CNN 14 February 2008

BANGKOK, Thailand — The Karen National Union secretary-general Mahn Sha was shot and killed Thursday in what the ethnic rebel group is calling an assassination by the Myanmar junta, a KNU official told CNN.

Two gunmen attacked him at his home in Mae Sot, a town on the Myanmar-Thailand border, the official said.

The rebel group has received numerous warnings that Myanmar’s military leaders were planning to target and kill KNU leaders, the official said.

Thai police Col. Pasawat Tangjui said the killing may have been the result of internal differences in the rebel group, The Associated Press reported.

No one has claimed responsibility for the murder, according to AP.

The killing comes less than a week after Myanmar’s ruling junta announced a plan to hold a referendum on a new constitution in May and national elections in 2010 — a plan denounced by pro-democracy opposition leaders.

KNU is a major rebel group that operates in the border area and is trying to establish autonomy for the Karen ethnic minority.

The government of Myanmar, also known as Burma, blames the KNU for waging attacks to destabilize the military junta that has run the country for two decades.

Reuters – 12 February 2008

BANGKOK – Myanmar’s ruling generals should be given the benefit of the doubt if they are serious about moving the country toward democracy, Surin Pitsuwan, chief of Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), said on Tuesday.

“It has to begin somewhere and now it has a clear, definite beginning,” Surin said of the junta’s planned May referendum on an army-written constitution, followed by elections in 2010.

“I think it is a development in the right direction,” the former Thai foreign minister told Reuters on the sidelines of a business seminar in Bangkok.

Surin said the international community’s growing frustration at Myanmar’s intransigent generals was understandable, but he said they should be given a chance to fulfil their pledges.

“Everybody has their own agenda on the issue,” said Surin, who leads one of the few international groupings that allow Myanmar into the club.

“We have to wait and see how things are going to develop and unfold. Whether these steps are going to lead to true national reconciliation which is what people inside have been asking for and the international community has been waiting for,” he said.

Surin said Myanmar’s announcement would be discussed by ASEAN foreign ministers meeting in Singapore later this month.

“I am sure they will be very keen to ask some questions and to consult among themselves how they can contribute or help,” said Surin, who was critical of Myanmar when he served as Thailand’s foreign minister from 1997-2000.

Agence-France Press – 12 February 2008

Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy on Tuesday urged the military government to create a “fair political climate,” after the regime announced a constitutional referendum for May.

The party did not directly mention the junta’s plans for a referendum, which is meant to clear the way for elections in 2010, but repeated its long-standing call for a dialogue with the junta on national reconciliation.

“The (junta) has the main responsibility to realise national reconciliation, which is essential for the country,” the party said in a statement, read out by senior member Than Tun.

“Moreover, it also has the responsibility to create a fair political climate and environment,” the statement added.

The party also repeated its call for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, who has spent 12 of the last 18 years under house arrest, as well as her deputy Tin Oo and 1,800 other political prisoners believed held in the country.

Tin Oo is also under house arrest, and the military is expected to announce an extension of his confinement this week.

ABC News 10 Feb 2008

Federal Foreign Affairs Minister Stephen Smith says a promise by Burma’s military government to hold general elections in 2010 is a sham.

Burma’s military junta also says it will hold a constitutional referendum in May, despite the fact that the constitution document has not been completed.

The announcement was made on Burmese state television last night and has come as a surprise to pro-democracy supporters inside and outside of Burma.

The winner of the country’s last national vote, the National League for Democracy, says it is sceptical about the announcement.

It has been kept out of the political process and critics say without the NLD’s participation reconciliation and democracy are not possible.

Mr Smith says he is not convinced.

“The Australian Government, frankly, is very cynical,” he said.

“We are very sceptical that this is nothing more than a sham. The only way we will believe that there is true movement in Burma is when we have full and free participation from all the political players.”

Members of the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma – a group calling itself the exiled government – says the constitutional process has been controlled by the military, which is seeking to protect its own interests.

The United Nations and other international bodies have been leaning on Burma’s military leaders to get on with democratic reforms after last year’s brutal crackdown against protesting monks and civilians.

The military seized power in 1962 and has ruled ever since.