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BURMA RELATED NEWS - MARCH 07, 2008
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HEADLINES
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AFP - Myanmar refuses to amend charter barring Suu Kyi from polls
AFP - UN envoy meets Myanmar vote chief: officials
AFP - Myanmar Accuses UN Envoy Of Favoring Aung San Suu Kyi
Reuters - Myanmar says democracy roadmap only way forward
ABS-CBNNEWS - ASEAN should not recognize 'illegitimate' Myanmar poll:
activists
CNA - UN envoy seeks meetings with Suu Kyi, Myanmar junta
New Kerala - India, Myanmar hold home secretary-level talks
UN News Centre - Myanmar, migrant workers on agenda as UN labour
policy group convenes
Kyodo News - Slain journalist's family meets photographer who captured
scene
The Nation - Open letter to Ibrahim Gambari, envoy to Burma
Irrawaddy - Gambari to Meet NLD on Saturday
Irrawaddy - Political Prisoner, 'Afraid of Nothing,' Dies of TB
Mizzima News - Burma on cusp of failure
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Myanmar refuses to amend charter barring Suu Kyi from polls
AFP - Saturday, March 8
YANGON (AFP) - Myanmar's ruling junta refused to amend its proposed
constitution, which bars democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi from
running in elections, the information minister said Friday on state
television.
"It is impossible to draft the constitution again. It has already been
drafted. Most people do not want us to do so," the information
minister, Brigadier General Kyaw Hsan, told visiting UN envoy Ibrahim
Gambari, according to state television.
He also criticised Gambari for releasing a statement from Aung San Suu
Kyi after his last visit here in November.
In the statement, the Nobel peace prize winner said she was ready to
cooperate with the regime on opening talks.
"We were extremely surprised, and regretted that you have become
involved in this thing because we didn't want to see anything about Ms
Aung San Suu Kyi's statement during this period of confidence
building," the minister said.
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UN envoy meets Myanmar vote chief: officials
AFP - Saturday, March 8
YANGON (AFP) - - UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari met Friday with the top
official overseeing Myanmar's upcoming referendum, officials said, in
a bid to press for democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's inclusion in
the process.
His meeting with Aung Toe, the Supreme Court chief justice tasked with
organising the balloting, came after more than two hours of talks with
the information minister, Brigadier General Kyaw Hsan, Myanmar
officials said on condition of anonymity.
The content of Gambari's talks and even his itinerary has been kept
under close wraps.
Gambari arrived in Yangon on Thursday, his third visit to the country
since the regime launched a deadly crackdown on pro-democracy protests
last September, killing at least 31 people according to the United
Nations.
Myanmar's tightly controlled state media have said little about his
latest mission. State television and official newspapers have limited
themselves to briefly summarising Thursday's schedule, without
comment.
Myanmar's political landscape has ****fted enormously since his last
visit in November.
A month ago, the regime surprised the world by announcing it would
hold a referendum on a new constitution in May, setting the stage for
multiparty democratic elections in 2010.
The junta also brought in a law criminalising public speeches and
leaflets about the referendum and announced that Aung San Suu Kyi
would be barred from running in elections because of her marriage to a
foreigner, Briton Michael Aris, who is now dead.
Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) party has
already warned that the public would not accept the junta's new
charter, but it has stopped short of calling for a boycott or urging a
"No" vote.
Gambari has tried to open a dialogue between the Nobel peace prize
winner, who has been kept under house arrest for 12 of the past 18
years, and the regime.
His initial efforts seemed promising. After his first mission in the
aftermath of the crackdown, the junta appointed a liaison officer to
meet Aung San Suu Kyi while military supremo Senior General Than Shwe
made a heavily conditioned offer to meet her himself.
But Than Shwe shunned Gambari on his last visit here, and no meeting
with Aung San Suu Kyi has taken place.
Even the talks with the liaison officer have dragged, with Aung San
Suu Kyi saying in January that she was "not satisfied" with their
progress.
The junta has so far not scheduled any talks between Gambari and Aung
San Suu Kyi for this trip. Even his departure date has not been
settled, although diplomats expect him to leave Sunday.
If held, the planned polls would be the first in the country formerly
known as Burma since Aung San Suu Kyi led the NLD to a landslide
victory in 1990, a result the junta never recognised.
Foreign diplomats who met Gambari on Thursday said he was
concentrating on encouraging dialogue between Aung San Suu Kyi and the
regime.
He is expected to press the junta to allow some kind of campaigning
during the referendum while looking for ways to include Aung San Suu
Kyi and her NLD in the polls.
However, analysts say that he faces an uphill battle in trying to win
any concessions from the unpredictable generals, who have so far
resisted outside pressure to reform.
So far, the junta has been willing only to make minor concessions such
as allowing Gambari to visit, despite the worldwide outrage sparked by
the bloody repression of September's peaceful marches led by Buddhist
monks.
Those protests were the biggest challenge to military rule for nearly
two decades, and security forces responded by opening fire on the
crowds.
The military has ruled Myanmar since 1962.
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Myanmar Accuses UN Envoy Of Favoring Aung San Suu Kyi -AFP
AFP - Saturday, March 8
YANGON (AFP)--Myanmar's ruling junta Friday accused visiting United
Nations envoy Ibrahim Gambari of showing "bias" in favor of detained
democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, accusing him of conspiring with her
against the regime.
"You have acted outside your role as a mediator," Information Minister
Kyaw Hsan told Gambari during a meeting Friday, according to state
television.
Kyaw Hsan denounced Gambari for releasing a letter on behalf of Aung
San Suu Kyi following his last visit here in November, in which she
said she was willing to cooperate with the regime in starting a
national dialogue.
"Most people have criticized you for showing a bias. Some also believe
that you wrote this letter in advance and released it after
negotiations with Ms Aung San Suu Kyi," the minister said.
"The statement you released was a danger that could have harmed the
recent peace and stability of the country as well as the restoration
of unity among the ethnic" minorities, he said.
"It is im****tant for the mediator using good offices not to have any
intention of orchestrating events," he added.
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Myanmar says democracy roadmap only way forward
Reuters - Saturday, March 8
YANGON - The only path to political reform in army-ruled Myanmar is
via the junta's "roadmap to democracy", official media said on Friday
in an apparent swipe at visiting U.N. special envoy Ibrahim Gambari.
State-owned newspapers considered to be mouthpieces of the regime
urged people to approve an army-written constitution in a May
referendum, which Gambari has said must be "credible and inclusive".
"We should not miss our goal just because meddlers posing as a referee
say we must start again. The efforts we have made should not be in
vain. We should not let the referee separate us," a commentary
published in The Myanma Ahlin and Kyemon newspapers said.
The Nigerian envoy, on his third visit since a crackdown on anti-junta
protests last September, returned to the former Burma on Thursday amid
waning optimism for his mission to coax the generals into meaningful
talks with the opposition on reforms.
The visit is his first chance to hold face-to-face talks with the
generals since their unexpected announcement last month of a
constitutional referendum that critics dismiss as a sham to keep the
military in power.
The continued house arrest of National League for Democracy leader and
Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, and the opposition's boycott of
the constitution-drafting process, have led Western governments to
reject the charter and poll timeline.
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ABS-CBNNEWS.com - 3/7/2008 9:33 PM
ASEAN should not recognize 'illegitimate' Myanmar poll: activists
Agence France-Presse
JAKARTA - Activists Friday denounced a junta-backed constitutional
referendum in Myanmar as "illegitimate" and called on ASEAN to reject
it unless steps are taken to ensure a fair vote.
The call came in a formal declaration at the end of a two-day
conference here involving groups from across the region and coincides
with the visit of United Nations special envoy Ibrahim Gambari to
Myanmar.
Myanmar's junta announced last month it would hold a referendum on a
new constitution in May, setting the stage for multiparty democratic
elections in 2010.
Gambari is calling for democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi to be
included in the process.
However, the junta has also brought in laws criminalizing speeches and
leaflets about the referendum and has said Aung San Suu Kyi would be
banned from any elections because of her marriage to a foreigner,
Briton Michael Aris, who is now dead.
The declaration in the Indonesian capital -- the home of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations secretariat -- demanded that
Myanmar allow in ASEAN and UN monitors during the referendum, declare
a ceasefire with ethnic minority rebels and release all detained
activists as a precondition for recognition.
"If ASEAN goes along with such an illegitimate process, it risks
undermining its own credibility," the declaration said.
Debbie Stothard, the convener of advocacy group the Alternative ASEAN
Network on Burma (Myanmar), told re****ters the regime's referendum was
the same stalling tactic it used after failing to recognize democratic
elections won by Aung San Suu Kyi's party in 1990.
"We can see the military regime has revived this process because they
want us to forget what we saw in Burma last year," she said, referring
to a monk-led pro-democracy uprising brutally suppressed by the
regime, killing at least 31 people.
"We are not asking people to go and protest in the streets against the
regime, we are just asking ASEAN governments to do their job," she
said.
ASEAN nations have been criticized for taking a soft line on Myanmar's
junta, favoring dialogue over tougher measures such as sanctions.
Myanmar Buddhist monk and veteran of last year's uprising, U Awbata,
told re****ters: "All the monks in Burma, including myself, will never
accept a referendum or election which is not just and fair."
When asked if he sup****ted ASEAN's emphasis on dialogue or the more
belligerent approach taken by the West, U Awbata said: "As Buddha
says, the best way is the middle way, which is neither strong nor
weak."
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UN envoy seeks meetings with Suu Kyi, Myanmar junta
Posted: 07 March 2008 1629 hrs
YANGON(Channel NewsAsia) - UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari pressed on for
talks with Myanmar's detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and
top junta officials on Friday to try to bring the opposition into the
regime's election plans.
Gambari went to the government's War Office here early Friday and met
the information minister, Brigadier General Kyaw Shan, according to
Myanmar officials who did not want to be named.
He arrived in Yangon on Thursday, his third visit to the country since
the regime launched a deadly crackdown on pro-democracy protests last
September, killing at least 31 people according to the United
Nations.
Myanmar's tightly controlled state media have said little about his
latest mission. State television and official newspapers have limited
themselves to briefly summarising Thursday's schedule, without
comment.
Gambari has arrived to a different political landscape from his last
visit in November.
A month ago, the regime surprised the world by announcing it would
hold a constitutional referendum in May, setting the stage for
multiparty democratic elections in 2010.
The junta also brought in a law criminalising public speeches and
leaflets about the referendum and announced that Aung San Suu Kyi
would be barred from running in elections because of her marriage to a
foreigner, Briton Michael Aris, who is now dead.
Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) party has
already warned that the public would not accept the junta's new
charter, but it has stopped short of calling for a boycott or urging a
"No" vote.
Gambari has tried to open a dialogue between the Nobel peace prize
winner, who has been kept under house arrest for 12 of the last 18
years, and the regime.
His initial efforts seemed promising. After his first mission in the
aftermath of the crackdown, the junta appointed a liaison officer to
meet with Aung San Suu Kyi while military supremo Senior General Than
Shwe made a heavily conditioned offer to meet her himself.
But Than Shwe shunned Gambari on his last visit here, and no meeting
with Aung San Suu Kyi has taken place.
Even the talks with the liaison officer have dragged, with Aung San
Suu Kyi saying in January that she was "not satisfied" with their
progress.
The junta has so far not scheduled any talks between Gambari and Aung
San Suu Kyi for this trip. Even his departure date has not been
settled, although diplomats expect him to leave Sunday.
If held, the planned polls would be the first in the country formerly
known as Burma since Aung San Suu Kyi led the NLD to a landslide
victory in 1990, a result the junta never recognised.
Foreign diplomats who met Gambari on Thursday said he was
concentrating on encouraging dialogue between Aung San Suu Kyi and the
regime.
He is expected to press the junta to allow some kind of campaigning
during the referendum while looking for ways to include Aung San Suu
Kyi and her NLD in the polls.
However, analysts say that he faces an uphill battle in trying to win
any concessions from the unpredictable generals, who have so far
resisted outside pressure to reform.
So far, the junta has only been willing to make minor concessions,
such as allowing Gambari to visit, despite the worldwide outrage
sparked by the bloody repression of September's peaceful marches led
by Buddhist monks.
Those protests were the biggest challenge to military rule for nearly
two decades, and security forces responded by opening fire on the
crowds.
The military has ruled Myanmar since 1962.
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NewKerala.Com
India, Myanmar hold home secretary-level talks
New Delhi, March 7: An Indian delegation led by Home Secretary
Madhukar Gupta Friday met a visiting Myanmar team headed by that
country's Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Brigadier General Phone Swe
here, and discussed issues ranging from border security to cross-
border projects.
The two countries talked about security-related matters, smuggling of
arms and narcotic drugs, effective border management, border trade and
cross-border projects, home ministry sources said.
This is the 14th round of annual home secretary level talks between
the two countries and will conclude Monday. The previous round of
talks was held in Myanmar in February 2007.
In the past, India has expressed concern over terrorists crossing over
to Myanmar after conducting operations in the country and the presence
of terrorist training camps in Myanmar among other issues.
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UN News Centre
Myanmar, migrant workers on agenda as UN labour policy group convenes
6 March 2008 - Forced labour in Myanmar, freedom of association and
discrimination against migrant workers are among the issues to be
addressed at the policy meeting of the United Nation's labour
organization that opens today in Geneva.
The Governing Body of the International Labour Office (ILO) meets
three times a year in March, June and November, and takes decisions on
policy, budget and the agenda of its International Labour Conference.
The meeting scheduled from 6-20 March is expected to discuss action
against forced labour in Myanmar in the light of a recent ILO mission
to the country, among other issues.
It will also review progress in countries which have not yet ratified
all fundamental Conventions on freedom of association and collective
bargaining, forced and child labour and discrimination.
On 17 March, Robert B. Zoellick, President of the World Bank, will
address the Working Party on the Social Dimension of Globalization,
speaking on the topic, "The Challenge of Making Globalization
Inclusive."
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Slain journalist's family meets photographer who captured scene+
TOKYO, March 8 (Kyodo) - A relative of slain Japanese video journalist
Kenji Nagai on Friday met for the first time with a photographer who
captured the scene when Nagai was fatally shot last September while
covering antigovernment demonstrations in Yangon, Myanmar.
Adrees Latif, 34, a senior Reuters photographer, explained to Noriko
Ogawa, Nagai's sister, that he took four photos of the scene
immediately after hearing gunshots and that the data of the photos
showed that they were taken at 1:30 p.m. on Sept. 27, according to
people who attended the meeting.
He also said that the incident occurred within about 15 seconds of the
arrival of a truck carrying Myanmarese soldiers who started shooting
at the demonstrators, apparently making it difficult for Nagai to
escape, they said.
But Latif said that when he took the photos he was not fully aware
that Nagai had been shot and did not know the details.
It is the first time that Latif has met with a member of Nagai's
family. They met at the office of Tokyo-based APF News Inc. -- the
company Nagai was on contract with when he was shot.
Latif told Ogawa, 48, that he had wanted to meet the bereaved family
and told her that he would like to cooperate in whatever way he can,
according to Toru Yamaji, representative of APF News, who also
attended the meeting.
Ogawa thanked Latif and also handed him a letter written by Nagai's
mother, Michiko, 75, who lives in Ehime Prefecture. In the letter, she
said she would like him to tell what he knows about the incident.
One of the photos taken by Latif shows Nagai, 50, lying on the ground
after being shot holding a video camera.
Yamaji said that Latif's account has revealed new facts, such as the
exact time the incident occurred, but that it remains difficult to
resolve the row between Japan and Myanmar over whether Nagai was shot
from close range or not.
Myanmar has rejected Japanese police findings that Nagai was shot from
close range and has stood firm on its claim that security forces fired
"from a distance" during the crackdown.
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The Nation
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Open letter to Ibrahim Gambari, envoy to Burma
Published on Mar 8, 2008
Excellency, we are writing to you on the eve of your visit to Burma to
share with you our utmost concern following the announcement by the
military government in February that a constitutional referendum will
be held in May, to be followed by elections in 2010. On February 19
the junta announced that the draft text of the Constitution had been
completed, but it has not been made public yet.
The International Federation for Human Rights considers this move as
mere window-dressing to appease the international community and to
actually perpetuate the military dictator****p.
The junta, ignoring the results of 1990's election, has pursued since
1993 a National Convention in charge of drafting a new Constitution
for the country. Any criticism against the drafting process was
considered a criminal offence.
The National League for Democracy (NLD) has been excluded from
participation and the process has been unanimously criticised as
undemocratic, non-participative and opaque. After the National
Convention ended its work, a body composed of 54 members selected by
the junta, the Constitution Drafting Commission, was appointed to
finalise the draft.
According to Supreme Court chief justice and chairman of the
Constitution Drafting Commission, Aung Toe, the draft was drawn up
with the objective of ensuring a leading role in politics for the
military; this means that the military will maintain a strong
influence in any future civilian government.
Another clause re****tedly bars candidates married to foreigners from
standing for election, which de facto excludes Aung San Suu Kyi from
the electoral process.
The mere fact that the draft was finalised behind closed doors by
persons appointed by the junta deprives the resulting draft of any
credibility.
A constitution can only be the fruit of an open and participatory
process, inclusive of opposition political parties - and in particular
the main one, the NLD - as well as representatives of ethnic
minorities. Such a process must entail the possibility of an informed
public debate on issues that are crucial for the future of Burma.
The current extremely repressive climate and the persistence of
serious, continued and systematic human rights violations in the
country are definitely obstacles to such a genuine process.
The recent arrest, on February 15, of two journalists, Thet Zin and
Sein Win Aung of Myanmar Nation magazine at their office in Rangoon,
demonstrates once more the total denial of freedom of expression in
Burma. As recently as February 5, the UN Special Rap****teur on Human
Rights in Burma, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, stated that "political and
human rights activists continue to be arrested, detained and sentenced
to prison terms under the security laws".
We hope that your forthcoming visit to Burma will contribute to induce
the Burmese government to create the conditions for dialogue and
reconciliation by putting an immediate end to the house arrest of Aung
San Suu Kyi and by releasing all political prisoners.
We also hope that it will foster a genuine process of national
reconciliation and democratisation through a meaningful and time-bound
dialogue between the military government, the national League for
Democracy (NLD) and ethnic representatives.
Souhayr Belhassen
Bangkok
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The Irrawaddy
Gambari to Meet NLD on Saturday
By WAI MOE - Friday, March 7, 2008
UN Special Envoy to Burma Ibrahim Gambari is scheduled to meet with
senior members of the main Burmese opposition party, the National
League for Democracy (NLD), on Saturday, according to a party
official.
Nyan Win, a spokesperson for the NLD, told The Irrawaddy on Friday
that authorities informed him that the NLD was permitted to meet with
Gambari and that five persons representing the party were allowed at
the meeting.
"Five members of the central executive committee will go and meet with
the UN special envoy tomorrow," said Nyan Win. "The NLD will talk over
the issue of establi****ng inclusive participation in the national
reconciliation process and a meaningful dialogue."
He also said that the party expected its leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, to
be included in Saturday's meeting, though he didn't confirm whether
she would, in fact, attend.
On Friday, the UN special envoy met for two hours with Information
Minister Brig-Gen Kyaw Hsan, who is also head of the military
council's information committee. Later, he met with Aung Toe, the
head of the Supreme Court, who has also been appointed chief of the
referendum commission under official decree 3/2008.
The UN Information Center announced on its website that Gambari
arrived in Rangoon on Thursday, where he held talks with Nyan Win. He
also met with the UN Country Team in Burma and the Diplomatic Corps,
as well as a representative of the International Committee of the Red
Cross (ICRC).
A UN press release stated: "In the next few days, Mr Gambari expects
to continue consultations with a broad range of representatives of
Burmese society, including [dissident and ethnic] groups which he was
not able to see during his last visit."
The last time Gambari visited Burma was in early November, when he
flew firstly to Naypyidaw. Although he was snubbed by Snr-Gen Than
Shwe, he was given permission to meet with Suu Kyi at a government
guest house in Rangoon.
Gambari is currently on his third trip to the country since the
junta's brutal crackdown on monk-led demonstrations in September, and
his fifth visit since May 2006.
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The Irrawaddy
Political Prisoner, 'Afraid of Nothing,' Dies of TB
By SAW YAN NAING - Friday, March 7, 2008
A political prisoner, Win Tin, also known as Annul, a youth member of
the main opposition National League for Democracy, died on Thursday in
Tharrawaddy Prison in Burma, while serving a 24-year sentence of hard
labor, according to a human rights group.
Win Tin, 30, died of tuberculosis in the prison in Pegu Division,
according to the Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political
Prisoners (Burma).
A Muslim, Win Tin was arrested in 1999 for his political activities.
Myat Hla, the chairman of the NLD office in Pegu, said, "He [Win Tin]
had been suffering from tuberculosis for a long time. We heard often
that his health condition was bad, and he didn't receive medical
treatment in prison. This morning, when his family members went to see
him, he had already died."
Win Tin is survived by his wife. He joined the NLD when he was
teenager and was very active in the political movement, said Myat
Hla.
"He was afraid nothing," he said.
Bo Kyi, the joint secretary of the AAPP, said Win Tin had suffered
from tuberculosis since 2002. He didn't receive proper medical
treatment in spite of specific requests from his family members to
prison authorities, he said.
"Medical treatment in Burmese prisons is very poor," said Bo Kyi. "If
the authorities don't provide sufficient medical treatment, more
prisoners will die in the future."
The military government charged Win Tin with activities destructive to
the stability of the regime.
The AAPP estimates that there are 1,864 political prisoners in Burmese
prisons.
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Mizzima News - March 7, 2008
Burma on cusp of failure
Burma is one of only five countries outside of sub-Saharan Africa to
be strapped with the label of "critically weak," according to a 2008
study.
The research, conducted through the Brookings Institution and co-
authored by Susan Rice and Stewart Patrick, is aimed at assisting
American policymakers in their *****sment of where attention should be
given as well as highlighting positive correlations between individual
indicators and a state's likelihood of failure.
Overall Burma is listed as the 17th weakest state, largely as a result
of receiving the second-poorest overall "political" score, trailing
only Somalia. Burma's dire political situation is partially the result
of its receiving the lowest possible scores for "voice and
accountability" and "freedom," while coming in third worst for
"corruption."
Though also scoring in the bottom fifth in "economics" and "security,"
it comes as something of a surprise to find the Southeast Asian
country placing in the middle of the table for "social welfare."
With respect to economics, Burma's lowest scores came for "regulatory
controls" and "inflation."
Through analysis of the findings Rice and Patrick determine a strong
relation****p between poverty and the propensity of state failure,
concluding that the United States should drastically increase its
commitment to poverty alleviation - an initiative which United Nations
Special Advisor to Burma Ibrahim Gambari has already, and thus far
unsuccessfully, tried to address. However, the authors warn that
America should desist from unilateral attempts at state building.
Estimates are that Burma's per capita income in 2007 was less than
$2,000.
Interestingly, no strong correlation is found between the incidence of
a military coup and the weakness of a state.
With vocal calls for ASEAN to assume a leading role in bringing reform
and stability to Burma, the study, looking at 141 "developing" nations
from around the world, includes eight of the ten ASEAN members, with
less than enthusiastic findings.
Rankings for ASEAN's other entries are: Cambodia (34), Laos (45),
Philippines (58), Indonesia (77), Thailand (79), Vietnam (83) and
Malaysia (124). Malaysia is the only entry that falls outside the
researcher's classifications of either "weak" or "states to watch."
However Southeast Asia is termed as being stronger and more stable
that South Asia, with which Burma also shares a historical legacy as
well as geographical boundary.
Somalia, Afghanistan and the Congo are the three lowest ranking
entries, and are defined by the re****ts authors as the three "failed
states" at this time.
Brookings Institution is a Wa****ngton, D.C.-based think tank. The 2008
study is entitled "Index of State Weakness in the Developing World."
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