2006

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Thaksin has a Shan friend

There are few kind words these days for the embattled prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra who has been under heavy pressure to quit his job since his Shin Corp Plc's controversial sale of well-nigh 50% stake to Singapore's Temasak Holdings last month, but Shan leader Yawdserk says the Thai business tycoon-turned-politician has his good points...

Rangoon Shans to mark Shan State Day - again

A meeting was held at Kambawza Dhammayone, a gathering place for people from Shan State in Rangoon, on New Year's Day to discuss the celebration of Shan State Day that falls on 7 February, reports Chai Sayam from the border...

Towns relieved of sculpted reliefs

Relief figures of Shans beating drums, a common sight at the entrance of each town and city in northern Shan State, have been removed by the order of the Burma Army's Lashio-based regional commander, report sources from the Sino-Burma border...

Shan 'FM': Freedom campaign on track

On 26 December, S.H.A.N. had the opportunity to interview Khun Hom, 'Foreign Minister' of the 'Interim Shan Government' (ISG) formed last March that drew widespread attention by declaring Independence from military-ruled Burma on 17 April...

Burma fast becoming China's 24th province

Military-ruled Burma is well on the way to becoming a Chinese dependency, according to a Burmese business circle in Rangoon...

Col Sai Yee elected to SSA leadership

Col Sai Yee, formerly of the ceasefire group Shan State National Army (SSNA), has recently been elected to the anti-Rangoon Shan State Army - South's supreme political body, according to the statement issued today...

Yawdserk: There is no Shan Government

As far as the Shan State Army 'South' is concerned, the government of Shan State is non-existent, declared Col Yawdserk during a recent interview at his base opposite Maehongson...

Wa chief associate has a near miss

The United Wa State Army leader Bao Youxiang has recovered from his year long illness but his deputy chief of staff narrowly escaped from an assassination attempt on Tuesday, 7 February, according to sources from the border...

Shan ceasefire group holds closed door meeting

Leaders of the Shan State Army-North have recently wrapped up a week long meeting at their Hseng Kiao headquarters three days ago, according to a central committee member who returned to the border yesterday...

Junta to hold meetings in new capital

Burma's military government that had launched an abrupt move to the unfinished new capital from Rangoon last November is due to resume its weekly meetings there beginning today, reports Chai Sayam from the border...

Imprisoned Shan commander goes on trial

A commander of the Shan State Army 'South' and his 31 colleagues who surrendered to the Burma Army on 2 January have been on trial at the Lashio prison since 14 February, according to an insider source from the border...

Shan national day in a sorry state

If our country had independence, freedom and democracy, the celebration of a great national day might not have been organized the way it was...

Length of Convention rests on USDA

The duration of the on-and-off going National Convention will not rest on the assurance given by Gen Than Shwe to the UN chief last April that the constitutional process would be completed by the end of 2005 but only on how soon the junta's quasi-political organization will prove up as a full fledged political party, according to two convention delegates...

Wa cars seized

More than 30 vehicles with Wa number plates in Tachilek during the past weeks in February and an order has been issued limiting the number of cars the Wa can use, report S.H.A.N. correspondents from the border...

Wa organize mass wedding for its soldiers

United Wa State Wa Army (UWSA) commander Wei Hsuehkang of the 171st Military Region held a wedding ceremony for 120 couples, according to sources from the border...

Star-crossed Thaksin crosses border

If the citizens of Shan State's Tachilek were to be believed, the technical border crossing on Monday (20 March) by Thailand's beleaguered Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was merely an astrological act to avert his impending departure from the kingdom...

Montenegro's Secession through Burma's Ethnic looking glass

It seems the containment is not working and ethnic upsurge is on the rise again that Montenegro, which means Black Mountain, is the smallest of Yugoslavia's republics with 650,000 people, decided to secede from the so-called Rest Yugoslavia...

Chinese agents defeated Khun Sa: former aide

Ten years after the surprise surrender of Khun Sa's Mong Tai Army, once conceded by Rangoon as its strongest armed opposition, one of his closest aides has revealed to S.H.A.N...

Embattled NLD has company

An elected member of Burma's second biggest party has "resigned of his own accord," reported The New Light of Myanmar yesterday...

Ceasefire factions keep up "uncivil" war

More than 7 months have passed since the ceasefire group Shan Nationalities People Liberation Organization...

Sino-Burma pipeline will set off more relocations

The 1996-98 forced relocations of 300,000 people from southern Shan State will pale into insignificance in comparison to the one this year when the construction of the oil pipeline linking Arakan State's port of Akyab (Sittwe) with China's Kunming is expected to start, warns a senior Shan ceasefire officer...

Wa "invited" to surrender

Reports coming from the border both from Thai and Wa sources say the United Wa State Army has recently been "invited to exchange (their) arms for perpetual peace."...

Wa leader takes a breather

According to several reports coming to the border, Wa leader Bao Youxiang, citing poor health, has assigned his brothers and close associates to run the day-to-day affairs of the Wa during recent meetings held in Panghsang, opposite Yunnan's Menglien...

China key to opposition unity

Ongoing efforts by opposition groups to engage China has been welcomed by the Sino-Burma border based ceasefire groups, according to a high level source from one of the armed groups that has been at peace with Burma's military rulers since 1989...

Detained Shan leader's detained brother moved to Mandalay

Hkun Oo Kya, elder brother of Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD) leader Hkun Tun Oo, both of whom were detained and sentenced to long term imprisonments, was transferred from Kyaukme in northern Shan State to Mandalay early in May, according to sources close to the family...

Yawdserk calls for unity among Shans

In a conciliatory tone apparently directing at his archrival group, the "Interim Shan Government" (ISG), Col Yawdserk, leader of the Shan State Army-South, has urged all Shans to wipe the slate clean and start all over again...

Key Lahu dissident undergoes operation

U Aye Maung aka Ja Hpeu, 66, leader of a Lahu dissident faction in Thailand, went through a surgical operation following disclosure of brain...

Shan leader enters monkhood

Sai Fah, who was forced to resign from his party, Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD), last month took up the Buddhist robes following his meeting with the Burmese commander of northern Shan State two weeks ago, reports Tai Touch from the border...

Shan army on "peace mission"

A 300-strong force was dispatched last month by the Shan State Army 'South' to areas in central Shan State, where one of its brigade commanders had switched allegiance to a rival group last year, according to sources from the border...

Detained Shan leader 'did not die of epilepsy'

More than a month following his death, a long-time close friend of "Math" Myint Than arrived at the border....

East Timor – A failed state scenario?

Lately, speculation has been making the round, among concerned people, that if East Timor...

Bio on Shan hero turned down by censors

A biography on Tin Aye, the man who was both credited and discredited for ushering Shan State into becoming a part of today's Burma...

‘Not as per usual with the Shan State charter’

The first draft recently published by the Shan State Constitution Drafting Commission (SSCDC) has several thought-provoking features...

Rebel leader goes AWOL

Col Moengzuen, who broke away from the anti-Rangoon Shan State Army (SSA)- South to work with the Interim Shan Government...

Rebel leader ‘did not surrender, only made peace

Former Shan State Army (SSA) brigade commander Col Moengzuen denied yesterday that he had capitulated to the Burma Army as reported by S.H.A.N. Saturday....

Ethnic alliance ‘has come a long way’

The Ethnic Nationalities Council (ENC) formed in August 2001, in answer to the 1994 UN resolution calling for Tripartite Dialogue...

Prodigal son makes his choice

Former Shan State Army (SSA) commander Col Moengzuen, who surrendered to the Burma Army last June and went underground again in August, has finally resigned himself to being a pro-junta militia leader, according to both rebel and ceasefire sources in southern Shan State.

Col Moengzuen

No.08 - 07/2006 9 July 2006 Politics Col Moengzuen Other names -Kawsanla, Mawk Zeng

Ethnic leaders hold out olive branch to NLD

The Ethnic Nationalities Council (ENC), an alliance of non-Burman ethnic nationalities calling for the UN backed Tripartite Dialogue, yesterday (19 October) dropped a bombshell by "reaffirming" its position on Aung San Suu Kyi and her party, the National League for Democracy (NLD).

Shadow UN not thumbing nose at Beijing

The holding of the 3-day "General Assembly" (27-29 October) in Taipei, the capital of Taiwan, which continues as a sore point with China, was not a gesture of collective defiance to Beijing, according to the Chin delegate to the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) who recently returned from Taiwan:

Ex-Maung Aye classmate: Tatmadaw men still with the people

Majority members of Burma's armed forces, known as the Tatmadaw, are firmly standing by the people "as always", according to a former Burma Army officer who was, together with the country's present # 2 man Maung Aye, among the 54 cadets selected to attend the prestigious Defense Services Academy when it opened in 1955.

Elder Shan leader: Military saving non-existent union

Shwe Ohn, who has been involved in Burma's tumultuous politics since 60 years earlier, has again rejected the ruling military council's claim to 'have twice saved the union' as an old joke.

China, Burma hold low-key golden anniversary

The 50th anniversary of Sino-Burma relations held in Yunnan on 16 December was a relatively modest affair, reports U Sein Kyi from the border:

Constitutional meet to recess before New Year

The 10th session of the junta-held National Convention that began on 10 October will adjourn on Friday (29 December), according to a reliable source close to Convention delegates.