Lieutenant General Ko Ko, Chief of the Bureau of Special Operations 3 and a member of the ruling SPDC, arrived at the western Burmese border near Bangladesh on Tuesday along with many high army officials, said a police official on the condition of anonymity.

Army Special Operation Chief Visits Western Border

Maungdaw: Lieutenant General Ko Ko, Chief of the Bureau of Special Operations 3 and a member of the ruling SPDC, arrived at the western Burmese border near Bangladesh on Tuesday along with many high army officials, said a police official on the condition of anonymity.

“Lt. General Ko Ko arrived at Taungbro, the western border town near the Bangladeshi town Gon Don, at 9:30 am by speedboat, and held a meeting with several army officials and government officials at a hall in the town,” the official said.

Lt. General Ko Ko is Chief of the Bureau of Special Operations 3 for four divisions – Pegu, Rangoon, Irrawaddy, and Arakan – and this is the first time he has visited the border area since being appointed to his post.

He visited many places in Taungbro Sub-Town within an hour and instructed officials to carry out all projects currently being implemented by the government in a timely fashion.

At 11:30 am, he left Taungbro for Kyin Chaung by speedboat to inspect some government projects in the village. Afterward, he left Kyin Chaung for Ma Kyi Chuang in southern Maungdaw Township.

“He inspected the construction sites for fences in Ma Kyi Chaung and met with many soldiers who are working on the fence construction,” the official said.

Many high officials, including Transportation Minister General Thein Swe, Power One Minister Zaw Min, and Deputy Home Minister Colonel Phone Swe also visited the border area last week.

“It is very difficult to comment about their recent tours to Arakan. Everybody believes that there is a reason behind their tours to Arakan because many ministers and army officials have visited Arakan in one group or another since the beginning of 2009,” he added.

A political analyst from the border said they likely have come to Arakan with two objectives – one is to prepare for the 2010 election, and another is to deal with the current issues surrounding Muslims in the region. However, it is believed that there is also another, unknown objective behind the visits, and that the military government has big plans underway for Arakan State.
Narinjara news

Mon rebels and SPDC army execute four village leaders in span of 12 hours

Thu 09 Apr 2009, Ong Rot
A power struggle between the Burmese army and an armed Mon rebel group has resulted in the execution of four village leaders in two separate incidents that occurred in the span of twelve hours last week.

At around 10pm on the night of April 2nd, eight members of the Nai Chan Dein group entered Puck Pin Kwin village in Yebyu Township and went to the home of the VPDC headman, Nai Bok (45) to demand a ‘tax’ of 700,000 Kyat, which they had ordered the villagers to pay by March 30th. Nai Bok’s Village Peace and Development Council (VPDC) colleague, Nai Nyae (43) was then brought to the house and both men were confronted. Shots were heard and the men’s bodies were later found outside the headman’s home.

“I heard three shots, then I heard a Chan Dein member say, ‘this is what would happen to anyone who followed the Burmese army’s orders regarding their group,”’ said a villager in the area at the time of the shooting. “After that, there was silence and then I heard them run away. The headman’s neighbors came out of their homes and found the two men’s bodies.”

The two men executed on April 2nd were known to be unsympathetic towards Nai Chan Dein and had declined to collect money from the villagers to pay the group.
The Nai Chan Dein group has been actively taxing villagers in the Yebyu Township, located in northern Tennaserim Division and southern Ye Township in Mon State. In January and February, the group demanded payments of 5 to 7 million kyat from at least 5 villages in the area. In November, the group kidnapped and ransomed over 100 villagers, as well as executed 3 villagers suspected to be informants after a Burmese army ambush killed 3 of Nai Chan Dein’s soldiers near Ko Mile village in Ye.

A joint force made up of soldiers from a Mon ceasefire group and the Burmese army attacked ethnic Karen insurgents in Tenasserim Division yesterday.

New joint Mon-Burmese force attacks Karen rebels in Tenasserim Division
Thu 09 Apr 2009, Ong Rot and Blai Mon
A joint force made up of soldiers from a Mon ceasefire group and the Burmese army attacked ethnic Karen insurgents in Tenasserim Division yesterday. The attack marks the first combined Mon-Burmese army operation against the Karen forces and adds on to offensives sustained against the insurgent group farther north.

At 8:40am on April 8th, soldiers from Burmese army Light Infantry Brigade (LIB) No. 594 and the Mon Peace Group – Chaung Chi (MPG – Chaung Chi) attacked a temporary camp of soldiers from the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) in northeast Mergui District.

The attack by the MPG – Chuang Chi is the first time the Mon group has operated in concert with the Burmese army. The MPG – Chaung Chi split from the New Mon State Party (NMSP) in 1997, and though it had remained quiet militarily it has nonetheless cooperated with the State Peace and Development Council junta, including participating in the National Convention convened to draft a new constitution. According to a source in the NMSP, the MPG – Chuang Chi had dwindled to just 20 soldiers before a recruiting effort by the SPDC doubled its ranks to 40 or 50.

Twenty arrested on the way to Thailand

Thu 09 Apr 2009, Layi Mon, IMNA
Twenty people, including four children, were arrested at a checkpoint in Phaungsein

village, Thanphyuzayat Township on the evening of April 5th while attempting to migrate to Thailand. The migrants had arranged their transport through a broker who provided a truck and a driver but did not accompany them himself. The police had been informed of their journey in advance by a rival broker and the group was taken to Thanphyuzayat police station. However, the driver was not arrested.

According to a Thanphyuzayat resident, the group was on the way to Tavoy when the arrests occurred. “The children were released on the same day and the women on the next day, April 6th. The men were detained for longer. Their relatives had to pay for everyone to get out, except for the children,” said the resident.

According to a source close to Thanphyuzayat police, “the amount of money paid by those arrested varied depending on their relationship with the police. Three people had to pay 100,000 Kyat between them.”

two Burmese migrant workers were drowned and died in the sea while they fled, swimming to escape from a Thai fishing boat when it dropped anchor in the sea near Kha Nong jetty in Surat Thani province.

Two Burmese migrant workers killed in the sea

Thursday, 09 April 2009

The two Burmese migrant workers were drowned and died in the sea while they fled, swimming to escape from a Thai fishing boat when it dropped anchor in the sea near Kha Nong jetty in Surat Thani province. The two workers have been working for over two months on the fishing boat, but they did not get paid. The boat has also never gone to the shore. So, the two migrant workers fled from the boat on 4th April, last week. “They have been working for over two months. They didn’t get paid and were not allowed to come to the shore. They fled from the boat because they thought that being alive on the fishing boat is not different from being dead. They didn’t know how to swim well, too. It takes for about one-hour drive to arrive at the fishing boat by speed boat from the shore,” said Ba Than who lived with the victims in the same township in Rakhine State, Burma.
San San whose brother is also working on the fishing boat, said, “My younger brother was left on the boat. He didn’t flee as he could not swim.”
Ba Than and the two victims came to Victoria Point in southern Burma from Rakhine State. Win Hlaing, a motorbike taxi driver in Victoria Point, transferred the two of them into the hands of a Rakhine broker in Ranaung. Then, the two victims were trafficked into the hands of a Thai woman. She has been working there so for about ten years. The brokers in that area negotiate with the police to choose the detainees in the jail to traffic them to the fishing boats. Most of the fishing boats in that area don’t come back to the shores. The boats from the shores have to go to those fishing boats in the sea and bring the collected fish from the boat to the shores.
“The workers,” Ba Than added, “they are not allowed to come to the shores. When they are sick, the boat men kill them and throw the dead bodies into the sea. There is no organization to help us in this area. The NGOs also dare not come to our area. Our security is in the lowest level. The life of a Burmese migrant worker in this area is not even worth as little bird or a chicken.” said Ba Than yesterday, six Rakhine and ten other Mon and Burmese migrant workers were still left, working on that fishing boat from which the two victims fled.
http://www.ghre.org/en/

New Year Oracle Holds Bad Omens

By ARKAR MOE Thursday, April 9, 2009

Bad omens for Burma are being read into the traditional Thingyansar predictions published to coincide with the Burmese New Year.

The predictions say that Thargyarmin, king of the celestials, won’t be paying his customary visit to the earth this year—a bad omen for Burma and its people.

Burmese Buddhists believe that Thargyarmin pays an annual visit to earth to take note of good deeds and punish those who commit sin.

This year’s Thingyansar also directs attention to people born on Tuesday, saying they would be respected for their good deeds but that hasty decisions would be misunderstood.

Burmese opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi was born on a Tuesday.

This year’s Thingyansar also predicts the end of feudalism in the world—and that is being interpreted as bad news for the regime, whose end is foreseen.

The Thingyansar is being produced this year by Burma’s Ministry of Culture, although unofficial, underground versions are also being circulated.

Official or unofficial, the Thingyansar sells like the proverbial hot cakes and plays an essential role in New Year festivities and the accompanying water festival.

Irrawaddy news

Army offensive to clear way for deep-sea port-This is the second week of government offensives against the armed wing of the Karen National Union, the Karen National Liberation Army.

Apr 9, 2009 (DVB)–A border offensive this week against Burma’s main armed opposition group is an attempt to clear the area of rebels prior to the construction of a deep-sea port and coal factory, said an opposition group member.

This is the second week of government offensives against the armed wing of the Karen National Union, the Karen National Liberation Army.
The attack on Tuesday occurred near the Thai-Burma border in Tenasserim Division, southern Burma.
“The [military] moved three of its battalions to the region about 10 days before the clash happened and the motive was to drive our battalion 203 out of the area,” said a KNLA information official.
“The SPDC needed that area for their business deal with Thailand so they are trying to force us out now, and also the Thai government told us to move out from there too.”
The KNLA official said that four army soldiers were killed in the offensive, while no deaths of KNLA fighters were reported.
The latest incident is the second major attack launched by the ruling State Peace and Development Council in the last two weeks.
Offensives against armed opposition groups usually occur around this time of year.

update/oppose2010 by Kwekalu News

http://www.kwekalu.net/update/oppose2010.html

Malaysia is taking measures through the Asean Secretariat to have the 15,001 Rohingya refugees repatriated to their home country of Myanmar or encourage third countries to accept them, the Senate was told Wednesday.

Foreign Minister Dr Rais Yatim said the Rohingya refugees in this country received various sources of assistance from Malaysians and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) as well as several third countries including Australia and Canada.

He was replying to a question from Senator Abdul Rahman Bakar.

To a supplementary question, from Senator Syed Ali Alhabshee, on the diplomatic efforts of the ministry to enable Malaysia overcome the “serious” problem of the Rohingya refugees, Rais said the foreign ministry had notified the Myanmar government officially about the problem and that country had given several commitments through Asean.

“However, the Asean Secretariat has to gather data on the Rohingya before any specific action can be taken,” he said. (Bernama)

DKBA unity by Kwekalu News(Watch )

http://www.kwekalu.net/imagedaily/dkbaunity/dkbaunity.gif