Myanmar Regime

Source: www.complinet.com --- 2 hours ago
Myanmar still has much work to do before its anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing framework is up to par, according to the Asia-Pacific Group on Money Laundering. ...

Source: news.yahoo.com --- 13 days ago
Bloomberg - Aug. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Burmese democracy activists told President George W. Bush today that he should pursue ``more assertive diplomacy'' with the military Regime in Myanmar. ...

Source: au.rd.yahoo.com --- 36 days ago
UNITED NATIONS (AFP) - UN troubleshooter Ibrahim Gambari is planning a return visit to Myanmar in mid-August at the invitation of the military Regime, the UN deputy spokeswoman said Tuesday. ...

Source: www.iht.com --- 36 days ago
The U.S. House of Representatives has voted to to punish Myanmar's brutal ruling Regime "where it hurts - in the wallet," as one lawmaker said. ...

Source: www.iht.com --- 36 days ago
The House voted Tuesday to punish Myanmar's brutal ruling Regime "where it hurts — in the wallet," by freezing assets of political and military leaders there and banning the importation of rubies from that country into the U.S. ...

Source: www.moreover.com --- 17 hours ago
JAKARTA (AFP)--The U.N. Security Council is under 'growing pressure' to act against Myanmar's military Regime unless it takes more credible steps toward democracy, Indonesia's foreign minister said Wednesday. Hassan Wirajuda said Myanmar's partners in ...

Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com --- 4 days ago
United Nations envoy Ibrahim Gambari is returning to Myanmar for a five-day visit on Monday at the invitation of the ruling military Regime, an official confirmed on Saturday. ...

Source: www.moreover.com --- 4 days ago
United Nations envoy Ibrahim Gambari is returning to Myanmar for a five-day visit on Monday at the invitation of the ruling military Regime, an official confirmed on Saturday. The trip was initially planned for May but postponed when Cyclone Nargis hit ...

Source: www.moreover.com --- 2 days ago
YANGON - Detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi was allowed a rare meeting with her lawyer on the eve of a UN envoy's visit to push Myanmar's Regime to re-open a dialogue with her party, a spokesman said Monday. The Nobel peace prize winner spoke ...

Source: www.economist.com --- 14 days ago
One of the last (we hope) Asian strongmen OLD-SCHOOL Asian strongmen have become an endangered species. The future of even Central Asia's venerable strongman tradition has been in doubt since the death in 2006 of Turkmenistan's Sapurmurat Niyazov, who called himself "Turkmenbashi", the father of the Turkmen. The daddy of them all, Genghis Khan, is probably spinning in his grave at Mongolia's turn toward namby-pamby multi-party democracy. Indonesia's Suharto and the Philippines' Ferdinand Marcos are long gone, their countries now democracies, albeit messy ones. The top dog in Myanmar's Regime, General Than Shwe, is old, ailing and--it is said--circled by would-be successors. In other authoritarian states like China, Vietnam and Laos, the party, rather than any particular dominating individual, is in charge. ... ...

Source: www.channelnewsasia.com --- 36 days ago
UNITED NATIONS : UN troubleshooter Ibrahim Gambari is planning a return visit to Myanmar in mid-August at the invitation of the military Regime, the UN deputy spokeswoman said Tuesday. ...

Source: blog.beliefnet.com --- 10 days ago
Looks like Joey Cheek -- a winter Olympics medalist who co-founded the organization Team Darfur to protest the genocide incited by the Regime in Khartoum -- will not be going to Beijing in support of the Team Darfur athletes about to compete in the Olympics. China, which buys Sudan's oil and often runs interference for the Khartoum Regime in the U.N. Security Council, has revoked Cheek's visa and told him to stay out. But, to paraphrase Matthew 15, it's not what goes into your body politic that gets you in trouble. It's the things that come out, like wickedness, murder, and lies. And China is not doing so well in those departments: A study released this week details how China, thirsty for Sudanese oil, has provided more than 90 percent of the small arms Khartoum bought between 2004 and 2006, along with aircraft and trucks -- many of which were directly used by the government and government-backed militias to commit genocide in Darfur. In fact, China has become the arms dealer of choice for regimes like those of Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe and the junta that rules Myanmar (not to mention armed factions in Congo's catastrophic civil war). And there is evidence that China has violated the current U.N. embargo on supplying military weapons or training that would be used in Darfur. And, as a just-released report by the Enough Project points out, these behaviors are counter not just to morality, but also to China's own long-term interests; th ...

Source: www.philly.com --- 24 days ago
Farrow lashes out Mia Farrow told reporters in Bangkok on Friday that the ruling Regime in neighboring Myanmar is scamming humanitarian aid meant to aid victims of Cyclone Nargis, which killed 138,000 as it swept through Myanmar's southwestern delta region May 2-3. ...

Source: www.channelnewsasia.com --- 5 days ago
YANGON - United Nations envoy Ibrahim Gambari is returning to Myanmar for a five-day visit on Monday at the invitation of the ruling military Regime, an official confirmed Saturday. ...

Source: www.channelnewsasia.com --- 14 days ago
MAE LA REFUGEE CAMP, Thailand: US First Lady Laura Bush, a vocal critic of Myanmar's military government, toured a refugee camp on Thursday and called on the military Regime to open dialogue with the opposition. ...

Source: www.kansascity.com --- 22 days ago
President Bush signed legislation Tuesday to punish Myanmar's brutal ruling Regime by freezing assets of political and military leaders there and banning the importation of rubies and jade from that country into the U.S. ...

Source: www.kentucky.com --- 20 days ago
President Bush has countered critics who claim his global war on terrorism has lessened Washington's role in Asia and allowed China's influence to grow in the region, news reports said Friday. Preparing to embark on a three-country Asian trip, Bush said in interviews with senior Asian editors in Washington on Thursday that "our foreign policy has been robust in the Far East." His remarks were carried in Bangkok newspapers Friday. The president, on a farewell tour of Asia, will visit Thailand, South Korea and China Aug. 5-11. While in Thailand, he is to deliver a "comprehensive" policy speech on Asia stressing that the United States has strategic interests in the region and "must stay engaged," Thailand's English-language The Nation said Friday. Another theme of his trip will be human rights. He is to meet with activists opposed to the military Regime in Myanmar during his Bangkok stay and will raise human rights and religious issues when he meets President Hu Jintao of China during the Olympic Games. ...

Source: www.kentucky.com --- 8 days ago
Thousands of sapphires, rubies, diamonds, emeralds, jade and other gems glitter in long glass display cases as merchants haggle with professional buyers - most of them foreigners - and tourists. Business is good here at the sales center of the Myanmar Gems Museum, despite legislation signed by President Bush last month to ban the import of rubies and jade into America. Yangon gem sellers dismissed the sanction against their government as a symbolic gesture unlikely to have much impact on their lucrative trade. "Our buyers are almost all from China, Russia, the Gulf, Thailand, India and the European Union, and we can barely keep up with their demand," said Theta Mar of Mandalar Jewelry, a store in the museum gem shop, where prices range from a few hundred dollars to about $18,000 for the best rubies. Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, produces up to 90 percent of the world's rubies and is a top international supplier of other gems and jade. The government-controlled sector, often criticized for harsh working conditions and poor environmental controls, is a major source of export revenue for the military. No recent or reliable official statistics on the gemstone trade are publicly available, but analysts and human rights groups say it likely brings the military Regime between $300 million and $400 million a year. ...

Source: www.kentucky.com --- 19 days ago
A famous Myanmar comedian and three other activists who helped deliver relief supplies to cyclone victims could be imprisoned for two years on charges of causing public unrest, his lawyer said Saturday. Comedian Zarganar and the others appeared in court inside Insein prison on Wednesday, according to Aung Thein, their attorney. They included a sports writer identified as Zaw Thet Htwe and Thant Zin Aung. Aung Thein said he has not met his clients and was unable to confirm the charges. But he believes they will be accused of breaking a law that makes it illegal for "anyone to circulate a statement or rumor with intent to cause alarm to the public." Zarganar, the country's most popular comedian, was arrested in June after he gave interviews to foreign media in which he criticized the military Regime's slow response to the May 2-3 cyclone that killed more than 84,000 people. Zarganar said he and more than 400 entertainers in Myanmar volunteered to aid victims of the cyclone, making several trips to hard-hit areas to help some of the more than 2 million survivors. ...

Source: www.kentucky.com --- 13 days ago
Twenty years after it violently suppressed a bid by more than a million peaceful protesters to restore democracy, Myanmar's military junta was on high alert Friday with riot police guarding the country's main city and detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's home. While no protests were reported in Myanmar itself, activists around Asia planned to mark the 20th anniversary with demonstrations at the embassies of both Myanmar and China, a key ally of the junta that critics say could pressure the leadership to bring about change. The protests also coincide with the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Beijing. "We are here because China is the main supporter of the military Regime," said Kyaw Lin Oo, a Myanmar activist living in Thailand who was among 30 protesters at the Chinese Embassy in Bangkok. "We want the Chinese government to understand the actual cost of their support to the people inside of Burma," he said, using the country's former name. "China can help our democratization process by putting pressure on the military Regime." He later joined about 100 others outside the Myanmar Embassy. They chanted "Free Burma, Free Aung San Suu Kyi" and threw red paper airplanes with the message "We will never forget. We will never give up. 1988." over the embassy wall. ...