New Myanmar president hosts top Chinese official

Chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) Jia Qinglin (C) signs the guest book at the Shwedagon pagoda during his visit to Myanmar, in Yangon on April 4, 2011. Qinglin is on an official visit to Myanmar a few days after Myanmar's military made way for a nominally civilian government after almost half a century in power. -- PHOTO: AFP

YANGON (Myanmar) - A TOP official of China's ruling Communist Party has become the first high-ranking foreign visitor to meet with Myanmar's new president since a civilian government took office.

The state-run New Light of Myanmar newspaper reported that Jia Qinglin, the Communist Party's fourth-highest ranking official, met with newly sworn-in President Thein Sein and pledged cooperation for political and economic development. Jia arrived Saturday for a four-day visit.

China has been the main ally of Myanmar, which is shunned by the West for its poor record on human rights and democracy.

Critics claim that last November's general election was unfair and meant to perpetuate military rule behind a democratic facade.

The new, nominally civilian government was sworn in March 30. -- AP

Than Shwe retires as head of Myanmar military

YANGON - MYANMAR strongman Than Shwe, who ruled with an iron fist for almost two decades, has retired as head of the military after handing power to a nominally civilian government, officials said on Monday.

Than Shwe, previously known as the 'senior general', last week disbanded the ruling junta following a November election marred by the absence of democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi and claims of cheating and intimidation.

'The senior general and vice-senior general (Maung Aye) have retired already,' a Myanmar official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.

'They are going to have a rest now.' A second official said: 'Although they are retired, they will give some advice when the government asks for it.'

The army hierarchy retains a firm grip on power in the resource-rich South-east Asian country, and many analysts believe Than Shwe will retain a significant role behind the scenes. -- AFP

Myanmar warns against 'decadent' dress for New Year's

YANGON (Myanmar) - REVELLERS who wear 'decadent' clothing during Myanmar's upcoming New Year's celebrations can face up to a month in prison, a news report said on Sunday.

The four-day festival begins April 13 and marks the traditional New Year on the lunisolar calendar that is also used in Thailand, Laos and Cambodia. It's one of the few times when Myanmar's citizens can cut loose under the watchful eye of the repressive regime.

Revellers in the impoverished country splash one another with water and dance in the streets, despite annual warnings of proper etiquette from the government. Myanmar was under military rule for 50 years.

Following elections last year, the junta was officially disbanded and handed power to a nominally civilian government, but the rules for partying during the New Year's celebration remain unchanged. The News Watch journal, a weekly magazine, issued the government's warning for merrymakers to 'avoid wearing dress that is contrary to Myanmar culture.' It said that a special committee will supervise what people are wearing and will use CCTV cameras to videotape crowds.

Those caught 'wearing decadent attire' can face a fine and up to one month in prison, the weekly reported. It did not specify what clothing was banned, but government warnings in the past have called on women not to wear skimpy tank tops and short shorts.

Past warnings have also told revelers to avoid making remarks that could hurt national unity, not to honk horns and to avoid horseplay that could injure people, like throwing bags filled with ice. -- AFP

US says Myanmar remains 'oppressive'

Asian Social Politics - WASHINGTON - THE United States said on Wednesday it remains deeply concerned by the 'oppressive political environment' in Myanmar even with the disbanding of a military junta.

Washington is demanding the release of political prisoners and official recognition of the National League for Democracy, the main and now dissolved opposition party of pro-democracy activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

'We remain deeply concerned about Burma's oppressive political environment,' said State Department spokesman Mark Toner. Myanmar's strongman leader Senior General Than Shwe signed a decree officially dissolving the military junta, clearing the way for the installation of a civilian government.

The army hierarchy retains a firm grip on power in the resource-rich South-east Asian country, however, and many analysts believe Than Shwe will attempt to retain some sort of control behind the scenes.

The handover came after widely-panned elections last November - the country's first in 20 years - which were marred by the absence of Suu Kyi and claims of cheating and intimidation.

Mr Toner, without commenting directly on the move, blasted the November vote as a 'fundamentally flawed electoral process that has ensured the key military regime figures have continued to dominate the government.' -- AFP

Myanmar to swear in president in days

Prime Minister Thein Sein, who shed his army uniform to contest controversial elections last year, was in February named for the top job in the new parliament, which critics fear is masking ongoing army rule. -- PHOTO: AP

YANGON - MYANMAR will swear in its new president within two days, paving the way for the imminent transfer of power from the ruling junta to a nominally civilian government, officials said on Tuesday.

Prime Minister Thein Sein, who shed his army uniform to contest controversial elections last year, was in February named for the top job in the new parliament, which critics fear is masking ongoing army rule.

'The president will be sworn in tomorrow. If they cannot hold it tomorrow, it will be the day after tomorrow,' the official told AFP.

'After he is sworn in, the ruling State Peace and Development Council will hand over power to the new government.' -- AFP

Two dead as strong quake hits Myanmar: Officials

Residents stand outside a building after an earthquake in Hanoi. Witnesses said the tremors were felt in Bangkok, Myanmar and as far away as the Vietnam capital of Hanoi where people were evacuated from tall buildings. --PHOTO: REUTERS

YANGON - A STRONG earthquake struck Myanmar near the Thai border on Thursday, killing at least two people, including a child, officials from both countries said, with shaking felt across the region.

Terrified residents fled their homes, tall buildings swayed and hospitals and schools were evacuated after tremors spread as far away as Bangkok, almost 800km from the epicentre, Hanoi and parts of China.

The US Geological Survey (USGS) initially recorded the quake as magnitude 7.0, but later revised it down to 6.8. A powerful aftershock was later measured at magnitude 5.4. The epicentre was close to the borders with Thailand and Laos and was just 10km deep.

A Myanmar official said a youngster died in a town close to the border with Thailand. 'We received a report that a child was killed in Tachileik town when a building collapsed because of the quake,' said the official, who declined to be named.

Another three people were reported to have been injured in a different part of the town, which was close to the epicentre of the quake, and a resident said he could feel a tremor as he spoke to AFP.

Just across the border from Tachileik in Thailand, police in Mae Sai district said a 52-year-old woman was killed after a wall of her house collapsed. Colonel Thanomsak Yospan, superintendent of Mae Sai district police, told AFP that the woman's home was poorly constructed and did not stand up to the tremor. -- AFP

QUAKE FELT IN BANGKOK, YUNNAN, HANOI

The quake struck 90km north of Chiang Rai and 235km north-north-east of Chiang Mai, Thailand's second city and a popular tourist destination. Tall buildings shuddered in Bangkok during the tremor.

In China, villagers around 40km the Myanmar border in the south-western province of Yunnan said buildings swayed for over a minute during the quake, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

More than 350 students and teachers were evacuated from a school in Menghai County, Yunnan, after the building developed cracks, Xinhua said.

People in the southern Chinese city of Nanning, nearly 900km from the epicentre, fled buildings when they felt tremors, Xinhua said. No casualties were reported in China.

In central Hanoi - in Vietnam, away from the epicentre - the quake was felt as a smooth rocking motion that lasted for several seconds. Some Hanoi residents fled their homes in a panic, but there were no immediate reports of damage.

The quake comes two weeks after Japan was hit by a monster earthquake, which unleashed a devastating tsunami that left around 27,000 people dead or missing and triggered a crisis at its Fukushima nuclear plant. -- AFP

Myanmar judge denies bail to Australian publisher

YANGON - A MYANMAR court has refused to allow an Australian publisher charged with violating immigration law to be freed on bail.

Judge Aung Min said on Thursday that bail would not be granted for Ross Dunkley because he is in good health.

Dunkley has been held at Yangon's notorious Insein prison since his Feb 10 arrest. He is charged with drugging a local woman and with violating immigration law by committing an illegal act.

The maximum penalty is 10 years in prison for the drugging charge and five years for the immigration charge.

Dunkley has denied the accusations. His associates say the charges are related to a business dispute and are designed to force him to relinquish control of the English-language Myanmar Times newspaper. -- AP

Myanmar democracy group slams military fund

YANGON - MYANMAR'S pro-democracy group on Friday criticised a new law that allows Myanmar's military chief access to a special fund without any oversight from parliament.

The fund - created at the same time as the new budget of which almost one-fourth was allocated to the military - can be used by the commander in chief to pay for expenses related to national defense and security. He needs only the president's approval to do so, according to a statement from Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy.

Myanmar President-elect Thein Sein is a former general who served as the outgoing ruling junta's prime minister. He now heads the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party, which won a huge majority in last November's election that much of the international community dismissed as rigged in favor of the junta. A mandatory allocation of one-quarter of the seats in parliament to military appointees assures that the ruling generals remain in charge.

The Special Funds law allows the money to be used 'to safeguard national sovereignty and protect disintegration of the union' and says the military commander 'shall not be subject to questioning, explanation or auditing by any individual or organisation' regarding its use.

So-called secret funds are used in several countries to conceal details of sensitive military and intelligence activities. However, they can also serve as slush funds, leading to corruption because users are not held accountable for them.

'Since the law allows the commander in chief to use the funds without having the need to answer to anyone or any organisation, the law is not in line with norms of the law,' said the NLD statement. -- AP

Myanmar to enforce ban on illegal ivory business

YANGON - MEDIA in Myanmar are reporting that tourists who buy ivory souvenirs risk having them confiscated as part of a crackdown on the illegal ivory trade.

Forestry officials quoted in the 7-Day News Journal said that authorities are aware that handicraft shops in Yangon and Mandalay openly sell ivory goods, despite laws aimed at protecting elephants.

Friday's report said that officials will step up enforcement of laws ivory sales.

It cited a wildlife protection law that lists elephants as endangered species and carries a seven-year prison sentence for people who kill or hunt the animals or sell their parts.

The report said foreigners who buy ivory souvenirs would have them confiscated. -- AP

Foreign minister assures Suu Kyi of Czech support

PRAGUE - THE Czech Republic's foreign minister says his country opposes lifting of European Union sanctions against Myanmar.

Karel Schwarzenberg told Myanmar's pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi during a phone call on Monday that his country supports her call for maintaining international sanctions against Myanmar.

Mr Schwarzenberg called Ms Suu Kyi 'one of the biggest heroes of our time' and said she should have access to international leaders. -- AP

Polio afflicts child in Myanmar, vaccinations planned

GENEVA - MYANMAR is stepping up its polio vaccinations after the crippling virus emerged for the first time in more than three years, infecting an infant, the World Health Organisation said on Wednesday.

A seven-month-old girl caught a rare strain of polio that can spread when some people in a community are immunised with oral polio vaccine (OPV) and others are not, WHO spokesman Oliver Rosenbauer said. She had not been vaccinated against the disease.

'On very rare occasions, when replicating in the human gut, OPV strains genetically change and may spread in communities that are not fully vaccinated, especially in areas where there is poor hygiene, poor sanitation or overcrowding,' he said.

Polio is transmitted in human excrement. Communities that lack clean water, toilets and sewer systems are particularly vulnerable to infections when not enough people are immunised against the virus.

There are no other known cases of paralysis from the strain in Myanmar, which was found in December, according to the WHO. More than 10,000 children have been immunised in response to the discovery and more vaccinations are planned.

'It seems to have occurred in an area with population immunity gaps, so the key is to rapidly raise immunity levels,' Mr Rosenbauer said. Polio attacks the nervous system and can cause irreversible paralysis within hours, with young children most vulnerable. -- REUTERS

129 fleeing Myanmar found in boat off Indonesia

Indonesian marine police say they have picked up 129 starving, dehydrated people whose boat engine broke down while they were fleeing Myanmar. -- PHOTO: AP

BANDA ACEH (Indonesia) - INDONESIAN marine police say they have picked up 129 starving, dehydrated people whose boat engine broke down while they were fleeing Myanmar.

Police Col. Muhammad Zaini says fishermen discovered the rickety, 14m boat off the coast of westernmost Aceh province and towed it to shore early on Wednesday.

He says the passengers - all males belonging to the ethnic Rohingya minority - had run out of food and water and were severely dehydrated and weak.

One man told investigators they were fleeing violence and pressure by Myanmar's government.

The Rohingyas, who are not recognised by Myanmar's government, have fled by the hundreds of thousands to Bangladesh, Malaysia and the Middle East. -- AP

Myanmar's Suu Kyi: No reason to lift sanctions

Ms Suu Kyi, asked by Reuters at a party function on Saturday to elaborate, said sanctions had to be discussed. -- PHOTO: AP

YANGON - MYANMAR'S pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi said on Saturday she saw no reason for Western countries to lift sanctions against the military-dominated government, but the issue had to be discussed.

Myanmar, ruled by the military since a 1962 coup, held its first elections in two decades last year and authorities later released Ms Suu Kyi from house arrest. But the military shows no sign of loosening its grip.

Ms Suu Kyi's political party said on Tuesday it supported Western sanctions but wanted talks on whether to modify them, signalling a willingness to discuss a more flexible approach.

Ms Suu Kyi, asked by Reuters at a party function on Saturday to elaborate, said sanctions had to be discussed.

'Whether or not to lift the sanctions is something to be decided after discussions,' she said.

'At the present situation, I don't see any reason to lift the sanctions.' She did not elaborate on who should discuss the issue. -- REUTERS

Myanmar opens junta-dominated parliament

NAYPYIDAW - MYANMAR'S new junta-dominated parliament opened on Monday as lawmakers assembled in secrecy following a widely panned election for the country's first legislative session since the late 1980s.

No foreign media representatives were allowed to witness the event or even take photographs of the new parliament building where elected and designated lawmakers convened in the military regime's purpose-built capital, Naypyidaw.

'Parliament started at 8:55 (am, 0225 GMT, 10:25 am S'pore time). All members attended,' a Myanmar official told AFP on condition of anonymity, while police manned checkpoints and barricades leading up to the chambers.

The timing - almost certainly a product of the regime's penchant for astrology - was just one aspect of the new parliament peculiar to a nation that has withered under the iron grip of military rule since 1962.

Myanmar activists and analysts were divided over whether Monday's opening heralded at least a small step towards positive political change or simply consolidated the power of the military behind a semblance of civilian rule.

After a rare election in November marred by the absence of democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi and claims of cheating and intimidation, the junta was set to easily dominate Myanmar's first parliamentary session in two decades. -- AFP

Myanmar 'yearns' to join global community: Suu Kyi

Myanmar democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi is pictured on a giant screen as she speaks in an audio address to the World Economic Forum, in Davos. -- PHOTO: AFP

DAVOS (Switzerland) - MYANMAR democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi told a gathering of the world business elite at the Swiss resort of Davos that her countrymen 'yearn to be a part of the global community.'

'I would like to speak on behalf of the 55 million people of Burma who have for the most part been left behind,' she said, in an audio address to the World Economic Forum, the world's most influential annual networking event.

'We yearn to be a part of the global community: not only to be economically and socially connected, but also to achieve the domestic political stability and national reconciliation that would enable us to fully address the needs of our people,' she added.

Ms Suu Kyi said her isolated, junta-ruled country has already 'missed so many opportunities because of political conflicts' over the last five decades. But she acknowledged that without political stability and national reconciliation, the country could not be integrated in the global community.

She urged potential investors to respect the environment and human rights, saying: 'I look forward to the day when there will be a political and social environment that is favourable to a wide range of investments in Burma.'

'We are certainly in need of innovation and diversification if our country is to fulfil the aspirations of its people and catch up with the rest of the world,' she said. -- AFP

Thai police to deport 91 Rohingya to Myanmar

Police in Thailand have arrested 91 Rohingya boat people after they landed on the country's southern coast. -- PHOTO: AP

BANGKOK - POLICE in Thailand have arrested 91 Rohingya boat people after they landed on the country's southern coast and are planning to deport them to Myanmar, they said on Monday.

The Muslim, Bengali-speaking Rohingya of Myanmar are described by the United Nations as one of the world's most persecuted minorities.

The group, all men of different ages, were detained after coming to shore on Saturday evening with boat engine problems, according to Visit Tangpong, police chief in Trang province's Kantang district.

He said he thought the group were on their way from Myanmar to Malaysia.

'We are providing basic humanitarian assistance with food and water, but they were illegal immigrants. We have to follow our laws,' he said.

Police Colonel Putthipong Musikul, of the immigration office in Songkhla province where the group are being held, said they would be sent back, probably within one or two days. -- AFP

5,000 smuggled snakes seized in Myanmar

YANGON - TWO men have been arrested for allegedly trying to smuggle nearly 5,000 snakes from Myanmar to China.

The local news journal Modern said on Saturday that the men would be charged under the Wildlife Conservation Act.

China is a major market for Myanmar's still abundant wildlife, which is eaten or used for purported medicines and aphrodisiacs by the Chinese in vast quantities. -- AP

Myanmar's Suu Kyi gets web access

Suu Kyi has expressed an interest in using the micro-blogging site Twitter or the social network Facebook to reach young people. -- PHOTO: AFP

YANGON - MYANMAR democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi has finally had Internet access installed at home after her years of isolation were brought to an end two months ago, an aide said on Friday.

Her security chief Win Htein told AFP that the opposition leader was 'glad' to be able to go online at her lakeside mansion in Yangon and would use the technology to contact her network of supporters.

'But she cannot use the Internet now as she is not feeling well and is coughing,' he said. It is believed that the Nobel laureate has never before surfed the web.

Suu Kyi, who was locked up for seven straight years with no telephone or Internet until November, has expressed an interest in using the micro-blogging site Twitter or the social network Facebook to reach young people.

She applied to a private company for Internet access soon after she was released, but the request was transferred to Yatanarpon Teleport, a firm run by the country's military authorities.

Citizens of Myanmar, which has been ruled by the military since 1962, must obtain the authorities' permission to be able to go online at home and there is a thriving black market for facilities under assumed identities. -- AFP

Hillary Clinton calls Suu Kyi, pledges support

WASHINGTON - SECRETARY of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is pledging to work with Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi to promote democracy in Myanmar.

Department spokesman PJ Crowley said in a post on Twitter that Mrs Clinton called Ms Suu Kyi on Wednesday.

Ms Suu Kyi was released from house arrest after the country held its first elections in two decades in November. She had been detained for seven years.

Her National League for Democracy party said the elections were a sham and did not take part. It was disbanded by the government as a result. -- AP

Suu Kyi in party ban appeal

Myanmar's pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi delivers a speech at the headquarters of her National League for Democracy party in Yangon, Myanmar. -- PHOTO: AP

YANGON - DEMOCRACY icon Aung San Suu Kyi appealed to Myanmar's Supreme Court on Thursday, the latest in a string of legal wranglings over the dissolution of her political party before last year's elections.

The Nobel Peace Prize winner's National League for Democracy (NLD) was disbanded for boycotting the military-ruled country's first election in 20 years in response to rules that seemed designed to bar her from taking part.

'We submitted our special appeal to the Supreme Court in (the capital) Naypyidaw this afternoon. We are waiting for their reply,' said Nyan Win, one of Ms Suu Kyi's lawyers and a party spokesman.

Ms Suu Kyi, a co-founder of the NLD, was released from more than seven years in detention on Nov 13, a few days after the rare election in which the junta-backed party claimed overwhelming victory.

Shortly after her release, the court refused to hear her lawsuit against the junta for dissolving the NLD. She had unsuccessfully filed an earlier suit with the Supreme Court aimed at preventing its abolition.

Court verdicts in the military-ruled country rarely favour opposition activists, and a series of appeals by Ms Suu Kyi against her house arrest - before it expired in November - were rejected. -- AFP