mizzima) – The National League for Democracy party headquarters has transferred about 2.55 million Kyats to its state and division branches yesterday for distribution to families of 605 political prisoners.

The funds donated by ordinary citizens were being distributed under the party’s social aid programme for poor family members of some political prisoners, among the more than 2,100 serving sentences across the country, party vice-chairman and leader of the programme, Tin Oo, ...

The Karen National Union leadership today responded with scepticism to a  recent statement from the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army’s 999^th Brigade tactical commander ...
 



Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – The Karen National Union leadership today responded with scepticism to a recent statement from the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army’s 999^th Brigade tactical commander that the latter would not fight their fellow Karen.

The KNU told Mizzima that Colonel Saw Chit Thu’s comments were in fact just another cruel trick orchestrated by the Burmese regime. He had made the friendly overtures at a ceremony on June 26 honouring fallen Karen troops ...

At least eight branches of the National League for Democracy have joined  the row with splinter group, the National Democratic Force, over its  use of a symbol that before the 1990 elections ...



New Delhi (Mizzima) – At least eight branches of the National League for Democracy have joined the row with splinter group, the National Democratic Force, over its use of a symbol that before the 1990 elections had become synonymous with the party led by opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

NLD members from Rangoon, Mandalay, Magway, Sagaing, Pegu and Irrawaddy divisions and Kachin and Karen states and ...

Young Thu Zin Oo made his daily trip across the Pun Hlaing River from  his village in North Okkalapa Township to the Sinmalite dock in Rangoon ...
 


Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – Young Thu Zin Oo made his daily trip across the Pun Hlaing River from his village in North Okkalapa Township to the Sinmalite dock in Rangoon on December 15 last year. He and his family sold pork rinds for a living and needed to replenish their supply.

He never arrived at Sinmalite and failed to make the trip home that day either. Instead, he ended up in the Burmese ...

A political prisoner and leader of the 2007 generation All Burma  Federation of Student Unions, Di Nyein Lin, who is suffering from an eye  disorder, is receiving medical treatment ...



New Delhi (Mizzima) – A political prisoner and leader of the 2007 generation All Burma Federation of Student Unions, Di Nyein Lin, who is suffering from an eye disorder, is receiving medical treatment at Monywa Prison in Sagaing Division, a family member has said.
 
Di Nyein Lin was transferred from Khantee prison to Monywa Prison on Monday and has been receiving medical treatment for his eye disease at a private ...

Two top leaders of the National League for Democracy and party  youth-wing members visited to the families of detained 88 Generation  Students’ leaders on Tuesday to ...



New Delhi (Mizzima) – Two top leaders of the National League for Democracy and party youth-wing members visited to the families of detained 88 Generation Students’ leaders on Tuesday to offer support and encouragement.

Party vice-chairman Tin Oo, central executive committee member Win Tin and nine members of the NLD’s youth wing visited the families of 88 Generation Students Min Ko Naing, Ko Ko Gyi and Mar Ki in the morning. The student ...

Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – Publishers in Burma have expressed concern over the formation of new censorship teams under the junta’s tough media watchdog fearing even further difficulties for their publications under a regime already infamous for its stranglehold on the press.

The media is concerned over potential publishing delays after system changes at the Press Scrutiny and Registration Division (censor board) – under the Ministry of Information – at Bahan Township, Rangoon. Publications were censored by five teams comprising three members each but a 12-member single team was established last week, and publishers are worried about the team’s ability to ...

Aspiring trade unionists had their request to form a national industrial  and farm workers union flatly rejected yesterday by police carrying the  response from ...



New Delhi (Mizzima) – Aspiring trade unionists had their request to form a national industrial and farm workers union flatly rejected yesterday by police carrying the response from junta leader Senior General Than Shwe, according to the workers’ representatives.

Rangoon Division Western District Police Colonel Aung Daing met seven workers’ representatives at his station and told them forming a trade union would be “unlawful” and that police would take action if they went ahead.
 
Twenty-two ...

US Senator John Kerry’s assistant Robin Lerner met senior members of the  National League for Democracy on Tuesday to discuss the party’s stance  on upcoming national elections, ...



Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – US Senator John Kerry’s assistant Robin Lerner met senior members of the National League for Democracy on Tuesday to discuss the party’s stance on upcoming national elections, NLD spokesman Nyan Win told Mizzima. 
 
Lerner, a counsel to the Senate foreign relations committee who arrived in Burma on June 19, met NLD vice-chairman Tin Oo and central executive committee members Nyan Win, Nyunt Wai, Than Tun, Hla Pe, Han ...

Leaders of the National League for Democracy are conducting a roadshow  of states and divisions to meet grass-roots members, explain policies  and listen to the challenges ...



New Delhi (Mizzima) – Leaders of the National League for Democracy are conducting a roadshow of states and divisions to meet grass-roots members, explain policies and listen to the challenges they are facing since the party was declared illegal and disbanded by the ruling military junta early last month after deciding against registering under “unjust” electoral laws, a senior leader said. 

The tour comes at the request of NLD general secretary Aung San ...

Washington: President Barack Obama is sending birthday wishes to Aung San Suu Kyi (ahng sahn soo chee), the democracy activist long held in detention by Myanmar's military rulers.

Suu Kyi turns 65 on Saturday.

Obama issued a statement lauding her determination, courage and personal sacrifice in working for human rights and democratic change in her country. He again called for the immediate and unconditional release of Suu Kyi and all of Myanmar's other political prisoners.

The president noted her status as the "world's only imprisoned Nobel Peace Laureate." Suu Kyi, the leader of Myanmar's pro-democracy opposition, has been held under ...

New Delhi (Mizzima) – Burma’s pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi is glad her National League for Democracy party’s member are united despite its automatic dissolution in accordance with the junta’s one-sided electoral laws, the opposition leader said in a two-hour meeting with a lawyer and engineers on Friday.

Suu Kyi’s comments came during a meeting with her lawyer to discuss the revocation by the Rangoon civic body of a permit allowing her to dismantle a badly damaged wooden building inside her compound on University Avenue Road, Rangoon Division, where she is being held under house arrest.

“I’m very glad ...

Chiang Mai (Mizzima) - Burma’s military junta has strongly denied recent allegations made by Burmese media in exile that Senior General Than Shwe’s regime had sought North Korean assistance to develop nuclear weapons, calling the accusations “baseless”, its Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Friday.

In the statement obtained by Mizzima, Burma’s reclusive regime countered that the allegations of co-operation with North Korea were made by “defectors and exile media who want to disrupt Burma’s national interest”.

The regime’s denial comes less than 24 hours after a senior US government official, Scot Marciel, the deputy assistant secretary ...

Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – National League for Democracy party young members have started planting more than 20,000 saplings today in states and divisions in honour of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s 65th birthday on June 19. 

In tribute to their leader, NLD Youth members plan to grow 66 saplings in each of the 318 townships across the country, except in Kayah State, which has no NLD branch offices. Burmese traditionally plant saplings on birthdays for each year of life up to their age for the coming year: thus the 66 trees for Suu Kyi’s 65th anniversary.  

NLD central committee ...

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao arrived in Burma yesterday afternoon amid  hopes that discussions with the junta during his two-day official visit  will include stability ...



Chiang Mai (Mizzima) - Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao arrived in Burma yesterday afternoon amid hopes that discussions with the junta during his two-day official visit will include stability in border areas and the forthcoming election. 

Wen Jiabao arrived in Rangoon at around 3 p.m. on the final leg of a four-nation tour of Asian countries, after stops in South Korea, Japan and Mongolia.  

The Chinese premier was welcomed at the Mingaladon Airport by Rangoon Command ...

A former member of the National League for Democracy (Liberated Area)  Malaysia branch was sentenced to a five-year jail term in an eastern  Rangoon court ...



New Delhi (Mizzima) – A former member of the National League for Democracy (Liberated Area) Malaysia branch was sentenced to a five-year jail term in an eastern Rangoon court for illegally entering the country and alleged contact with an illegal group, according to a family friend. 

Than Myint Aung, 31, was sentenced to two years under the Emergency Immigration Act and three years under the Illegal Associations Act by Judge Nyunt Nyunt Win of ...

The jail term of a National League for Democracy party youth member  serving a sentence for distributing Aung San Suu Kyi’s portrait has been  extended ... 


Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – The jail term of a National League for Democracy party youth member serving a sentence for distributing Aung San Suu Kyi’s portrait has been extended 10 years bringing the total penalty to 14½ years, according to a political prisoners’ rights group based in Thailand. 

Rangoon East District court yesterday heard the case of NLD Tamwe Township youth wing chief Kyaw Moe Naing, a.k.a. Kyaw Gyi, inside Insein prison and added ...

Burma’s main opposition group, the National League for Democracy, held  the 20th anniversary of its 1990 election victory today in a gathering  at the residence of ...



Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – Burma’s main opposition group, the National League for Democracy, held the 20th anniversary of its 1990 election victory today in a gathering at the residence of party vice-chairman Tin Oo.

About 150 opposition politicians attended the gathering to commemorate their landslide election victory on May 27, 1990, which the junta then refused to recognise.

The opposition party has refused to re-register with the Election Commission (EC) in protest at ...

Human Rights Watch award-winning poet Saw Wei was released today, his  wife said, 18 months into a two-year jail term for indirectly ridiculing ... 


Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – Human Rights Watch award-winning poet Saw Wei was released today, his wife said, 18 months into a two-year jail term for indirectly ridiculing Burmese junta chief Senior General Than Shwe as “power crazy”. 

Saw Wei, 50, had published in 2008 the poem February 14 that spelled out “Power crazy senior general Than Shwe” when the first characters of each stanza were originally pieced together by readers. The junta quickly learned of the ...

More than 70 youth activists have been arrested in a two-day sweep by  authorities in Myitkyina, the capital of Kachin State, in the wake of ...



Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – More than 70 youth activists have been arrested in a two-day sweep by authorities in Myitkyina, the capital of Kachin State, in the wake of the Myitsone dam project site bombings, a Kachin social network group said.

In the first group, more than 20 youths were arrested and in the second, more than 50 arrested, on Sunday and Monday, the Kachin Democratic Network Group (KDNG), a pressure group based on ...

Top-ranking military officers gathered in the secluded Burmese capital  of Naypyidaw yesterday for the junta’s key three-day quarterly meeting, ...



New Dehli (Mizzima) – Top-ranking military officers gathered in the secluded Burmese capital of Naypyidaw yesterday for the junta’s key three-day quarterly meeting, which was to start today at the office of the army commander in chief, a source close to the military said.  

The meeting, which usually takes decisions on military assignments and reshuffles will reportedly be attended by State Peace and Development Council members including junta leader Senior General Than Shwe. Bureau of special operations (BSO) commanders, military ...