ARAKAN INDOBHASA

'The Lady' is not for Myanmar audiences

2012-02-14T08:19:00.000-08:00

Bangkok Post

The long-awaited film The Lady, a biopic of Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the National League for Democracy (NLD) who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991, has now been shown in Thailand.

A scene from the Luc Besson film, ‘‘The Lady’’, starring Michelle Yeoh, above, as Aung San Suu Kyi.

It is also available on pirated DVD in Myanmar.

Luc Besson, the director, said he did not want to focus on her life as a politician and instead he chose to portray The Lady on a very personal level, focusing on how a woman as a politician deals with her family life.

I went to see The Lady with a big group of my Myanmar friends; some were actors who actually played roles in the film such as General Aung San, General Than Shwe and an NLD member. Others in the group were filmmakers from Myanmar who happened to be in Chiang Mai for the Lifescape Film Festival organised by Payap University.

After the first few minutes, I was surprised to hear my friends giggling. The Lady is supposed to be a serious movie about contemporary Myanmar history _ a history these very people were a part of, about events in which they had participated and which eventually drove them into exile. They were supposed to be crying, not laughing. What was going on here?

As the movie progressed, I came to understand why my friends thought The Lady was a joke.

Luc Besson may have intended to make The Lady personal. It is not wrong to focus on the tragic love and incredible life of one woman who has stood up against one of the most brutal regimes in the world. What was disappointing about the film was not the plot, the acting or the cinematography, but Mr Besson's cultural ignorance and misrepresentation of Myanmar's history.

Below are examples of what the Myanmar actors who played roles in the film, feel reflected the cultural ignorance of the director.

On Mrs Suu Kyi's personal life, The Lady gets perspectives about her personality wrong. She appears to be crying a lot, which was not quite the case in reality. On Aug 26, 1988 when she speaks in front of a large crowd at the Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon, she appears nervous and tells her husband that this is her first ever public speech. In fact, this was her second public speech and she was confident enough to do this without the presence of her husband, Michael Aris.

The most serious historical inaccuracy lay in the fact that Michael Aris was not even there during the mass demonstration in Yangon. Mrs Suu Kyi had come to Myanmar to nurse her sick mother; her family had not followed her. She was there alone during the protest.
While placing emphasis on the role of Michael Aris in her life, the film simultaneously makes her look less intelligent.

Other things which the Myanmar audience sees as a misrepresentation of Burmese culture include the lip-kissing scenes between Mrs Suu Kyi and her husband, which appear often in the movie.

Second is the scene where protesters of the Saffron Revolution walk to her house and stop there. Mrs Suu Kyi walks to the gate of her house and steps up above the gate to throw flowers to bless the monks, and the monks clap their hands. In reality, Mrs Suu Kyi opened the gate surrounded with security and paid her respects to the monks. My friends from Myanmar complained that, ''We Burmese never kiss publicly, and Burmese people never stand above monks.''

Luc Besson may have wanted to dramatise Mrs Suu Kyi's love and family life, but in so doing he has portrayed the Myanmar people as ''savage and primitive''. Gen Than Shwe is presented as a stupid tyrant who believes in fortune-tellers. It is true that Myanmar's generals seek the advice of fortune-tellers, but they are not stupid enough to believe in everything these seers tell them.

In the scene where they take NLD members to sweep for landmines, I too could not help but laugh to see the director portray Myanmar soldiers half-naked, with tattoos covering their faces. Some of my friends were riled by this. 'The army may be brutal, but they are not that savage. That scene makes them look as if they were from the Stone Age.''

Pho Zaw, a Burmese migrant who stars as Gen Aung San, said he discovered many inaccuracies. For example, the sign of the NLD party that was written in Burmese contained misspellings. He also thought the scene when he gets assassinated has been wrongly represented. He said he told the director that this was wrong, but the reaction from Luc Besson was: ''This is a feature film, not a documentary.''

To me, personally, one of the most disturbing aspects of the film is that Michael Aris seems to play a very important role in Mrs Suu Kyi's political life i.e. being with her during her first public speech, being present all the time during the student demonstrations, and lobbying for Mrs Suu Kyi's Nobel Peace Prize. The movie also presents him as a man unable to do anything when his wife is not around to cook and care for the family. It is true that this is not a documentary, but at least, could not the director have respected the fact that Mrs Suu Kyi is an intelligent woman? She has chosen her path. She would never ask the security in front of her house, ''Can you speak English?'' She is not a woman who cries all the time because her family has been torn apart. By making Michael Aris more important, Luc Besson has made Mrs Suu Kyi less intelligent. She is depicted as a simple housewife whose life is turned upside down.

In the end, however, no matter how much cultural ignorance the director displays, how much he misrepresents Burmese culture, or how he displays Myanmar soldiers as savages, I must thank Luc Besson for making this film.

Michelle Yeoh's performance is outstanding. And despite the flaws, I hope the film generates a sense of awareness for this corner of the world in which many problems are still waiting to be solved.

Nasa budget slashes Martian funds

2012-02-14T03:40:00.000-08:00

BBC

By Paul Rincon Science editor, BBC News website

The ExoMars project was formally initiated by European space ministers in 2005

President Barack Obama's 2013 budget request for Nasa would slash spending on Mars exploration and shift funds to human spaceflight and space technology.

As reported by BBC News last week, this means the US will pull the plug on its joint missions to Mars with Europe.

If approved by Congress, the budget request would reduce funds available for planetary science by about 21%.

But spending on human exploration and space technology would rise by 6% and 22% respectively.

"There's no doubt that tough decisions had to be made," Nasa's administrator Charles Bolden told a news conference in Washington DC.

But he added: "This is a stable budget that enables us to support a diverse portfolio."
Overall, Nasa would receive about $17.7bn for next year, with a flat budget envisaged over the next few years.

While the budget is flat, the agency needs to pay for its flagship James Webb Space Telescope mission, the budget for which is projected to rise from $476.8m in 2011 to $659m in 2014.

It also has major commitments going forward to fund the development of a huge new rocket and capsule system to take astronauts beyond low-Earth orbit to destinations such as the Moon and asteroids.

Nasa chief Charles Bolden admitted that tough choices had to be made

The biggest loser in this re-prioritisation is planetary science in general and Mars exploration in particular which will receive $360.8m, a reduction of almost 40% from the FY 2012 estimate.

As a result, Mr Bolden said: "We will not be moving ahead with the 2016 and 2018 ExoMars opportunities that we had been exploring with the European Space Agency."

The Planetary Society, a California-based space advocacy group, said in a statement: "The US Administration is proposing a budget for fiscal year 2013 that would force Nasa to walk away from planned missions to Mars, delay for decades any flagship missions to the outer planets, and radically slow the pace of scientific discovery, including the search for life on other worlds."

Nasa is committed to developing a huge new rocket known as SLS

Space policy expert John Logsdon told Space.com: "Underpinning this is not committing to a long-term Mars programme ending in a multibillion-dollar sample-return mission." He added: "They don't want to head down that road."

Nasa says it will work with partners to develop an "integrated" Mars strategy - though detail was scarce on this point. The Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover will land on the Red Planet this year and the Maven mission, to study the Martian atmosphere, will still go ahead in 2013.

Responding to criticisms of swingeing cuts to the Mars programme, Mr Bolden said: "For someone to say we're walking away from Mars with the biggest rover (MSL) not even there yet, I don't think that makes much sense."

However, the proposals are unlikely to be waived through in Congress and it is probable the final figures will be somewhat different.

The retirement of the space shuttle fleet means that, for the best part of this decade, US astronauts will be dependent on Russian Soyuz flights to transport them to the International Space Station. But the space agency said it was working to end this reliance on Russia as soon as possible.

Mr Bolden said the first flight of a crewed commercial vehicle would probably take place by 2017. The first manned mission using the Orion capsule, which is intended to carry people beyond low-Earth orbit, would likely occur no earlier than 2021, he said.

LHC to boost proton energies to 8 TeV

2012-02-14T03:38:00.001-08:00

BBC

Two teams at the LHC have seen hints of what may well prove to be the Higgs

Scientists at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) will increase the energies of the bunches of subatomic particles called protons that it smashes together.

The boost should improve the collider's chances of discovering "new physics" and definitively confirming or denying the existence of Higgs boson particle.

The proton beams' energies will be increased by 14%, for a total collision energy of 8 trillion electron volts.

The announced increase will break the LHC's own high-energy record.

Since first switching on in 2008, operators at the LHC have cautiously increased the energy contained in each of the bunches of protons sent around the 27km collider, while lies beneath the Franco-Swiss border.

The decision to turn up the energy when the collider switches on again later this year was taken at a conference about the LHC in Chamonix in France.

What is an electronvolt?

Charged particles tend to speed up in an electric field, defined as an electric potential - or voltage - spread over a distance
One electron volt (eV) is the energy gained by a single electron as it accelerates through a potential of one volt
It is a convenient unit of measure for particle accelerators, which speed particles up through much higher electric potentials
The first accelerators only created bunches of particles with an energy of about a million eV
The LHC can reach beam energies a million times higher: up to several teraelectronvolts (TeV)
This is still only the energy in the motion of a flying mosquito
But LHC beams include trillions of these particles, each travelling at more than 99.999999% of the speed of light

"When we started operating the LHC for physics in 2010, we chose the lowest safe beam energy consistent with the physics we wanted to do," said Steve Myers, director for accelerators and technology at Cern, the laboratory that operates the LHC.

"Two good years of operational experience with beam and many additional measurements made during 2011 give us the confidence to safely move up a notch, and thereby extend the physics reach of the experiments before we go into the LHC's first long shutdown."

It is planned that the collider will collect data until November, after which it will be upgraded during a shutdown period that will last 20 months.

That should result in an operating proton beam energy of 14 trillion electronvolts, or teraelectronvolts - double the energy used to date.

The LHC collaboration hopes to reach that milestone in 2014, re-starting the hunt for "new physics" in early 2015.

In the 2012 run of experiments, the team hopes among other things to definitively confirm or rule out the existence of the Higgs boson, the particle hypothesised to be the origin of mass in the Universe.

In announcements made in December 2011, teams from the two major detectors at the facility announced they had seen hints of the particle but stopped short of claiming they had seen it with certainty.

Last week, the teams formally submitted their papers to academic journals for review by the scientific community.

While the data from the Atlas collaboration largely repeated what had been reported in December, the CMS collaboration's analysis included new data in support of a Higgs boson with a mass about 132 times that of the proton, slightly lower than that reported by Atlas.
Researchers are still investigating the discrepancy, which may affect the degree of certainty that the Higgs has in fact been glimpsed.

What is certain is that more data to be taken in 2012 will settle the debate.

While the collider's proton beam energies will be boosted by 14%, improvements in data handling and the ability to focus those proton beams mean that the machine's "luminosity" - a measure of how intense and productive the collisions ultimately are - should lead to a three-fold increase in data it produces compared to 2011.

Stem cells used to 'heal' heart attack scars

2012-02-14T03:37:00.000-08:00

BBC

By James Gallagher Health and science reporter, BBC News

Scar tissue forms after a heart attack

Damage caused by a heart attack has been healed using stem cells gathered from the patient's own heart, according to doctors in the US.

The amount of scar tissue was halved in the small safety trial reported in the Lancet medical journal.

The authors said there was also an "unprecedented" increase in new heart muscle.
The British Heart Foundation said it was "early days", but could "be great news for heart attack patients".

A heart attack happens when the organ is starved of oxygen, such as a clot blocking the flow of blood to the heart.

As the heart heals, the dead muscle is replaced with scar tissue, but because this does not beat like heart muscle the ability to pump blood around the body is reduced.

Doctors around the world are looking at ways of "regenerating" the heart to replace the scar tissue with beating muscle. Stem cells, which can transform into any other type of specialised cell, figure prominently in their plans.

Heart to heart

This trial, at the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute, was designed to test the safety of using stem cells taken from a heart attack patient's own heart.

Healing the heart

This is the second group of doctors to report using cells taken from a heart to heal a heart.
In November 2011, another safety trial showed the cells could be used to heal the hearts of heart failure patients who were having heart bypass surgery.

The heart is not the only source for these stem cells and other fields are much further ahead.
The largest ever trial of stem cell therapy in heart attack patients is about to get under way in Europe.

The BAMI trial will inject 3,000 heart attack patients with stem cells taken from their bone marrow within five days of the heart attack.

Cardiac cells 'heal heart damage'

Within a month of a heart attack, a tube was inserted into a vein in the patient's neck and was pushed down towards the heart. A sample of heart tissue, about "half the size of a raisin", was taken.

This was taken to the laboratory where the stem cells were isolated and grown. Up to 25 million of these stem cells were then put into the arteries surrounding the heart.

Twenty five patients took part in the trial. Before the treatment, scar tissue accounted for an average of 24% of their left ventricle, a major chamber of the heart. It went down to 16% after six months and 12% after a year.

Healthy heart muscle appeared to take its place. The study said the cells, "have an unprecedented ability to reduce scar and simultaneously stimulate the regrowth of healthy [heart] tissue".

One of the researchers Dr Eduardo Marban said: "While the primary goal of our study was to verify safety, we also looked for evidence that the treatment might dissolve scar and regrow lost heart muscle.

"This has never been accomplished before, despite a decade of cell therapy trials for patients with heart attacks. Now we have done it.

“Start Quote

These cells have been proven to form heart muscle in a Petri dish but now they seem to be doing the same thing when injected back into the heart as part of an apparently safe procedure”

Prof Jeremy Pearson British Heart Foundation

"The effects are substantial, and surprisingly larger in humans than they were in animal tests."

However, there was no increase in a significant measure of the heart's ability to pump - the left ventricle ejection fraction: the percentage of blood pumped out of the left ventricle.
Prof Anthony Mathur, who is co-ordinating a stem cell trial involving 3,000 heart attack patients, said that even if the study found an increase in ejection fraction then it would be the source of much debate.

He argued that as it was a proof-of-concept study, with a small group of patients, "proving it is safe and feasible is all you can ask".

"The findings would be very interesting, but obviously they need further clarification and evidence," he added.

Prof Jeremy Pearson, associate medical director at the British Heart Foundation, said: "It's the first time these scientists' potentially exciting work has been carried out in humans, and the results are very encouraging.

"These cells have been proven to form heart muscle in a petri dish but now they seem to be doing the same thing when injected back into the heart as part of an apparently safe procedure.

"It's early days, and this research will certainly need following up, but it could be great news for heart attack patients who face the debilitating symptoms of heart failure."

India minister Sibal says no censorship of social media

2012-02-14T03:36:00.000-08:00

BBC

Communications Minister Kapil Sibal has taken a strong line on the issue

India will not censor social media websites, Information Technology Minister Kapil Sibal has said.

But he added that internet firms must obey the country's laws.

Late last year, Mr Sibal said the government would introduce guidelines to ensure "blasphemous material" did not appear on the internet.

Internet firms say it is impossible to pre-filter material, but Facebook and Google recently said they had removed content after receiving complaints.

The firms are among a number of major internet players facing court cases and judges have threatened to block sites that fail to crack down on offensive content.

"I want to say once and for all, without any obfuscation, no government in India will ever censor social media," news agency AFP quoted Mr Sibal as saying at an information technology summit in Mumbai.

"I never wanted to censor social media and no government wants to do so. But like the print and electronic media, they have to obey the laws of the country," Mr Sibal said.

Crackdown threat

A court in the capital, Delhi, last month threatened a crackdown against sites which failed to take steps to protect religious sensibilities.

The Delhi High Court asked Facebook and Google India to "develop a mechanism to keep a check and remove offensive and objectionable material from their web pages" or "like China, we will block all such websites".

Many internet firms say it is impossible to pre-filter material

Facebook and Google say they have complied with the court directive and removed "objectionable" material.

They are among 21 web firms, including Yahoo and Orkut, facing a civil suit in Delhi accusing them of hosting material that may cause communal unrest.

A criminal case of similar allegations is due to be heard next month.

Internet firms argue that it is not feasible to pre-monitor material posted by "billions of people across the globe".

Google says that the issue also relates to a constitutional issue of freedom of speech and expression.

Facebook says policies are in place that enable people to report abusive content.
In December, Mr Sibal said his aim was to ensure that "insulting material never gets uploaded. We will evolve guidelines and mechanisms to deal with the issue".

He said the companies would have to give the data where these images were being uploaded and who was doing it.

Mr Sibal was angered by morphed photos of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi, as well as images of pigs in Islam's holy city of Mecca.

Google Motorola bid approved in EU and US

2012-02-14T03:35:00.000-08:00

BBC

Google aims to strengthen its patent portfolio with the Motorola takeover

US regulators have approved Google's $12.5bn (£7.9bn) bid for phone maker Motorola Mobility, hours after it won clearance from European authorities.

The European Commission ruled the deal would not raise competition issues in the market for operating systems for devices like mobile phones or tablets.

Regulators in the US agreed, although both authorities vowed to monitor the company and rivals' use of patents.

Approval from China, Taiwan and Israel is needed before the deal is completed.
Motorola split in two last year, prompting Google to bid for the section that makes phones and tablet computers in a bid to gain access to more than 17,000 of Motorola Mobility's patents.

'Important milestone'

EU Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said in a statement that regulators did not think the deal would diminish competition.

But he added: "The commission will continue to keep a close eye on the behaviour of all market players in the sector, particularly the increasingly strategic use of patents."

Last month, European regulators launched an investigation into whether Samsung was using some of its key patents to hinder competitors.

Google vice-president Don Harrison said in a blog post the EU approval was an "important milestone" which moved the company closer to closing the deal.

Android access

"As we outlined in August, the combination of Google and Motorola Mobility will help supercharge Android," he said.

"It will also enhance competition and offer consumers faster innovation, greater choice and wonderful user experiences."

The European Commission had originally intended to rule on the deal by 10 January but delayed its decision after requesting more information.

It wanted to examine whether Google might favour Motorola Mobility by making it harder for big-selling handset manufacturers, like Samsung or HTC, to use its Android operating system.

However, the commission concluded: "It is unlikely that Google would restrict the use of Android solely to Motorola, a minor player in the European Economic Area."

Thailand blasts: 'Iranian' bomber injured in Bangkok

2012-02-14T03:33:00.001-08:00

BBC

Thai media said that an identity card found nearby indicated the man could be of Iranian origin

A man thought to be Iranian has had both legs blown off after attempting to throw a bomb at police in the Thai capital, Bangkok, officials said.

Two other explosions were reported in the same busy commercial district of the Thai capital, injuring four others.

Police said one blast took place at the house the injured man rented with other Iranians. One of those men also threw a bomb at a taxi in the capital.

Last month the US embassy warned of possible attacks in Bangkok.

The blasts also come just a day after two bomb attacks targeted Israeli diplomats in India and Georgia.

Israel has accused Iran and Lebanon's Hezbollah of orchestrating the attacks. Iran denied the allegations.

Identity card

The injured man is said to be receiving emergency treatment in hospital.

Thai media said that an identity card found nearby indicated the man could be of Iranian origin.

"The police have control of the situation. It is thought that the suspect might be storing more explosives inside his house," a police spokesman was quoted by Reuters as saying.

Madagascar hit by cyclone Giovanna

2012-02-14T03:32:00.001-08:00

BBC

A tropical cyclone has hit the island of Madagascar, with winds of up to 194km (120mph) ripping up trees and electricity pylons.

Cyclone Giovanna made landfall overnight near the eastern port city of Toamasina.
Emergency service vehicles were out in the capital, Antananarivo, on Tuesday morning clearing up the debris.

Meteorologists warn the damage may be as bad as in 1994, when a cyclone killed 200 people and displaced 40,000.

At least one person has been killed in the inland sugar-producing town of Brickaville after an electricity pole fell on her, a government official told the Reuters news agency.

Antananarivo-based journalist Tim Healy told the BBC's Network Africa the capital is experiencing very high winds and heavy rainfall - after the eye of the storm passed through about six hours after battering Toamasina, 200km (about 125 miles) away.

People are staying at home and offices, schools and businesses have been shut.

He says he has been unable to ask residents living in and nearby Toamasina the extent of the damage there because telephone lines have been brought down by the cyclone.

But he warns it could be serious - given that many coastal villagers live in simple houses built of wood and leaves.

Town criers

The government of Madagascar issued the first warnings on Monday afternoon - but residents say the intensity of the cyclone was not explained.

Town criers, who walk around the streets ringing a bell and shouting out information in the local Malagasy language, are normally used by the government in a time of crisis.

But Mr Healy said they were not heard on Monday and it has left many people taken aback by the storm's severity.

Madagascar, the world's fourth largest island, is prone to cyclones and tropical storms, especially in the rainy season between February and May.

Mike Piggot, a meteorologist with the US-based monitoring body AccuWeather, told the BBC the storm was of a similar strength to Cyclone Geralda.

It was one of the worst cyclones to hit Madagascar and destroyed about 300,000 hectares of crops and left thousands homeless in 1994.

The storm is now heading towards southern Mozambique, he said.

Bahrain restricts protests on uprising anniversary

2012-02-14T03:31:00.000-08:00

BBC

Demonstrators advanced about 2km (1.5 miles) on Pearl Roundabout before they were pushed back

Bahrain Protests

A heavy police presence is preventing people marking the first anniversary of pro-democracy demonstrations in Bahrain's capital, Manama.

Opposition activists have called on protesters to march on the site of the now-demolished Pearl Roundabout - the focus of last year's unrest.

A BBC correspondent says the area is quiet, but that in outlying villages there have been violent clashes.

Police have been firing rubber bullets and tear gas at stone-throwing youths.

Most of the demonstrators are from the Gulf kingdom's Shia Muslim majority, which has long complained of discrimination at the hands of the Sunni royal family, the Al Khalifa, and wants democratic reforms.

Roads blocked

The BBC's Bill Law, who is in Manama, says the centre of the capital remains quiet, with no sign of the mass protest called by the opposition a year on from the peaceful takeover of Pearl Roundabout.

Opposition activists had called for people to converge on the area at 0630 (0330 GMT).

At the scene

Bill Law BBC News, Manama

The situation right now is that downtown Manama is quiet, almost eerily quiet, a year on from the peaceful takeover of Pearl Roundabout. There is a very heavy police presence, with personnel stationed on the corners of major roads. Many roads leading to the capital were also blocked. A few people have made their way to Pearl Roundabout, but any kind of mass demonstration there has not yet materialised.

However, there have been many disturbances in predominantly Shia villages on the outskirts of the capital. Police are firing rubber bullets, tear gas and stun grenades at demonstrators, who are throwing stones. There was very heavy use of tear gas in Sanabis overnight, and a resident of Sitra said the streets outside his house were littered with spent tear-gas canisters.
The government, which is dominated by the Sunni royal family, says it is meeting its commitments to introduce political reforms and curb the police. But the mostly Shia opposition says the government is not doing enough.

The roundabout, and the Pearl Monument that used to stand in the centre of it, were demolished and replaced by a new road junction last March, after protesters were forced out violently by the authorities.

There is a massive police and army presence in the city, and roads to and from Shia villages on the outskirts have been closed, our correspondent adds.

However, a number of protesters are attempting to march towards the capital from the villages of Sanabis, al-Daih and Jidhafs, which lie a few kilometres to the west, witnesses told the AFP news agency.

Overnight, riot police used tear gas and stun grenades to disperse demonstrations in several villages, including Sitra and Sanabis. Some protesters threw stones and Molotov cocktails.
On Tuesday morning, the government issued a statement blaming the main Shia opposition party, al-Wefaq, for turning what it said should have been a peaceful, government-sanctioned demonstration in the capital into a riot.

Protesters reportedly managed to get within 2km (1.5 miles) of the former site of Pearl Roundabout before being pushed back by riot police.

Khalil al-Marzuq of al-Wefaq said the opposition was willing to engage in dialogue with King Hamad Bin Isa al-Khalifa's government, but that ministers were interested only in showing the international community that they were "taking some steps" towards democratic reform.
He also urged protesters not to resort to violence.

"Your strength is in being peaceful... continue to be peaceful," he said. "Don't retaliate. Don't confront the riot police even if they attack you because you will win at the end," he told the BBC.

"This is a non-violent movement and should continue to be non-violent, because your cause is justice and you will get at the end what you want."

'Excessive force'

At least 35 people were killed between February and March 2011, 30 of them civilians and five security forces personnel, according to the human rights commission. It also found that security forces had used excessive force and tortured detainees, including five who died.

“Start Quote

The government has made a number of announcements of what it has done to improve the human rights situation, but the fact is that it has still not delivered in the most important areas”

Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui Amnesty International

Almost 3,000 people were also arrested by security services after a state of emergency was declared by King Hamad in March. Scores were tried by military courts and sentenced to prison terms of up to life after what human rights activists said were grossly unfair trials.

More than 4,000 private sector employees and civil servants were also dismissed from their jobs, and at least 30 Shia prayer centres were demolished.

Last month, King Hamad tried to address some of the protesters' demands by announcing constitutional reforms intended to lead to greater accountability.

He also ordered the rebuilding of Shia mosques and the reinstatement of those who had lost their jobs, and appointed two British lawyers to overhaul the judicial system.

But the opposition, as well as human rights groups, say that the violent crackdown on dissent is continuing.

On Monday, Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, of Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa programme, said: "The government has made a number of announcements of what it has done to improve the human rights situation, but the fact is that it has still not delivered in the most important areas."

China Premier Wen Jiabao vows to help on eurozone debt

2012-02-14T03:29:00.000-08:00

BBC

Premier Wen Jiabao (r) offered co-operation to help stabilise debt-ridden EU nations

Global Economy

China has promised to help resolve the eurozone's debt crisis, after talks with EU leaders in Beijing.

Premier Wen Jiabao offered co-operation to help stabilise debt-ridden EU nations, but made no specific promise to invest in a European bailout fund.

EU leaders have been seeking Chinese money to help bolster a planned fund of about 500bn euros ($665bn; £420bn).

In another sign of the EU's troubles, credit-rating agency Moody's earlier downgraded Spain, Italy and Portugal.

Moody's also downgraded the credit outlook for France, Britain and Austria.
The crisis in eurozone counties has intensified in recent days.

Greece passed a package of severe cuts late on Sunday, demanded by the EU and IMF in return for a 130bn euro bailout.

But the austerity measures have proved deeply unpopular and caused riots in Athens.

No commitment

Europe is China's biggest trading partner, with trade worth 560bn euros last year.
European leaders have long courted Chinese investment in their bailout fund.

In a joint news conference with European Council President Herman Van Rompuy and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, Mr Wen said China was willing to "increase its involvement" in attempts to stabilise the eurozone.

He reiterated that China supported the EU and hoped the bloc would continue to "send clear, strong and positive messages" about stability.

But he offered no particular investment.

The BBC's Damian Grammaticas in Beijing says China has made similar promises to increase involvement in the past, but has been reluctant to follow through.

Mr Van Rompuy told reporters that he welcomed Mr Wen's comments.

"It is up to China to make its own decision in order to contribute to the stability of the eurozone," he said.

"We agreed that we will co-operate with each other in these matters."
But analysts say it appears the EU delegation failed to get the solid commitment they wanted from China.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned last week that a recession in Europe could halve China's growth rates.

Syria 'emboldened by UN inaction'

2012-02-14T03:27:00.000-08:00

BBC

Navi Pillay: "I have encouraged the Security Council to refer the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court"

Syria Crisis

The failure of the UN security council to take action has emboldened Syria to make an "all out assault" on opponents, the UN's human rights chief says.

Navi Pillay told the UN the lack of agreement encouraged Damascus to use "overwhelming force" against protests.

Activists say more than 400 people have been killed since security forces launched an assault on opposition-held areas in the city of Homs this month.

Earlier, the Arab League called for a joint Arab-UN peacekeeping force.
'Simply deplorable'

Ms Pillay, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, referred to the decision of Russia and China earlier this month to veto a UN Security Council resolution calling for Syrian president Bashar al-Assad to step down.

She told UN delegates in New York: "The failure of the Security Council to agree on firm collective action appears to have emboldened the Syrian government to plan an all out assault in an effort to crush resistance with overwhelming force.

"I am particularly appalled by the ongoing violence in Homs."

Analysis

Barbara Plett BBC UN correspondent

Navi Pillay said an impotent Security Council had encouraged escalating violence by the Syrian government, but there's no sign these strong words will trigger international efforts to protect Syrian civilians.

World powers have responded cautiously to the Arab League's proposal for a joint peacekeeping mission with the UN. Russia, which sees the armed opposition as major part of the problem, said there first had to be a peace to keep.

France warned against any military intervention; Britain ruled out any Western troops.
In the absence of international action, the Gulf Arab states may focus on the other part of the league's decision - providing support to the Syrian opposition.

At the UN, we can expect to see continued efforts to fill the diplomatic vacuum left by the Sino-Russian veto - attempts to further isolate the Assad regime and put pressure on Russia and China, like Ms Pillay's address.

She added that the humanitarian situation in Homs was "simply deplorable".

Ms Pillay said the UN Human Rights Council had attempted to keep track of the number of fatalities reported in the Syrian uprising, although in the past two months this task had become "almost impossible".

However she said: "We are certain that the number of dead and injured continues to rise every day."

Human rights groups say more than 7,000 have died throughout Syria since last March. The government says at least 2,000 members of the security forces have been killed combating "armed gangs and terrorists".

However, Syria restricts access to foreign media and it is not possible to verify casualty figures.

Armed gangs

Bashar Ja'afari, Syria's permanent representative to the UN, described Ms Pillay's comments as negative and unprincipled and insisted that Mr Assad's government was fighting armed gangs who want to destabilise the country.

He said: "Buildings have been mined by some of these terrorist groups.

“Start Quote

The EU's first goal is an immediate cessation of killings. ”

Michael Mann EU foreign policy spokesman

"This isn't peaceful demonstration - this is violence."

But US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also accused Syria of stepping up attacks on civilians.

"It is deplorable that the regime has escalated violence in cities across the country, including using artillery and tank fire against innocent civilians. We stand with the Syrian people and we are looking for a peaceful resolution," she told a news conference.

The EU had earlier on Monday backed the Arab League's "bold" plan for a peacekeeping force to be sent to Syria but Russia said violence must end first.

Michael Mann, spokesman for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, said: "We welcome these bold decisions and the strong and clear commitment and leadership that the Arab League is taking to resolve the crisis in Syria.

"The EU's first goal is an immediate cessation of killings and therefore we are very supportive of any initiative that can help achieve this objective, including a stronger Arab presence on the ground in co-operation with the UN to achieve a ceasefire and the end of violence."

He added: "We renew our urgent calls on all members of the Security Council to be constructive and act with responsibility at this crucial moment."

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said there had to be a ceasefire in place before any peacekeepers could be sent.

Bashar Ja'afari: "We in Syria could not imagine sending soldiers to defend Occupy Wall Street protesters"

But he added: "The problem is that the armed groups that are fighting the Syrian regime do not answer to anyone and are not controlled by anyone."

'Western boots'

China, meanwhile, said Syria's problems needed to be resolved by diplomatic means.
Foreign ministry spokesman Liu Weimin said: "China hopes all relevant parties can keep dialogue and communication to play a positive and constructive role in politically resolving the Syrian issue and easing the country's tension."

Speaking before the assembly meeting started while on a visit to South Africa, UK Foreign Secretary William Hague said: "I don't see the way forward in Syria as being Western boots on the ground, in any form, including in peacekeeping form, but of course if such a concept could be made viable we will be supporting it in all the usual ways."

Malaysia deports Saudi journalist Hamza Kashgari

2012-02-12T07:14:00.000-08:00

BBC

Mr Kashgari's controversial tweet sparked more than 30,000 responses, including death threats

Malaysian authorities have deported a Saudi journalist accused of insulting the Prophet Muhammad in a tweet.

Police confirmed to the BBC that Hamza Kashgari was sent back to Saudi Arabia on Sunday despite protests from human rights groups.

Mr Kashgari's controversial tweet last week sparked more than 30,000 responses and several death threats.

Insulting the prophet is considered blasphemous in Islam and is punishable by death in Saudi Arabia.

Mr Kashgari, 23, fled Saudi Arabia last week and was detained upon his arrival in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur on Thursday.

He had tweeted his doubts about Muhammad on the prophet's birthday last week. Saudi clerics condemned his remarks as blasphemous.

Injunction

Mr Kashgari apologised and deleted the tweet, but when he continued to receive threats, he left for Malaysia.

The two countries do not have a formal extradition treaty but Malaysia has good relations with Saudi Arabia as a fellow Muslim country, says the BBC's Jennifer Pak, in Kuala Lumpur.
Mr Kashgari's lawyer obtained an injunction on Sunday to allow him to stay in Malaysia until his case was heard, but it was too late, our correspondent says.

"The nature of the charges against the individual in this case are a matter for the Saudi Arabian authorities," Malaysia's home ministry said in a statement.

Amnesty International has warned that Mr Kashgari could be executed in Saudi Arabia if he is found guilty of apostasy.

"If the Malaysian authorities hand over Hamza Kashgari to Saudi Arabia, they could end up complicit in any violations he suffers," said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui of Amnesty's Middle East division.

Acta protests: Thousands take to streets across Europe

2012-02-12T07:10:00.000-08:00

BBC

By Dave Lee Technology Reporter

Marchers in London gathered outside British Music House, home to several major rights holders

Thousands of people have taken part in co-ordinated protests across Europe in opposition to a controversial anti-piracy agreement.

Significant marches were held in Germany, Poland and the Netherlands against the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (Acta).

Around 200 protesters gathered in central London outside the offices of several major rights holders.

Demonstrators argued that Acta will limit freedom of speech online.

However the agreement's supporters insist it will not alter existing laws, and will instead provide protection for content creators in the face of increasing levels of online piracy.
The treaty has to date been signed by 22 EU members, including the UK, but has yet to be ratified by the European Parliament. A debate is due to take place in June.

On Friday, Germany delayed signing the agreement in order to, a spokesman said, "give us time to carry out further discussions".

'In secret'

Saturday's London demonstration was supported by the Open Rights Group, a vocal opponent to the treaty. The group's executive director, Jim Killock, argued that Germany's stance shows Acta negotiations were carried out "in secret" by EU "bureaucrats".

What is Acta?

The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement is an international treaty aiming to standardise copyright protection measures.
It seeks to curb trade of counterfeited physical goods, including copyrighted material online.
Preventative measures include possible imprisonment and fines.
Critics argue that it will stifle freedom of expression on the internet, and it has been likened to the controversial Stop Online Piracy Act (Sopa).
Acta has been signed by 22 EU members, including the UK, but is yet to be ratified by the European Parliament.

"Three member states in Europe are now looking like they don't want to sign," he told the BBC.

"That shows that politicians are only really starting to look at this now. All of a sudden, the whole thing is breaking down."

Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia have already delayed the process after significant pressure from mostly young people.

"The point today is to say Acta is undemocratic," Mr Killock added.

"It's lacked scrutiny, it's setting up dangerous new pressures to censor the internet to remove users and put pressure on [Internet Service Providers] to start policing for copyright."
More demonstrations were held in other UK cities, including Edinburgh and Glasgow.
Anonymous hackers

The anti-Acta movement has also been widely adopted by members of the Anonymous activist collective, which has claimed responsibility for putting high-profile government websites out of action, including that of the Polish prime minister.

Speaking at the London protest Loz Kaye, leader of the Pirate Party UK, dismissed worries that aligning closely with Anonymous - whose members carry out various illegal activities online - was harmful to their cause.

"What we've seen is a whole wave of people coming out on the streets right across Europe," he told the BBC.

The Open Rights Group's Jim Killock called the agreement "undemocratic"

"Some people have been called extreme, but equally, Amnesty International, Médecins Sans Frontières have spoken out. Even The Economist, which is hardly radical, has described the treaty as potentially draconian."

'Greater transparency'

The BBC contacted several key rights holders prior to the demonstration - all of which declined to comment.

The UK's Intellectual Property Office has maintained that Acta "should not" mean new laws relating to internet use.

In a statement, Baroness Wilcox, parliamentary under-secretary for Business, Innovation and Skills, told the BBC: "It was important for the UK to be a signatory of Acta as it will set an international standard for tackling large-scale infringements of [intellectual property rights], through the creation of common enforcement standards and more effective international cooperation.

"During the negotiations, we continually pushed for greater transparency as we believed that this would have led to a better understanding of the agreement by the public."

Burma's Aung San Suu Kyi cheered by crowds in Kawhmu

2012-02-12T07:08:00.000-08:00

BBC

Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has begun campaigning for the first time in the constituency where she is standing for election to parliament.

Burma: Battle for Democracy

Crowds of cheering supporters in rural Burma have turned out to welcome opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi on her first campaign stop ahead of by-elections scheduled for April.

Ms Suu Kyi, who is standing in the constituency of Kawhmu, was released from house arrest shortly after parliamentary elections in 2010.

Her party won a landslide victory in elections in 1990 but was never allowed by the military junta to take power.

In all, 48 seats are being contested.

Meanwhile, an activist monk who led an uprising in 2007 has been released after briefly being detained by the authorities.

Shin Gambira had been taken from a monastery in Rangoon early on Friday morning, his brother told the BBC.

He was jailed in December 2007 for 68 years but freed last month as part of an amnesty for political prisoners.

Symbolic importance

REFORM IN BURMA

7 Nov 2010: First polls in 20 years
13 Nov: Aung San Suu Kyi freed from house arrest
30 Mar 2011: Transfer of power to new government complete
19 Aug: Aung San Suu Kyi meets Burmese President Thein Sein
12 Oct: More than 200 political prisoners freed
13 Oct: New labour laws allowing unions passed
17 Nov: Burma granted Asean chair in 2014
23 Dec: NLD registers as political party
12 Jan: Karen ceasefire signed
13 Jan: Highest-profile political prisoners freed

Timeline: Reforms in Burma

Since the military formally handed power to a civilian administration last year, Burma has made significant changes. It has released hundreds of prisoners, signed a ceasefire in a long-running insurgency, and eased restrictions on freedom of expression and trade unions.

Supporters waved the flag of the National League for Democracy (NLD) as Ms Suu Kyi arrived in Kawhmu on Saturday.

"We warmly welcome mother Suu!" and "Long live Daw [Aunt] Aung San Suu Kyi!" they shouted.

Ms Suu Kyi spent most of the two decades from 1990 to 2010 under house arrest.
Even if the NLD wins all 48 seats, it cannot threaten the military-backed government's hold on power. The party boycotted the 2010 elections.

However, April's vote has enormous symbolic importance.

As a result of the changes taking place in Burma, the US has lifted one of its sanctions to allow the delivery of limited technical assistane from international financial institutions.

Syria unrest: Arab League observer mission head quits

2012-02-12T07:03:00.000-08:00

BBC

Basic supplies are said to be running low in Homs

Syria Crisis

The head of the suspended Arab League observer mission to Syria has resigned as League foreign ministers meet to decide their next move in the crisis.

League Secretary General Nabil al-Arabi told its members they had to move quickly to end the "vicious cycle of violence" in Syria.

The League is expected to approve Jordan ex-Foreign Minister Abdul-Illah al-Khatib as special envoy to Syria.

Meanwhile, al-Qaeda's leader has backed the Syrian uprising.

In a video message, Ayman al-Zawahiri told the opposition not to rely on the West or Arab countries for support.

Zawahiri - who took over the leadership of al-Qaeda following the death of Osama Bin Laden in May 2011 - described the Syrian government as a "cancerous regime that suffocated the free people of Syria".

He called on Muslims to offer whatever help they could.

Controversial Sudanese General Mohammed al-Dabi, who led the month-long Arab League observer mission to Syria, submitted his resignation on Sunday.

Human rights groups criticised him for his actions in Darfur, where Sudan is accused of genocide by the International Criminal Court.

The Arab League suspended its mission in Syria at the end of January, after it failed to halt the violence.

Opposition delegation

Mr Arabi said the failure of international diplomacy - referring to a UN resolution vetoed by Russia and China last weekend - had put a special responsibility on the league.

"It is imperative for us to move swiftly in all directions, to halt the vicious cycle of violence," he said in his opening words to the Arab League meeting in Cairo.

Officials say the foreign ministers are expected to discuss a joint Arab-UN observer mission to replace the Arab League monitors who left in January because of continuing violence.
The league is also examining a proposal to set up an Arab peacekeeping force for Syria, reports say.

But the BBC's Jim Muir in neighbouring Lebanon says such a force would also need Syrian government approval as it would not be possible for it to fight its way into the country.

More than 400 people are reported to have been killed in Homs in the past week

A delegation from the Syrian National Council (SNC), a coalition of major opposition parties, has arrived in Cairo, amid hopes that it could be recognised by more Arab countries.
"We want the Arab countries to decide how to best coordinate their initiatives to take us in the same direction, in the right direction," said Basma Kadmani of the SNC.

"We have been very reassured of everyone's agendas. It is a priority to deal with the Syria issue."

The members of the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC), which expelled Syria's ambassadors from its member countries during the week, met ahead of the Arab League talks on Sunday.
GCC and Arab League member Saudi Arabia is also circulating a draft resolution at the UN General Assembly, similar to the one vetoed in the Security Council by China and Russia.
The draft resolution "fully supports" the Arab League peace plan published last month, which called on President Bashar al-Assad to hand over power to his vice-president, and make way for the rapid formation of a national unity government including the opposition.

Saudi officials say they have not formally presented the resolution to the Assembly yet.
The General Assembly is scheduled to discuss Syria on Monday, when it will be addressed by the UN's High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, but no vote on the resolution is expected by then.

There is no power of veto at the General Assembly but its resolutions have no legal force, unlike those of the Security Council.

Assault

There were reports of a respite in the bombardment of Homs on Saturday night and Sunday morning, but shelling later resumed.

At least four people were killed in the Baba Amr neighbourhood of the city on Sunday, the Syrian Observatory on Human Rights said. At least 35 died on Saturday.

Activists say more than 400 people have been killed since security forces launched an assault on opposition-held areas on the city last Saturday.

Meanwhile, government forces entered the town of Zabadani, outside Damascus, after a rare ceasefire was apparently negotiated.

Human rights groups say more than 7,000 have died throughout Syria since March. The government says at least 2,000 members of the security forces have been killed combating "armed gangs and terrorists".

Whitney Houston's death stuns music world

2012-02-12T07:01:00.000-08:00

BBC

Footage showed Whitney Houston leaving a club recently with rapper Ray J

Whitney Houston 1963-2012

Fans and musicians have reacted with shock to the death of American singer and actress Whitney Houston.

Aretha Franklin, the star's godmother, said the news was "stunning and unbelievable" while Mariah Carey said she was "heartbroken and in tears".

Police said Houston died in her room at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, where she had been staying as a guest, on Saturday.

The 48-year-old was best known for powerful ballads such as I Will Always Love You and One Moment In Time.

But her later career was overshadowed by substance abuse and her turbulent marriage to singer Bobby Brown.

Following news of her death, a visibly distraught Brown took to the stage in Southaven, Mississippi, with his band New Edition on Saturday evening.

Opening the show, he pointed to the sky and declared, "I love you".

Addressing fans, he added: "First of all, I want to tell you that I love you all. Second, I would like to say, I love you Whitney. The hardest thing for me to do is to come on this stage."

Houston's career highlights

170m records sold worldwide
11 US and four UK number one hits
Won six Grammys, including three for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance
Won 30 Billboard Awards and 22 American Music Awards
I Will Always Love You is the best selling single by a female artist of all time

The couple's volatile marriage, which was marked by drug addiction and allegations of domestic abuse, ended in 2007.

After that, Houston's career appeared to be set for a revival. Her 2009 comeback album, I Look To You, reached number one in the US, and she had recently finished filming a new movie, Sparkle.

Autopsy

The singer's publicist Kristen Foster, announced on Saturday that the singer had died. Police sources later confirmed that she had been found unresponsive in her hotel room.

Police investigators inspected the scene before Ms Houston's body was moved from the hotel to the coroner's office for an autopsy.

“Start Quote

Heartbroken and in tears over the shocking death of my friend, the incomparable Ms Whitney Houston. She will never be forgotten as one of the greatest voices to ever grace the earth”

Mariah Carey

An autopsy is likely to be held within the next two days. However, if drugs or alcohol are involved, it will take between six and eight weeks for toxicology tests to be completed.

The singer's death came on the eve of the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles. She had been due to attend a pre-awards party in the hotel she was staying in, organised by her long-time mentor and record industry executive Clive Davis on Saturday evening.

He went ahead with the party, holding a minute's silence and telling the audience he was "personally devastated by the loss of someone who has meant so much to me for so many years".

Jazz legend Herbie Hancock, who was attending the event, said: "It's difficult not to be sad about it because it's a great loss. Her soul, her spirit, lives within all of us."

R&B star Rihanna, who was rehearsing her Grammy performance when the news broke, simply tweeted: "No words! Just tears".

She later posted lyrics from Houston's biggest hits on her Twitter account, including "I have nothing if I don't have you", a track from the soundtrack to the star's biggest film, Bodyguard.

The singer sang backing vocals for Chaka Khan before launching her solo career

Music mogul Simon Cowell said he expected Sunday's ceremony to become a tribute to the singer, describing her as a "trailblazer and "legend".

"There are so few people like her in the world. They are a rarefied breed, these are true superstars, legendary divas - and I say divas in the nicest possible way.
"She had one of the greatest voices I have ever heard in my life, ever."

Organisers of the Grammys later said Houston would be remembered in a special tribute by singer Jennifer Hudson.

Civil rights activist Rev Al Sharpton said that on the morning of the Grammys, "the world should pause and pray for the memory of a gifted songbird".

'Finest voice'

Houston's background was steeped in soul and gospel music.

Her mother was gospel singer Cissy Houston, she was cousin to singer Dionne Warwick as well as having Aretha Franklin as godmother.

"I just can't talk about it now," Ms Franklin said in a short statement. "It's so stunning and unbelievable. I couldn't believe what I was reading coming across the TV screen."

Having grown up in New Jersey, Houston began singing in church and then in the night clubs of New York, and was a model before being signed by Arista Records.

The star performed The Star Spangled Banner at the 1991 Super Bowl, and donated proceeds to the American Red Cross Gulf Crisis Fund

Her first hit, 1985's Saving All My Love For You, set the template of towering, melismatic vocal performances - stretching single syllables out over dozens of notes.

Artists from Mariah Carey to Christina Aguilera have tried to emulate her bravura performances, but none of them were as good as the original, music critic Paul Gambaccini told the BBC.

Houston also enjoyed success acting in blockbuster films such as The Bodyguard and Waiting to Exhale.

Sony Pictures announced on Sunday that it would release the star's final film, Sparkle, which is loosely based on the story of The Supremes, in August.

"Like all those who knew and loved her, we are shocked and saddened," said spokesman Steve Elzer said on behalf of the studio. "The world has lost an incomparable talent."
The film also features Houston's final recordings - including a cover of the gospel standard His Eye Is On The Sparrow - which will be released on a soundtrack album over the summer.
Drug abuse

Whitney Houston had been partying heavily at a pre-Grammy party on Thursday night

In recent years drug use had taken its toll on the star and her voice - once acknowledged as one of the finest in pop music - was badly damaged.

She cancelled the first date of what was to be her final UK tour in 2010 citing respiratory problems. In her later performances, she was often said to be short of breath and unable to sustain the long, high notes that had been a hallmark of her career.

"The biggest devil is me. I'm either my best friend or my worst enemy,'' Houston told ABC's Diane Sawyer in a 2002 interview.

The US celebrity website TMZ.com reported that Ms Houston had been partying heavily on both Thursday and Friday nights.

She briefly took the microphone and performed a song while out in Hollywood on Thursday, and was seen drinking and chatting loudly with friends in the hotel bar on Friday, according to TMZ.

Despite her personal problems, she was still a widely-respected figure in the music industry.
Singer and X Factor judge Kelly Rowland paid tribute on Twitter, saying Houston had advised her in the early days of her career.

"I am beyond heartbroken. Whitney Houston was undoubtedly one of the greatest singers and performers of all time and such a huge influence of me [sic].

Tributes from rapper Sean 'Diddy' Coombes and singer Alicia Keys - Courtesy The Recording Academy

"She embraced me when I first started out with Destiny's Child, with love, with encouragement and with that powerhouse voice."

Country singer Dolly Parton - who wrote one one of Houston's most memorable hits, I Will Always Love You - said in a statement: "Mine is only one of the millions of hearts broken over the death of Whitney Houston."

"I will always be grateful and in awe of the wonderful performance she did on my song, and I can truly say from the bottom of my heart, 'Whitney, I will always love you. You will be missed'."

Rap mogul P Diddy added: "She always hit you with that beautiful smile, she always hit you with that incredible energy.

"She gave you that hug that, you know? That grandma hug that you know that just shook your body."

Syria unrest: Arab League set to discuss next move

2012-02-11T21:36:00.000-08:00

BBC

Basic supplies are said to be running low in Homs

Syria Crisis

Arab foreign ministers are meeting in Cairo on Sunday to decide their next move after a resolution on Syria failed in the UN Security Council last week.

Officials say the ministers could discuss a joint observer mission with the UN and recognition of the main opposition group.

Syrian government forces have continued to bombard Homs and entered the town of Zabadani on Saturday.

Activists say at least 35 people died, while a general was killed in Damascus.
Brig-Gen Dr Isa al-Kholi , the head of a Syrian military hospital, was shot dead by members of an "armed terrorist group" as he left his home in the north of the city, the state news agency said.

It is believed to be the first assassination of a senior officer in the capital since the uprising began.

Draft resolution

Foreign ministers from the Arab League are due to meet on Sunday afternoon.
Officials said the ministers were expected to discuss a joint Arab-UN observer mission to replace the Arab League monitors who left in January because of continuing violence.
Formal recognition of opposition group the Syrian National Council could also be discussed, but there was not full agreement on this, an unnamed official told reporters.

The league meeting will be preceded by a meeting of the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC), which expelled Syria's ambassadors from its member countries during the week.

GCC and Arab League member Saudi Arabia is also circulating a draft resolution at the UN General Assembly, similar to the one vetoed in the Security Council by China and Russia.

The draft resolution "fully supports" the Arab League peace plan published last month, which called on President Bashar al-Assad to hand over power to his vice-president, and make way for the rapid formation of a national unity government including the opposition.

The General Assembly is scheduled to discuss Syria on Monday, when it will be addressed by the UN's High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, but no vote on the resolution is expected by then.

There is no power of veto at the General Assembly but its resolutions have no legal force, unlike those of the Security Council.

'Rare ceasefire'

After a week under shellfire and virtual siege, conditions in the western city of Homs are reported to be getting desperate, with basic supplies running low.

More than 400 people are reported to have been killed in Homs in the past week

Saturday's fatalities were reported in the Baba Amr district - a centre of anti-government protests - but residents said there had also been explosions and heavy gunfire in the neighbouring area of Inshaat.

Activists say more than 400 people have been killed since security forces launched an assault on opposition-held areas in Homs last Saturday.

Meanwhile, government forces have entered the mountain town of Zabadani, outside Damascus.

Exiled opposition leader Kamal al-Labwani told Reuters news agency a rare ceasefire had been agreed in the town, whereby rebel forces could withdraw if they gave up weapons and armour captured from the government.

Human rights groups say more than 7,000 have died throughout Syria since March. The government says at least 2,000 members of the security forces have been killed combating "armed gangs and terrorists".

Iran to unveil 'great nuclear achievements'

2012-02-11T21:34:00.001-08:00

BBC

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said "all needs of the Iranian nation" would be met by its nuclear scientists

Iran nuclear crisis

Iran's President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, says "great" nuclear achievements will be announced in the next few days.

He did not give any details, but insisted that Iran would never halt its programme to enrich uranium, which can be used to make a nuclear warhead.

Mr Ahmadinejad was speaking at a rally in Tehran as Iranians marked the 33rd anniversary of the Islamic revolution.

He also promised that Iran would never yield to the West if it continued to use "the language of force and insult".

Last week, President Barack Obama said the United States would work in "lockstep" with Israel to prevent Iran developing nuclear weapons.

He said Israel's government was "rightly" very concerned about Iran's nuclear programme but added that he did not believe it had decided whether to launch a military strike.
Tehran insists its programme is entirely peaceful.

“Start Quote

God willing, the world will witness the inauguration of great achievements in the nuclear sphere in a few days”

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Iranian President

'Pretext'

In a speech broadcast on state television, Mr Ahmadinejad told a large crowd in Tehran's Azadi Square that "all needs of the Iranian nation" would be met by its nuclear scientists in the near future.

"God willing, the world will witness the inauguration of great achievements in the nuclear sphere in a few days," he added.

The president said Western powers were using the nuclear issue as a "pretext" to work "against the development of the Iranian nation".

"They say that they want to talk to us. We have always been ready for talks. Well, they should be within the framework of justice and respect."

"I clearly declare that if you (the West) use the language of force and insult, the Iranian nation will never yield to you," he said.

The BBC's Iran correspondent James Reynolds says the anniversary of the Islamic Revolution gave the president the chance to give a friendly crowd a bit of rousing at a relatively tough time, with the country hit by new sanctions and the economy struggling.

Demonstrators carrying Iranian flags and pictures of the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, chanted "Death to Israel" and "Death to America".

Iran insists its uranium enrichment programme is for entirely peaceful purposes

Talks between Iran and six world powers - the US, UK, France, Germany, Russia and China - on the nuclear programme collapsed a year ago and show little sign of resuming, despite recent efforts to restart them by Turkey.

Iran refuses to negotiate over its uranium enrichment programme, but Western countries say there is no point in talking unless it is on the agenda.

In November, the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said it had information suggesting Iran had carried out tests "relevant to the development of a nuclear explosive device".

Since then, European Union member states have increased the economic pressure on Tehran by approving a ban on imports of Iranian crude oil.

The US does not buy Iranian oil, but it has placed sanctions on Iran's banks to make it harder for the country to sell crude.

One killed in Israeli air strikes on Gaza Strip

2012-02-11T21:33:00.001-08:00

BBC

One man has been killed and four others wounded in Israeli airstrikes in different parts of the Gaza Strip.

Israeli warplanes fired three missiles shortly after midnight on Saturday.

A field to the east of Gaza City was hit, with another missile landing near the border with Israel and the third near the city of Khan Younis.

The Israeli army confirmed the strikes and said in a statement that "the aircraft targeted sites belonging to terrorist organizations."

"These sites were targeted in response to the rocket fire on communities in southern Israel," the statement read, according to AFP news agency.

The statement noted that a rocket fired from Gaza on Friday had lightly injured an Israeli woman in the Hof Asheklon area.

Vega rocket set for maiden voyage

2012-02-11T21:32:00.000-08:00

BBC

Esa's Vega programme represents an investment of more than one billion euros

More from Jonathan

Europe's Vega rocket is finally set to make its maiden flight on Monday.

The 30m-tall vehicle, first conceived in the 1990s, will launch on what is termed a qualification flight from the Kourou spaceport in French Guiana.

It will carry nine satellites into orbit but the object of the mission is really to prove the rocket's systems all work as designed.

Vega has been developed to assure European access to space for payload classes weighing less than 2.5 tonnes.

At the moment, these smaller satellites tend to ride converted Russian ICBMs to get into orbit and they can sometimes wait many months to get a launch slot.

Vega should allow European operators to have more control over the schedules of their space projects. It also means that the value of what it is an immensely high-tech enterprise will return to the European economy, not to foreign industry.

"Vega gives Europe the ability to launch small satellites," said Jean-Jacques Dordain, director general of the European Space Agency (Esa).

"New technologies - and in particular the miniaturisation of technologies - are making for more and more small satellites. This is particularly true of scientific satellites such as Earth observation spacecraft. So, Vega has a fantastic perspective in front of it provided we succeed," he told me.

The launch in French Guiana is scheduled to take place between 10:00 and 12:00 GMT.

Vega will lift off from a refurbished pad formerly used by the Ariane 1
Its four stages and satellite payload are assembled on the launch site
Satellites will weigh from a few 10s of kg up to a maximum of 2,500kg
The "reference mission" is a 1.5t satellite in a 700km-high polar orbit

There will inevitably be a degree of nervousness in launch control at Kourou come lift-off time. According to statistics compiled by the Ascend aerospace consultancy, 58% (11 out of 19) of new rockets since 1990 have experienced a major anomaly on their first flight.
It is for this reason that the satellites carried on Vega's maiden voyage have all been given a "free ride".

Stefano Bianchi, Esa's Vega programme manager, explained: "Of course, we understand more about [the way rockets perform today] - we have more modellisation capability, computers, etc, but it is clear that at system level you have things you cannot test on the ground. And you have to rely on the first flight.

"You do all the verification, you take all of the margins on what is unknown, but still the first flight is always a test."

Vega is a four-stage vehicle. Its first three segments burn a solid fuel. Its fourth and final stage uses liquid propellants and can be stopped and restarted several times to get a spacecraft into just the right orbit. The stage can also bring itself out of the sky - something deemed very important these days given the rising concern over space debris.

New manufacturing techniques used on the Vega stages are designed to reduce cost and improve performance

A significant innovation is the way the motor cases are prepared for the first three stages employing a high-strength graphite ﬁbre and epoxy resin.

Avio, the Italian aerospace manufacturer at the heart of the Vega project, has set up a facility where ﬁlaments of this material can be wound into the desired shape.

"The use of carbon fibre is very important and allows us to reduce cost and improve performance, because there is less weight in that ratio between the frame and the fuel," said Avio CEO Francesco Caio.

Free ride: The scientific payloads on the first flight have not had to pay any launch fees

"At the moment, we're talking about a cost of 22 million to 25 million euros for the launcher before you add in the launching costs. It is difficult to gauge how things will evolve - and it is likely to be a function of volume and overall organisation of industry and the value chain in Europe - but frankly I certainly think there is potential to drive costs down further," he told me.

Esa expects an operational Vega to be launching about twice a year, carrying mostly small scientific and government satellites.

Vega will take its place alongside its "big brother" at Kourou - the Ariane 5 heavy-lift rocket, and the new medium-lift "Europeanised" Soyuz rocket that has only recently started launching from the spaceport.

With all three vehicles, Arianespace, the company that runs Kourou, will now be able to offer satellite operators a ride for any type of spacecraft to all kinds of orbit - from the low, pole-crossing orbits used by Earth observation missions, to the high, geostationary locations favoured by big telecommunications platforms.

Preparation for the launch has been pushing right up against the end of the available time window.

If Vega should need to delay its flight through this coming week because of technical concerns, it is highly likely it will be asked to stand down for a month or so.

An Ariane 5 rocket has been booked to launch Europe's third ATV cargo ship to the International Space Station (ISS) on 9 March and this mission takes precedence over all other activity at Kourou.

The frequent comings and goings at the station require a carefully co-ordinated traffic schedule and this cannot be disrupted for Vega's introduction - as important as it is.

Overfishing 'costs EU £2.7bn each year'

2012-02-11T21:30:00.001-08:00

BBC

By Mark Kinver Environment reporter, BBC News

Overfishing cost five times more than the value of EU subsidies, the report says

Overfishing of EU fisheries is costing £2.7bn (3.2bn euros) a year and 100,000 jobs, a report has said.

The research, by the UK-based New Economics Foundation, said a third of Britain's fish consumption could be met if stocks were allowed to recover.

Separate research suggests that half of fishermen would not be willing to give up their livelihoods.

Last week, a report said there were reasons to be optimistic that fisheries could recover from past exploitation.

"Overfishing is bad for the economy," said report author Rupert Crilly, environmental economics researcher for the foundation's Ocean2012 initiative.

"With the stroke of pen, European fisheries ministers are wiping out millions of pounds and thousands of jobs each year by allowing overfishing to continue."

The report, Lost at Sea, concluded that the restoring 43 of the continent's fish stocks to their "maximum sustainable yield" (largest annual catch that can be maintained over the long term) would result in an additional 3.5m tonnes of fish reaching markets, "enough to meet the annual demand for almost 160m EU citizens".

It added: "Overfishing is the single most destructive force in the marine environment.
"It has made the fishing industry economically vulnerable and caused coastal communities to crumble. Instead of rebuilding (fish) stocks, the industry has become heavily subsidised by the taxpayer.

"This is a losing battle. In just these (43) sample stocks, the cost of overfishing is five times higher than the value of EU subsidies."

It warned that the proposed reforms to the 27-nation bloc's Common Fisheries Policy did not go far enough to address the problem.

"Restoring fish stocks is within politicians' power, and in the current economic climate, the stakes are higher than ever," Mr Crilly said.

Global problem

Last week, the Prince of Wales launched a report by his think-tank, International Sustainability Unit (ISU), that looked at a way to put fisheries around the globe on a sustainable footing.

The report, Fisheries in Transition, concluded that by regulating the catch in a sensible way, fishermen were able to make more money for less effort, allowing the stock to be safeguarded against exploitation.

"We recognise that there is no 'one size fits all', solution - every fishery is different," said Charlotte Cawthorne, ISU marine programme manager, speaking at the report's launch.
But, she added, three things were essential: scientific understanding of the ecosystem, funding for the transition, and sound management.

A study published this week in the journal Plos One said that half of the fishermen in developing nations would not be willing to give up their livelihoods, regardless of declining catches.

"We found that half of fishermen questioned would not be tempted to seek out a new livelihood, even if their catch declined by 50%," said co-author Dr Tim Daw from the University of East Anglia.

The survey carried out by an international team of researchers questioned almost 600 fishermen in Africa and Asia about how they would respond to declining catches.

"Surprisingly, fishermen in the more vibrant and developed economies were less likely to give up their trade, despite having more economically fruitful opportunities open to them," explained fellow co-author Joshua Cinner from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, Australia.

"This is the reverse of the common belief that poor communities are less likely to adapt than wealthy ones," Dr Cinner added.

"We suspect that this may be in part due to the perverse impacts of subsidies in more developed countries encouraging people to stay in the fishery which would otherwise not be profitable."

Acta protests: Thousands take to streets across Europe

2012-02-11T21:28:00.000-08:00

BBC

By Dave Lee Technology Reporter

Marchers in London gathered outside British Music House, home to several major rights holders

Thousands of people have taken part in co-ordinated protests across Europe in opposition to a controversial anti-piracy agreement.

What is Acta?

The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement is an international treaty aiming to standardise copyright protection measures.
It seeks to curb trade of counterfeited physical goods, including copyrighted material online.
Preventative measures include possible imprisonment and fines.
Critics argue that it will stifle freedom of expression on the internet, and it has been likened to the controversial Stop Online Piracy Act (Sopa).
Acta has been signed by 22 EU members, including the UK, but is yet to be ratified by the European Parliament.

"Three member states in Europe are now looking like they don't want to sign," he told the BBC.

"That shows that politicians are only really starting to look at this now. All of a sudden, the whole thing is breaking down."

Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia have already delayed the process after significant pressure from mostly young people.

"The point today is to say Acta is undemocratic," Mr Killock added.

"It's lacked scrutiny, it's setting up dangerous new pressures to censor the internet to remove users and put pressure on [Internet Service Providers] to start policing for copyright."
More demonstrations were held in other UK cities, including Edinburgh and Glasgow.

Anonymous hackers

The anti-Acta movement has also been widely adopted by members of the Anonymous activist collective, which has claimed responsibility for putting high-profile government websites out of action, including that of the Polish prime minister.

Speaking at the London protest Loz Kaye, leader of the Pirate Party UK, dismissed worries that aligning closely with Anonymous - whose members carry out various illegal activities online - was harmful to their cause.

"What we've seen is a whole wave of people coming out on the streets right across Europe," he told the BBC.

The Open Rights Group's Jim Killock called the agreement "undemocratic"

Anonymous says attack put CIA website offline

2012-02-11T21:26:00.000-08:00

BBC

Anonymous has stepped up its attacks against US federal agencies

Hackers have claimed responsibility for making the CIA website inaccessible on Friday - the latest attack on a US federal agency.

A Twitter post on a feed used by hackers' collective Anonymous said "CIA Tango down", a phrase used by the US Special Forces after killing an enemy.

Anonymous said in another tweet that just because it reported a hack, that did not mean it carried out the attack.

This would not be the first time the CIA website has been put offline.

In June 2011, a group affiliated with Anonymous, Lulz Security, temporarily brought down the agency's homepage.
The CIA site remained offline on Friday evening after several hours, and a spokeswoman said the agency was looking into the reports.

Hackers usually target such websites through a denial-of-service attack, which involves bombarding the site with traffic until its servers are overwhelmed.

There is no suggestion that the security of the CIA's actual computer systems have been compromised.

Earlier this month, Anonymous managed to intercept a conference call between the FBI and British police as they discussed legal action against hackers.

And following the shutdown of the Megaupload file-sharing website last month, a statement attributed to Anonymous claimed responsibility for shutting down the websites of the Department of Justice and FBI, among others.

US singer and actress Whitney Houston dies aged 48

2012-02-11T21:24:00.000-08:00

BBC

American singer and actress Whitney Houston has died at the age of 48, her publicist Kristen Foster has said

Whitney Houston 1963-2012

American singer and actress Whitney Houston has died in Los Angeles at the age of 48.

Police said she died in her room at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, where she had been staying as a guest.

Houston was one of the most celebrated female singers of all time, with hits including I Will Always Love You and Saving All My Love For You.

But her later career was overshadowed by substance abuse and her turbulent marriage to singer Bobby Brown.

Police spokesman Mark Rosen told reporters Houston was pronounced dead at 15:55 pm (23:55 GMT) in her room on the fourth floor of the Beverly Hilton Hotel.

Fire department personnel and members of hotel security were attempting to resuscitate her when police arrived at the scene, he said, but their efforts were unsuccessful.

"She has been positively identified by friends and family that were with her at the hotel, and next of kin have already been notified," he added.

The cause of her death remains unclear but Mr Rosen said there were "no obvious signs of criminal intent".

'Finest voice'

Houston's background was steeped in soul and gospel music.

Her mother was gospel singer Cissy Houston, she was cousin to singer Dionne Warwick and goddaughter to Aretha Franklin.

"I just can't talk about it now," Ms Franklin said in a short statement. "It's so stunning and unbelievable. I couldn't believe what I was reading coming across the TV screen."

Analysis

Peter Bowes BBC News, Los Angeles

The music industry, hours before this years Grammy Awards ceremony, can scarcely believe the news. Whitney Houston had been planning to attend a pre-Grammys party thrown by her mentor and close friend, Clive Davis.

Guests have begun to arrive for the party, but it is unclear whether the event will go ahead. The scene at the Beverly hotel is frenzied. As well as police and the authorities, fans and the world's media have begun to gather.

The cause of Houston's death is unclear, with the police saying investigations are ongoing. It may take days or even weeks for tests to return with conclusive answers.

Having grown up in New Jersey, Houston began singing in church and then in the night clubs of New York, and was a model before being signed by Arista Records.

At the height of her career in the 1980s and 90s she won many awards and enjoyed several number one singles and albums.

Artists from Mariah Carey to Christina Aguilera have tried to emulate her bravura performances, but none of them were as good as the original, music critic Paul Gambaccini told the BBC.

Houston also enjoyed success acting in blockbuster films such as The Bodyguard and Waiting to Exhale.

In recent years drug use took its toll on the star and her voice - once acknowledged as one of the finest in pop music - was badly damaged.

"She did have it all, but the record is there of the decline into drug use and the damage done from drug use," said Gambaccini.

Her marriage to Brown, with whom she had a daughter, Bobbi Kristina, ended in divorce in 2007. The marriage had been a tempestuous one, with allegations of domestic abuse.

Houston was found on the fourth floor of the Beverly Hilton hotel

"The biggest devil is me. I'm either my best friend or my worst enemy,'' Houston told ABC's Diane Sawyer in a 2002 interview.

Correspondents say Houston's death will undoubtedly overshadow the music industry's Grammy Awards, due to be held in Los Angeles on Sunday.

She had been expected to attend the ceremony and her close friend and long-time mentor Clive Davis had recently hinted she might perform.

"It's her favourite night of the year ... who knows by the end of the evening," he had told AP.
Civil rights activist Rev Al Sharpton said that on the morning of the Grammys, "the world should pause and pray for the memory of a gifted songbird".

Country singer Dolly Parton - who wrote one one of her most memorable hits, I Will Always Love You - said in a statement: "Mine is only one of the millions of hearts broken over the death of Whitney Houston."

"I will always be grateful and in awe of the wonderful performance she did on my song, and I can truly say from the bottom of my heart, 'Whitney, I will always love you. You will be missed'."

Kaladan transport project in spotlight

2012-02-10T05:58:00.000-08:00

By Cherry Thein
Volume 31, No. 604
December 5 - 11, 2011

A farmer stands on the bank of the Kaladan River in Rakhine State's Sittwe township.
Pic: Stuart Deed

NON-GOVERNMENT organisations have conducted a “listening project” in Rakhine and Chin states to solicit local opinions on a US$120 million India-backed transport project being implemented in the area.

Rakhine Coastal Environmental Conser-vation (RCA) and Gender and Development Initiative (Myanmar) interviewed 140 residents in Sittwe, Ponnagyun and Kyauktaw townships in Rakhine State and Paletwa township in Chin State in October and released the results to NGOs, media and civil society groups last month.

The survey found that few residents knew about the Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project and most of those that did believed it would bring few benefits for residents.

The project aims to link the port of Kolkata with the landlocked state of Mizoram via the Rakhine State capital of Sittwe. The project will see motor roads and waterways upgraded from Sittwe to southwestern Chin state, enabling Indian cargo vessels to travel along the Kaladan River and berth at Paletwa, which will be linked with Mizoram by a highway. The US$120-million project is being implemented by Indian firm Essar and Max Myanmar.

Gender and Development Initiative executive director Salai Isaac Khen said that while activists and some residents were concerned about the project, most people in the region knew little about it.

He said the two groups wanted to improve residents’ knowledge about the project and advocate the government to keep the negative impact to a minimum.

“We are not trying to derail the project, as it will no doubt bring better transportation and trade links between the two countries. The most important thing is to reduce any kind of negative impacts, not only on livelihoods but also the environment, which is increasingly a concern in Myanmar,” he said.

“The new government says ‘For the people, by the people’, so we definitely want to know that this project is ‘for the people’. The authorities should let the people know [how they will benefit] and show that they are indeed working for and representing all citizens … this is [necessary] to reduce worries and doubts in the region.”

RCA and Gender and Development Initiative plan to form a working group with other civil society organisations to raise awareness about the issues surrounding the project.

“We plan to work with regional governments and other authorities to lobby the [Union] Government to think about the impact that will inevitably result from the project and find a way to reduce it. We are compiling the recommendations based on what the residents told us,” he said.

Paletwa resident U Sein Aung told The Myanmar Times last week that people in his township had received very little information about the project, and some didn’t know about it at all.

“We see Indians coming to work at the construction site. We don’t know anything more than that they are working on something. Some people expect the project would bring job opportunities for local people but it seems unlikely because so far they have used their own workers,” said U Sein Aung, a priest who was interviewed for the “listening project”.

“We just know the project is being directed by the [Union] Government but we think we should learn about the project because it is being implemented in our region. The regional government needs to find out more about it,” he said. “We feel thankful for the better transportation the project will bring … it is something Chin people have been waiting for for a long time.”

But residents told the organisations that while improved transportation would mean farmers can export rice and seasonal fruits, like oranges and djenkol beans, directly to India, they were unsure who would really benefit from this.

U Tin Nu, resident in Sittwe township said the Kaladan River – known locally as the Kistpanaddi – was integral to the identity and culture of both Rakhine and Chin people, and many people also rely on it for their livelihoods.

“We love Kistpanaddi no less than the Chin cherish it – all living things in this area rely on the river,” he said. “It would be thoughtful of the authorities if they let us know more about the project to reduce our worries.”
........
Myanmar Times

Syria's Homs under new deadly blitz

2012-02-10T01:00:00.001-08:00

AFP

©AFP/YouTube

At least 83 people were killed across the country on Thursday

DAMASCUS (AFP) - More than 80 people were killed in Syria Thursday, most of them in a relentless blitz on the city of Homs, an attack US President Barack Obama decried as "outrageous bloodshed".

Shelling erupted at daybreak, killing more than 50 civilians in the besieged central city and burning several bodies beyond recognition, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

At least 83 people were killed across the country on Thursday, said the Britain-based Observatory.

Troops trying to crush opponents of President Bashar al-Assad have killed at least 400 people in a six-day onslaught on Homs, opposition activists say.

"The shells are raining down on us and regime forces are using heavy artillery," said Ali Hazuri, a doctor in the Baba Amr district reached by telephone from Beirut.

Omar Shaker, an activist in Baba Amr also reached by phone, said residents were hiding on ground floors as there were no underground shelters.

"When you venture outside, you can see craters every 10 metres (yards)," he said.

©AFP graphic

Map locating Homs and other areas hit by violence

British Prime Minister David Cameron said Assad's regime appeared determined to kill its own people.

"It's quite clear that this is a regime that is hell-bent on killing, murdering and maiming its own citizens," Cameron told reporters in Stockholm. "It really is appalling, the scenes of destruction in Homs."

He called for "transition and change in Syria."

Foreign Secretary William Hague stressed that Britain has no plans to help arm Syria's opposition.

But Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Thursday during a visit to Washington that the international community cannot afford to watch the "massacre" taking place in Syria without acting.

Davutoglu is urging an international conference to resolve violence that erupted when demonstrators began demanding last spring that Assad be removed from office.

"We cannot let Syrian people die every day and the international community will follow blindly," Davutoglu said during a lecture at George Washington University in the US capital.

©AFPTV/YouTube

Syria's Homs under new deadly

blitz. Duration: 00:38

Germany meanwhile backed a proposed joint Arab League-UN mission to monitor the Syrian government's deadly crackdown on protests, but other major powers were more cautious.
Prospects for the mission that the Arab League chief has proposed to UN leader Ban Ki-moon could depend on an Arab League foreign ministers' meeting this weekend and the backing of the major powers.

As the international community struggles to find a new diplomatic response to Assad's assault on protest cities, Germany's Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle gave the strongest welcome to the Arab League-UN proposal.

"In addition to the establishment of a contact group of 'friends of a democratic Syria' we must also undertake a new attempt to resolve the crisis through the United Nations," Westerwelle said in Berlin.

He said a joint Arab League-UN observer mission and the naming of a UN special representative on the Syria conflict "would serve peace and balance. And both would be a clear signal by the international community to the Assad regime."

Ban said Arab League chief Nabil El-Araby had told him Tuesday that he would be sending observers back to Syria and wanted it to be a joint UN-Arab League operation. El-Araby also wanted a joint UN-League special envoy to Syria.

EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton said Russia must confront "the reality" of the deadly crackdown in Syria, after Moscow vetoed a UN resolution condemning the violence.
"My message to my Russian colleagues is they too need to recognize the reality of the situation on the ground" in Syria, said Ashton, who was making a two-day visit to Mexico.

©AFP

Ban said Russia and China's refusal to back UN resolutions had encouraged Assad's regime

Obama, in comments after White House talks with Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti, condemned "the outrageous bloodshed that we've seen", and urged "a transition from the current government that has been assaulting its people."

Ban hit out at Russia and China for their steadfast refusal to back UN resolutions condemning the violence in Syria, saying this had encouraged Assad's regime to continue its repression.
Moscow, a staunch ally of Damascus, has insisted that any solution to end nearly one year of bloodshed must come from within Syria.

However the United States, France and Britain have dismissed such arguments while piling pressure on Moscow to change tack.

Despite the bloodshed, activists urged Syrians to turn out for a big demonstration against Russia on Friday, a traditional day of protests that follow the main weekly Muslim prayers.
"Russia is killing our children. Its planes, tanks and veto are also killing our children," said a banner on the Facebook page of The Syrian Revolution 2011.

Rights groups estimate that more than 6,000 people have died in the crackdown since mid-March.

Activist monk Gambira is detained

2012-02-10T00:58:00.000-08:00

(Mizzima) – Ashin Gambira, one of the leaders of the “Saffron Revolution” in 2007, was removed from his monastery by authorities in Rangoon on Friday.

Ashin Gambira, one of the leaders of the 2007 monk-led demonstrations. Photo: Mizzima

A fellow monk told CNN that around 10 men in plain clothes took Gambira away in a car. He said the men told him that Gambira was not under arrest, but he was wanted for questioning.

A leader of the All-Burmese Monks Alliance who was serving 68 years in prison before his release in January in an amnesty, Gambira may have been arrested because he tried to enter monasteries that were closed and locked by the military regime following the monk-led street protests in 2007, said a fellow monk.

According to Agence France Presse, Gambira was being questioned for “breaching regulations.”

These officials were from the government religious authority department and Rangoon division government, said AFP.

After he was freed last month, Gambira had reportedly been trying to reopen monasteries that were closed and locked up by the authorities.

“He was taken this morning from his monastery for questioning because he broke the locks of three monasteries since his release,” an anonymous source told AFP.

In many interviews after his release, Gambira said he did not trust the democratic reforms that have taken place during the past year.

The 31-year-old monk was arrested in November 2007, after the street protests. Three weeks later, he was jailed for 68 years.

He was one of about 600 people freed in January in an amnesty directed toward national reconciliation and encouraging the lifting of sanctions imposed by the European Union and the United States.

Since his release, Gambira had moved in to Meggin Monastery in Rangoon with hopes of rebuilding the monastery that was destroyed by the military regime following the 2007 demonstrations. The monastery’s monks were beaten and many were imprisoned. It is one of more than 60 monasteries that were raided, closed, and destroyed during the crackdown following the protests.

Gambira said in a recent interview that the government still must apologize to the Buddhist sangha for its actions against monks.

“The government has transformed its external appearance into a civilian one, but their efforts to implement democracy are still rather weak, while many cases of human rights violations continue,” he was quoted as saying.

Burmese protest leader monk Gambira 'taken away'

2012-02-10T00:52:00.000-08:00

Shin Gambira, one of the leaders of the All-Burmese Monks Alliance

Burma: Battle for Democracy

The Burmese monk Shin Gambira has been taken away by the authorities, sources told the BBC's Burmese service.

Gambira, jailed for his role in leading the 2007 anti-government protests, was released last month by the country's civilian, military-backed government.

He was taken from a monastery in Rangoon early Friday morning, his brother said.
He was reportedly being questioned for ''breaching regulations'' an official told Agence France-Presse.

Some 15 officials came in three cars at about 01:15 local time (1845 GMT Thursday), a monk who was with Gambira told the BBC.

These officials were from the government religious authority department and Rangoon division government, he added.

After he was freed last month, Gambira has reportedly been reopening monasteries that were locked up by the authorities since the ''saffron revolution'' movement led by monks in 2007.

"He was taken this morning from his monastery for questioning because he broke the locks of three monasteries since his release," the official who wished to remain anonymous told AFP.

'Sensitive time'

In interviews following his release, he has expressed deep scepticism about reforms taking place in Burma, says the BBC's South East Asia correspondent Rachel Harvey.

One of the leaders of the All-Burmese Monks Alliance, the 31-year-old was arrested on 4 November, 2007, weeks after the protest was crushed.

REFORM IN BURMA

7 Nov 2010: First polls in 20 years
13 Nov: Aung San Suu Kyi freed from house arrest
30 Mar 2011: Transfer of power to new government complete
19 Aug: Aung San Suu Kyi meets Burmese President Thein Sein
12 Oct: More than 200 political prisoners freed
13 Oct: New labour laws allowing unions passed
17 Nov: Burma granted Asean chair in 2014
23 Dec: NLD registers as political party
12 Jan: Karen ceasefire signed
13 Jan: Highest-profile political prisoners freed

Timeline: Reforms in Burma

Less than three weeks later, he was jailed for 68 years, including 12 of hard labour.

He was one of 651 people freed on 13 January in what was the most significant release of political prisoners since the country began a series of reforms aimed at encouraging the lifting of sanctions imposed by the European Union and United States.

The detention of such a high profile figure comes at a sensitive time, just as official campaigning for forthcoming by-elections gets underway, says our correspondent.

Campaigning begins today in all constituencies being contested in the 1 April poll, which will be watched closely by the EU, US, UN and human rights activists.

An EU official is due to visit Burma on Saturday to offer 150m euros ($199m, £126m) in aid following the series of recent reforms.

Andris Piebalgs, the European Union development commissioner, will meet with President Thein Sein as well as pro-democracy opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who is contesting in the upcoming by-elections.

Meanwhile, the US has eased one of the sanctions it levels against Burma, in what it said was a response to ongoing reforms.

The partial waiver, signed on Monday, will allow Burma to receive limited technical assistance from international financial institutions.

Syria unrest: Explosions rock northern city of Aleppo

2012-02-10T00:50:00.001-08:00

BBC

A number of explosions have rocked Syria's second city of Aleppo.

State TV reported a number of casualties - including soldiers - after two blasts in the northern city. It said "armed terrorist gangs" were responsible.

Meanwhile, Syrian opposition activists quoted local residents as saying there were three explosions.

Aleppo has been relatively quiet since protests against President Bashar al-Assad's regime erupted in March.

Libya expels Syrian diplomatic mission

2012-02-10T00:49:00.001-08:00

(CNN) -- Libya is expelling Syria's diplomats because of the escalation of the government's crackdown on its people, Libya's Foreign Ministry announced Thursday.

The Syrian charge d'affaires was summoned to the Foreign Ministry in Tripoli on Wednesday and told to leave with his staff within 72 hours, ministry spokesman Saad Elshlmani said.

"The reason for this is the position of the Syrian regime towards the Syrian people," he explained.

"After this escalation and the Arab League meetings in Cairo and the draft resolution ... Libya found it's the time to take a much stronger position against the Syrian regime."

The Syrian state news agency SANA reported the Syrian consul in Libya, Mohammed al-Ghazawi, and his staff were attacked by gangs on their way to the Foreign Ministry, where they were told to leave.

The gangs attacked the Syrians' cars with clubs, knives, and cleavers, SANA reported. The Syrian Embassy was also attacked and looted, the news agency said.

A number of other nations have expelled Syria's ambassadors over the violence. They include Tunisia and the six members of the Gulf Cooperation Council -- the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, and Kuwait.

Other countries, including the United States, have either closed their own embassies in Syria or temporarily recalled their ambassadors from Damascus.

At least 137 reported killed as Syrian attacks escalate

2012-02-10T00:48:00.000-08:00

(CNN) -- A Syrian opposition group reported at least 137 deaths at the hands of government forces Thursday as President Bashar al-Assad escalated a brutal assault against an opposition that wants an end to his regime.

Thursday marked the fifth consecutive day of attacks on opposition activists and civilians in the besieged city of Homs -- Syria's third-largest city -- which has become a flashpoint in the uprising.

The Local Coordination Committees, a network of opposition activists that organizes and documents protests, said that 110 of the deaths were in Homs; 10 were children.

"Danny" chronicles daily hell in Syria

The president has repeatedly denied attacking civilians, saying Syrian forces are targeting armed gangs and foreign terrorists bent on destabilizing the government.

Syrian state television Thursday said armed terrorist gangs fired seven shells into Homs in the early morning, adding that there were no reports of damage.

The station then showed video of people it identified as residents saying armed gangs had fired on their homes and schools with shells and rocket-propelled grenades.

Nearly all other reports from within the country, however, tell a different story. Opposition activists in Homs describe explosions from mortars and tank shells launched by Syrian forces every few minutes, people bleeding to death in the streets for lack of medical attention, and snipers picking off civilians running for cover.

Video reportedly from Homs and posted online shows rubble and the remains of buildings as gunfire is heard in the background.

Medical charities say doctors inside Syria have reported hospitals, clinics, medical staff and patients being targeted.

A doctor in the Homs neighborhood of Baba Amr, Ali, said a group from the Red Crescent recently tried to visit to give medical aid, but their vehicle was attacked and they were forced to turn around.

CNN is not fully naming the doctor for his protection.

Satellite photos of Homs taken this month compared with photos taken in August 2010 show a changed city -- the recent photographs swaths of burned-out areas, blownoff roofs and empty streets. The 2010 photos of the same areas show streets packed with vehicles, and crisp lines of buildings, their roofs intact.

Doctor: "We're all waiting to die"

Civilians who enter hospitals with what would have been minor injuries if properly treated were left instead to die, said Col. Malek Al Kurdi of the rebel Free Syrian Army, who said he witnessed such a scene in the coastal city of Latakia.

"Al-Assad is now using the tactic of attacking three or more cities at the same time to attempt to deter the revolt," Al Kurdi said. "Last night the killers attacked Zabadani, Homs, and Talkala at the same time."

The LCC described the shelling of Zabadani, going on for a sixth consecutive day. Ten people died on Thursday, five of them members of the same family, the group said. Another 40 people were wounded, it said, adding that medical supplies, fuel and food were in short supply.

Attacks also occurred in the cities of Lattakia, Daraa, Idlib, and the Damascus suburbs, and said snipers were on rooftops in the southern village of Taseel, the group said.

The LCC accused the government of lying about its own attacks.

In Taseel, it said, "a civilian's home was exploded and a huge amount of weaponry was brought in, then photographed by the Syrian regime's state media as tools and acts of armed gangsters to justify for raiding the town, which is now strictly sealed off."

CNN cannot independently confirm reports in Syria because the government has severely limited the access of international journalists.

Hacked e-mails reveal al-Assad plan

Britain's ambassador to Syria painted a picture of a brutal crackdown on civilians in a Foreign Office blog post Thursday. Simon Collis described seeing peaceful protesters, including the elderly and children, being beaten. Those chanting for freedom in the Umayad Mosque in Damascus were also beaten, he said.

"It is too shocking to ignore," Collis wrote, calling for world condemnation of the actions of al-Assad's regime.

Opinion: U.S. should intervene

In an open letter, a group calling itself the Syrian Scientific Community asked the Syrian Army not to participate in the killing of people and the shelling of cities and neighborhoods, no matter the reason. They also want aid and ambulances to be allowed to reach their destinations freely without obstruction.

A U.N. Security Council resolution addressing the violence failed to pass over the weekend after Russia and China vetoed it. The 13 other Security Council members, including the United States, voted for the resolution, which was also supported by the European Union and the Arab League.

With the Security Council at an impasse, the United States and other countries have called for the creation of a "Friends of Democratic Syria" group to support a free and democratic Syria, said Victoria Nuland, the U.S. State Department spokeswoman.

Opinion: U.S. should keep out

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu arrived Thursday in Washington, where he was expected to hold talks with U.S. lawmakers on an Arab League proposal on Syria. The plan calls for resuming a monitoring mission to determine whether al-Assad is abiding by an agreement that his government would end all violence.

Turkey has been critical of al-Assad's crackdown.

Also critical of Syria is Libya, which experienced its own revolt last year that led to the downfall of longtime leader Moammar Ghadafi. Libya announced Thursday it is expelling the Syrian charge d'affaires and his staff because of the "escalation" of the government's crackdown on its people.

Myanmar authorities take activist monk from monastery

2012-02-10T00:45:00.001-08:00

Yangon, Myanmar (CNN) -- The Myanmar authorities have taken an activist monk away from a monastery in Yangon, a fellow monk said Friday, only weeks after he was released from years of imprisonment.

U Gambira, who was freed by the government last month along with other political prisoners, was taken away early Friday by about 10 men in plain clothes who said they were from the "Yangon Division," said U Thika, a monk who witnessed the events.

The men who took U Gambira away did not give details on where they were taking him or why, U Thika said. He added that the men said that they were not arresting U Gambira but wanted to talk to him.

The police and other Myanmar authorities did not immediately respond to calls seeking comment.

The detention of U Gambira comes after the Myanmar government has taken notable steps to improve its human rights record.

In recent weeks, the regime has pardoned hundreds of political prisoners, approved the participation of the pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her party in April elections and pledged to pursue a peace deal with an ethnic rebel group.

Western governments have applauded the effort, with the United States announcing in January that it would exchange ambassadors with Myanmar for the first time since 1988. That came after a visit to the country last month by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the first top U.S. diplomat in the nation in more than five decades.

U Gambira was one of the leaders of anti-government demonstrations that rallied tens of thousands of people in 2007. The Myanmar authorities cracked down on the demonstrations, clubbing and gassing protestors and arresting as many as 200 monks.

Human rights groups like Amnesty International had condemned U Gambira's arrest and detention following the crackdown.

U Thika said he believed the reason U Gambira had been taken away Friday may be related to a recent effort by U Gambira to break into his old monastery, which was locked after the 2007 protests.

Over 3 years later, "deleted" Facebook photos are still online

2012-02-08T23:44:00.000-08:00

CNN
(Ars Technica) -- Facebook is still working on deleting photos from its servers in a timely manner nearly three years after Ars first brought attention to the topic.

The company admitted on Friday that its older systems for storing uploaded content "did not always delete images from content delivery networks in a reasonable period of time even though they were immediately removed from the site," but said it's currently finishing up a newer system that makes the process much quicker. In the meantime, photos that users thought they "deleted" from the social network months or even years ago remain accessible via direct link.

The problem: "deleted" photos never go away

When we first investigated this phenomenon in 2009, we discovered that photos "deleted" from Facebook seemingly never go away if you have a direct link to the image file on Facebook's servers. Users who might have had second thoughts about posting a photo -- whether it was because they didn't want retaliation from an employer, wanted to avoid family drama, or uploaded a photo of a friend without their permission—could certainly remove the image from Facebook's main user interface, but as long as someone had a direct link to the .jpg file in question, the photo would remain accessible for an indefinite amount of time. When we asked Facebook about it, we were told that the company was "working with our content delivery network (CDN) partner to significantly reduce the amount of time that backup copies persist."

But when we followed up on the story more than a year later, our "deleted" photos were still accessible via direct link. That's when the reader stories started pouring in: we were told horror stories about online harassment using photos that were allegedly deleted years ago, and users who were asked to take down photos of friends that they had put online.

There were plenty of stories in between as well, and panicked Facebook users continue to e-mail me, asking if we have heard of any new way to ensure that their deleted photos are, well, deleted. For example, one reader linked me to a photo that a friend of his had posted of his toddler crawling naked on the lawn. He asked his friend to take it down for obvious reasons, and so the friend did -- in May of 2008. As of this writing in 2012, I have personally confirmed that the photo is still online, as are several others that readers linked me to that were deleted at various points in 2009 and 2010.

(Amusingly, after publishing the 2010 followup, Facebook appeared to delete my photos from its CDN that I had linked in the piece. The company never offered me any explanation, but my photos were the only ones that were deleted at that time. Other "deleted" photos that I had saved links to -- ones that weren't from my account and were deleted even earlier than mine—remained online.)

It's 2012, and things aren't much different -- yet

After confirming once again that all the photos that my friends and Ars readers had sent in were still online, I reached out to Facebook once again, looking for an answer as to why this is still going on nearly three years after the company first promised it was "working" on the issue.

"The systems we used for photo storage a few years ago did not always delete images from content delivery networks in a reasonable period of time even though they were immediately removed from the site," Facebook spokesperson Frederic Wolens told Ars via e-mail.

Wolens explained that photos remaining online are stuck in a legacy system that was apparently never operating properly, but said the company is working on a new system that will delete the photos in a mere month and a half. For really real this time.

"We have been working hard to move our photo storage to newer systems which do ensure photos are fully deleted within 45 days of the removal request being received," Wolens said. "This process is nearly complete and there is only a very small percentage of user photos still on the old system awaiting migration, the URL you provided was stored on this legacy system. We expect this process to be completed within the next month or two, at which point we will verify the migration is complete and we will disable all the old content."
Long story short, Wolens claims that Facebook is on the verge of fixing up its content systems so that "deleted" photos are really, truly deleted from the CDN within 45 days. But with the process not expected to be finished until a couple months from now—and unfortunately, with a company history of stretching the truth when asked about this topic—we'll have to see it before we believe it.

It's hard to believe that we've been following this story over a period of years and the problem hasn't been fixed yet. But unlike the past, we do have some semblance of confidence that Facebook might actually be working on it this time. We'll continue to follow this story until the new changes are actually in place. In the meantime, does anyone have any new Facebook horror stories to share?

Megaupload case spurs other sites to step up anti-piracy enforcement

2012-02-08T23:41:00.000-08:00

By Kayla Stoner, Special to CNN

February 8, 2012 -- Updated 1254 GMT (2054 HKT) | Filed under: Web

The Department of Justice accused Megaupload.com employees of breaking copyright law and trying to cover up their actions
(CNN) -- When the Department of Justice shut down Megaupload.com last month, it wasn't just Megaupload users' files that went offline.

The move prompted changes in the way other file-hosting sites share content and shook up anti-abuse departments across the industry.

Since the federal crackdown, third-party aggregate sites no longer link to Megaupload's video host, Megavideo, which has also been shut down.

File host videobb did not respond to questions from CNN regarding its anti-abuse policies, but links to the site's content were noticeably absent from sites like Side Reel following Megaupload's shutdown. Direct links to videobb's movies and TV shows that were available less than a month ago are now gone.

The change suggests videobb is stepping up anti-abuse efforts in order to avoid the fate of Megaupload, a Hong Kong-based site which is accused of knowingly hosting illegally pirated material. It would be almost impossible for videobb to completely eliminate illegal content, but just the effort to do so may be enough to shield it from criminal charges.

Another file-sharing site, BTJunkie, voluntarily shut down Monday. The site's founder told TorrentFreak that recent legal action against Megaupload and other similar services was behind his decision.

The Department of Justice has accused Megaupload of willfully breaking copyright law and trying to cover up its actions by hiding illegal materials from the site's public page. Federal prosecutors said the company offered financial incentives for users to illegally upload movies and television shows. It also accused Megaupload officials of discouraging the legitimate use of the site for personal storage by deleting content that was not regularly downloaded.

The indictment alleges the company has denied copyright holders an estimated $500 million and that those indicted have earned roughly $175 million in the process. Attorneys for Megaupload have denied the charges.

A Department of Justice representative said in an e-mail the agency will only pursue cases like Megaupload's where there was "sufficient evidence of willful criminal conduct."

That means videobb will likely be safe from criminal charges as long as it continues removing illegal content from third-party aggregate sites. If other companies follow suit, the Justice Department will have accomplished what some have suggested was its primary goal -- making an example of Megaupload to convince other file hosts to step up anti-piracy enforcement.

However for some, the elimination of Megaupload as a file-hosting option has made vetting pirated content more difficult.

Daniel Raimer, a spokesman for Switzerland-based file host RapidShare, said the company's anti-abuse department has been working overtime since the day last month when Megaupload went offline. The workload is not caused by an increased emphasis on removing copyrighted material, he said, but is necessary to vet a massive influx of files from new customers -- Megaupload's customers.

Raimer said the company has not made any changes or improvements to its anti-abuse policies in the wake of the Megaupload scandal. He said it wasn't necessary because RapidShare was already among the toughest in the industry.

RapidShare has a three-strike policy for copyright offenders, after which the site deletes users' accounts and all of their files, a tactic which has proved unpopular with ousted users.

"There's some trash talk online, but we're not sad about those comments," Raimer said. "We like bad press from pirates."

RapidShare uses a variety of technical tools to catch abusers, but the site also uses a basic search method identical to what might be employed by any home user. Raimer said RapidShare technicians type words like "movies, free download" into search engines to look for illegal movie and TV show downloads on the site.

The process can be tedious for the 17-person team. While they comprise nearly a third of RapidShare's staff, Raimer said it is impossible for them to check each of the 400,000 files uploaded to RapidShare each day. He estimates about 5 percent of all files are illegal, but his team can only catch and delete about 1 percent of all uploaded files.

Raimer said it has been even more difficult to keep up with incoming content since Megaupload's shutdown because of all the new customers. However despite the increased difficulty, he said RapidShare's commitment to legitimate file-hosting remains the same. Raimer said RapidShare wants to ensure its new customers understand its business model.

"We don't provide any incentive to upload illegal content," he said. "We are determined to show them we don't tolerate that."

Lady Gaga launches social site, 'Little Monsters'

2012-02-08T23:40:00.000-08:00

By Doug Gross, CNN

February 8, 2012 -- Updated 1956 GMT (0356 HKT) | Filed under: Social Media

(CNN) -- Lady Gaga is already the reigning queen of Twitter, with her nearly 19 million followers topping those of anyone else on the site.

Now, she's launching a site of her own.

Little Monsters, now in invite-only beta testing, is the pop princess's effort at creating a network built around her fan base -- which she's dubbed the aforementioned "monsters."

An early look at the site suggests it will be designed a lot like Pinterest, the fast-emerging mobile app that lets users "pin" locations and items that they like. Gaga's site also will emphasize sharing and creating photos and videos, as well as letting other users promote content from others that they like (something similar to sites like Reddit and Digg).

The site is the first project by Backplane, the startup where Lady Gaga's manager, Troy Carter, is one of four founders. The company will focus on online community-building.

"Backplane is about bringing together communities and Gaga's community just so happens to be the community we're using to learn about proper functionality," CEO Matt Michelsen said to Mashable, a CNN content partner. "We think we can really change the world."

When other sites are launched, Backplane allows user to switch back and forth among as many as they want.

Even with Gaga's massive social-media presence (she was the first artist to hit 1 billion YouTube video views), it remains an open question whether a social site devoted almost exclusively to her fans will have a big enough user base to fly.

At The Frisky, another CNN content partner, Tiffanie Drayton imagines chat on the site this way:

Little Monster 1: "Lady Gaga sure knows how to rock a bad-ass meat dress."

Little Monster 2: "I think that getup must have smelled horrible."

LittleMonsters.com Administrator: "Lady Gaga always smells like roses!" (squishes Little Monster 2) "Carry on with the idolatry you little monsters!"

What do you think? Does this site have a chance?

Chongqing policeman Wang Lijun mystery deepens

2012-02-08T23:38:00.001-08:00

By Michael Bristow BBC News, Beijing

Wang Lijun did visit its consulate in Chengdu, the US has confirmed

The mystery surrounding one of China's top police chiefs has deepened after the US government confirmed he visited one of its consulates.

Some are speculating that Wang Lijun was seeking asylum, although the US state department said it could not comment on that issue.
Mr Wang gained national recognition after spearheading a crackdown on organised crime in Chongqing.
But he was removed from his post and is now on leave because of "stress".
One of China's vice-foreign ministers, Cui Tiankai, said this was an "isolated incident".
Speaking at a briefing, he said this issue was "resolved and resolved quite smoothly", although he did not go into details about exactly what had happened to Mr Wang.
The incident could have ramifications for Mr Wang's boss, Bo Xilai, who appears poised to become one of China's top national leaders later this year.
Mr Bo has been one of China's most high-profile politicians of late, launching a campaign that praised the virtues of the country's communist past, as well as the crime crackdown.
'Own volition' There has been speculation for several days about the fate of Wang Lijun following a disturbance outside the US consulate in Chengdu earlier this week.

Police outside US consulate in Chengdu on 7 February (Image supplied to BBC)

Chengdu is just a few hours drive from Chongqing, where Mr Wang is also the deputy mayor.
People reported seeing swarms of police officers, who set up roadblocks outside the consulate.
Posting comments on Chinese micro-blog sites, some said a SUV-style vehicle with a Chongqing number plate was hauled away by the police.
Speaking in Washington, US state department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said: "Wang Lijun did request a meeting at the US consulate general in Chengdu earlier this week."

Wang Lijun

52-year-old deputy mayor and police chief of Chongqing city in southwest China
Closely identified with Chongqing Communist Party chief Bo Xilai
Developed a reputation for being tough on organised crime
Started his career in law enforcement in 1984 in the Inner Mongolia region; moved to Chongqing in 2008
Was the subject of a TV drama Iron-Blooded Police Spirits

In carefully-worded comments she added: "He did visit the consulate and he later left the consulate of his own volition."

Ms Nuland said the state department did not talk about issues related to those seeking refugee status or asylum.
Mr Wang was removed from his post as head of Chongqing's police department last week and given other duties.
Then on Wednesday the city government's news department said on its micro-blog site that he had gone on leave.
"It is understood that Vice-Mayor Wang Lijun, who has suffered overwork and immense mental stress for a long time, is seriously physically indisposed. After agreement, he is currently taking holiday-style medical treatment," read the tweet.
Wang Lijun, 52, headed an attack on organised crime in Chongqing that saw hundreds of people arrested, including the former head of the city's judicial authorities.
He is a martial arts expert whose crime-fighting exploits once inspired a television series.
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BBC

New Zealand quake: CTV building 'was sub-standard'

2012-02-08T23:37:00.001-08:00

A total of 115 people died when the CTV building collapsed in the earthquake

A building that collapsed during last year's Christchurch earthquake was sub-standard, an official report has found.

The six-story Canterbury Television (CTV) building did not meet requirements when it was built in 1986, said a report by the Department of Building and Housing.
Its collapse killed 115 people - almost two-thirds of those who died.
The death toll for the magnitude 6.3 quake on 22 February 2011 has also been revised from 181 to 185.
The coroner's office in New Zealand's second-largest city said more deaths had been recorded following reviews.
The building report found that load-bearing concrete columns of the CTV building were not sufficiently reinforced with steel. The department also said that the building fell well short of current minimum standards.
Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee said the report raised "serious questions about the structural integrity of the building".
"We note the report has now been passed onto the New Zealand Police to look into further," he said.
The head of the engineering firm that designed the building called the report ''technically inadequate''.
"Some of the assumptions made in the reports are highly questionable," Alan Reay Consultants Ltd (ARCL) said in a statement.
A memorial service will be held in Christchurch to mark the first anniversary of the disaster.
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BBC

Activist: Infants, medical staff among dead in Homs crackdown

2012-02-08T23:36:00.000-08:00

(CNN) -- Four consecutive days of shelling and bombing by Syrian government forces into the besieged city of Homs have left residents cowering, afraid to escape and fearing for their lives.

That's how activists in Homs described the situation Wednesday. One, identified for his safety only as Abu Rami, said he heard explosions every few minutes from bombs launched by unseen forces outside the city limits.

Not even infants or medical crews have been spared, he said, calling it "a huge crime against humanity."

"They are shelling from a far distance," Abu Rami said. "They are using many kinds of weapons -- heavy weapons, anti-aircraft, they are using nail bombs."

At the United Nations, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the "appalling brutality" of the bombardment of Homs, a city of about 1 million people. But he warned it would be "a grim harbinger of worse to come" without united pressure on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government to halt the bloodshed.

Ban said Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Elaraby plans to send a renewed Arab League monitoring mission back into Syria after it was suspended last month, when violence escalated. He said Elaraby had suggested beefing up the mission with U.N. observers -- a suggestion Ban said he raised in the Security Council and will discuss further "in the coming days."

Abu Rami said more than 60 people died Wednesday in Homs, including women and children and five infants who died at a hospital because the electricity was cut. Medical conditions are worsening too, he said.

"Yesterday they targeted the field hospital in Baba Amr (a Homs neighborhood) and they killed three doctors of this hospital," Abu Rami said. "We have a shortage of medical tools and medical supplies.

"We have at this moment more than 100 wounded people. We can't rescue them or make for them any necessary assistance."

Families who tried to escape from Baba Amr were captured by government forces and killed, he said.

The medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres, also known as Doctors Without Borders, said Wednesday the Syrian regime was attacking the wounded and the staff who were treating them.

"In Syria today, wounded patients and doctors are pursued, and risk torture and arrest at the hands of the security services," said Marie-Pierre Allie, president of the group. "Medicine is being used as a weapon of persecution."

Patients are using false names and doctors are giving false diagnoses in attempts to elude security forces, who search for patients whose wounds are consistent with those inflicted during demonstrations, she said.

CNN cannot independently confirm reports from either side in Syria because the government has restricted journalists' access to the country.

Another activist in Homs, identified for his safety only as Danny, told CNN via a satellite Internet connection that people are scared to leave their homes because of snipers. Those who venture out tend to cling to walls or move through alleys to avoid the gunfire, he said.

It doesn't always work. "I have lost more than 30 of my friends," Danny said. "Ten or 12 of them died right in front of me 'cause I couldn't take them to the hospital, because I couldn't move them from the street."

He held up a rocket that he said landed on a house and a mortar bomb that he said had hit another house and killed a 2-year-old.

Danny said he is living in a house with about 20 other people, armed with only two handguns. Some of the bodies he had seen, he said, bore signs of electrocution; others had been cut in pieces.

The Syrian government has said it is fighting armed gangs and terrorists in its crackdown, which has continued unabated for 11 months. But the rebel Free Syrian Army is unable to fight back because government forces are striking from a outside the city, Abu Rami told CNN.

"Who's going to resist? You can't see anything, so there is not any armed resistance in these areas," he said.

Even at home, activists say, no one is safe. Government troops are moving from house to house by breaking through walls rather than venturing back onto the street, where they might face Free Syrian Army forces, Danny told CNN.

Syria has been ruled by the al-Assad family since 1970. When last year's "Arab Spring" protests spread to the country in March, the government responded with escalating force, but has struggled to put down what is now a widespread uprising.

The Syrian National Council, the major opposition umbrella group, repeated its call for outside intervention to halt the killing and lift the siege of cities like Homs. And Amnesty International called on Russia "and other countries with influence over Syria" to take action to end the assault on Homs, where they said the majority of the dead were unarmed civilians.

In particular, Amnesty urged Moscow "to make it clear to the Syrian government, both publicly and in private, that the military assault on the city of Homs must end immediately."

"The situation in Homs is critical, and is turning into a major humanitarian crisis. Russia has blocked international efforts to stop the massive human rights violations in Syria, stating that they have a better plan for resolving the crisis," Salil Shetty, Amnesty International's secretary-general, said Wednesday in a statement.

Russia, which joined China in vetoing a proposed U.N. resolution aimed at halting the crackdown, has stood by its Soviet-era ally. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov touted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's commitment to ending the violence during a visit to Damascus on Tuesday, and Prime Minister Vladmir Putin said Monday the situation is for the Syrians to resolve.

"One cannot act like an elephant in a china shop. People should be allowed to decide their future themselves," Putin said. "The conflicting sides and people should decide their future themselves."

Navi Pilay, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, urged the international community Wednesday "to cut through the politics and take effective action to protect the Syrian population." She said thousands of demonstrators and civilians have been killed, injured, detained or tortured since the uprising began -- actions that may constitute crimes against humanity, punishable under international law.

U.N. officials estimate 6,000 people have died since protests began nearly a year ago. The Local Coordination Committees, a network of opposition activists that organizes and documents protests, puts the toll at more than 7,300.

America and Eurasia 'to meet at north pole'

2012-02-08T23:34:00.001-08:00

By Neil Bowdler Science and health reporter, BBC News

America and Eurasia will crash into each other over the North Pole in 50-200 million years time, according to scientists at Yale University.

They predict Africa and Australia will join the new "supercontinent" too, which will mark the next coming together of the Earth's land masses.
The continents are last thought to have come together 300 million years ago into a supercontinent called Pangaea.
Details are published in the journal Nature.

An impression of the "supercontinent of Pangaea" some 300 million years ago

The land masses of the Earth are constantly moving as the Earth's tectonic activity occurs. This generates areas such as the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, where Iceland has formed, and areas such as that off the coast of Japan, where one plate rides over another.
Geologists believe that, over billions of years, these shifting plates have driven the continents together periodically, creating the hypothesised supercontinents of Nuna 1.8 billion years ago, Rodinia a billion years ago, and then Pangaea 300 million years ago.
The next supercontinent has already been given the working title of Amasia, as it is expected to involve the convergence of the Americas and Asia.
What the researchers have set out to do is predict when and where it will form by looking back at where its predecessors emerged.
"We're all pretty familiar with the concept of Pangaea, but there hasn't been much convincing data to suggest how the supercontinents take shape," Ross Mitchell of Yale University told BBC News.
"In our model, we actually have North America and South America joining by closing the Caribbean Sea and the Arctic Sea closing and connecting the Americas and Asia."
'Better insight' The model puts the repositioned Americas within what is known as the Pacific "ring of fire". Europe, part of the Eurasian land mass, Africa and Australia are predicted to join the merging continent, with only Antarctica left out.
The prediction is based on analysis of magnetic data locked into rocks around the world which betray the magnetic orientation of those rocks in past ages.

An animation showing plate motions for the past 500 million years and the rise and fall of the previous supercontinent Pangaea

"Ancient rocks when they form, whether it's lava cooling or sedimentary rock solidifying, will lock in the magnetic orientation," explained Mr Mitchell. "But while this indicates latitude very accurately, historically we haven't had indicators of longitude.
"We found that after each historical supercontinent had assembled, this whole supercontinent would undergo a series of back-and-forth rotations about a stable axis on the equator."
This led them to the view that that each successive supercontinent forms 90 degrees away from its predecessor. Previous studies have suggested supercontinents would form either in the same part of the globe or on alternating sides of the globe.
Commenting on the paper, Dr David Rothery, a geologist with the Open University, said the new research offered us a better insight into the history of our planet.
"We can understand past environments better if we know exactly where they were," he told BBC News. "I don't think as a European I care whether continents are going to converge over the North Pole or whether Britain crashes into America in the far future. Predicting into the future is of far less concern than what happened in the past."
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BBC

Regional cybercrime hubs launched across England

2012-02-08T23:33:00.002-08:00

The government hopes the hubs will bolster the national effort to fight e-crime

Three police cybercrime teams have been launched as part of a £6m regional effort to combat growing threats.

Yorkshire and the Humber, the Northwest and East Midlands will each get its own dedicated unit.
They will work alongside the Metropolitan Police Centre e-crime Unit which deals with national online security.
The funding is part of £30m targeted at bolstering e-crime prevention nationally over the next four years.
The new centres will consist of three members of staff - a detective sergeant and two detective constables.
The initiative was announced at the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) e-crime conference in Sheffield on Wednesday.
'Critical role' A training period is required before the hubs will be fully operational, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Janet Williams, who heads ACPO's e-crime efforts, said.
"These three additional policing units are going to play a critical role in our ability to combat the threat," she added.

“Start Quote

It seems to me to be a positive move towards enhancing the national response to cybercrime”

David Emm Security researcher

"It is anticipated the hubs will make a significant contribution to the 'national harm reduction' target of £504m."

Harm reduction is calculated using a "harm matrix" - a system which factors in costs such as how much the criminal stood to gain, how much money was invested in the crime, and the potential cost to the victim.
"In the first six months of the new funding period alone we have already been able to show a reduction of £140m with our existing capability," Ms Williams said.
Britain's e-crime efforts were exposed last week after a conference call in which Met officers discussed operations against hackers with the FBI was itself intercepted by hackers.
Details about active investigations into hackers who identified themselves with the activist collective Anonymous were posted online.
At one point in the tape, a British detective can be heard saying: "We're here to help. We've cocked things up in the past, we know that."
'Positive move' The move to increase funding and reach of e-crime prevention efforts has been praised by security professionals.
"It seems to me to be a positive move towards enhancing the national response to cybercrime," said David Emm, a security researcher for Kaspersky.
"Until now, most of the police's expertise in computer-based crime has been concentrated in the Serious Organised Crime Agency and the Met.
"Clearly, the government is keen to widen the field of expertise, and this is part of that initiative."
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BBC

Cisco sees profits rise over 43%

2012-02-08T23:33:00.000-08:00

Cisco shares rose in after-hours trading

Technology giant Cisco, saw a 43.5% rise in net profits to $2.2bn (£1.3bn) for the three months to 28 January 2012, compared with the same period in 2011.

Cisco's results come after a prolonged period of cost-cutting, which saw the firm shed more than 6,000 jobs in 2011.
Cisco increased its dividend by two cents to eight cents per share.
Shares in the firm rose 2.4% in after-hours trading to $20.93, as the results beat analyst expectations.
"Broadly speaking, people expected a good quarter. This is probably a little better than expected and the dividend is an added surprise," said Joanna Makris at Mizuho Securities.
"We are executing well on our three-year plan to drive earnings faster than revenue," said Cisco chief executive John Chambers.
"Our operational focus continues to yield positive results, we hit our billion dollar expense reduction a quarter early, and our ongoing innovation enables our customers to solve their critical business needs."
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BBC

Groupon reports unexpected loss

2012-02-08T23:31:00.001-08:00

Groupon shares launched on Nasdaq on 4 November 2011

Daily voucher company Groupon has reported an unexpected loss.

In its first set of results since listing on Nasdaq stock exchange in November, Groupon reported a net loss of $42.7m (£27.0m), when a small profit had been expected.
The loss for the last three months of 2011 compares with a loss of $378.6m in the same period of 2010.
Shares in the company fell 13% in after-hours trading to $21.35, still above the listing price of $20.
The number of people who bought a Groupon in the fourth quarter rose to 33 million, which was up 20% from the third quarter, but still below expectations.
"The number of active customers came in short. That means not enough people are buying groupons," said Sameet Sinha at B. Riley and Company.
"Yes, you can get fewer people to buy more, but how long can that continue? You need to start investing in new customer growth."
The net loss for the whole of 2011 was $350.8m, down from $456.3m in 2010.
Groupon blamed the fourth quarter loss on $34.8m of tax expenses in some of its international businesses, where it said it had paid an effective tax rate of approximately 1,600%.
It also said that it had made extra provisions for income tax after establishing its international headquarters in Switzerland.
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BBC

Syria resolution: The diplomatic train-wreck

2012-02-08T23:29:00.001-08:00

By Jonathan Marcus BBC Diplomatic Correspondent

International efforts to bring pressure to bear on President Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria have collapsed in acrimony.

Disagreements over the resolution have led to acrimony between the two sides

The decision by Russia and China to veto an Arab League-inspired resolution at the United Nations Security Council has created serious strains especially between Moscow and the West.
Worse, it has probably sent the wrong signal to President Assad, who many analysts believe is determined to step up the violence.
The annual Munich Security Conference in Germany has provided a ring-side seat as this diplomatic drama played out. The touring company of world leaders, diplomats and experts who do the rounds of these policy gatherings have made Munich the premier event of its kind.
It always has a good cast-list and this year was no exception. Both US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov were in town, fresh from their starring roles in the negotiations at the UN in New York.
'Not a serious policy' Almost from the outset of this crisis, all eyes have been on Moscow.
Russia is Syria's only prominent ally. Moscow has long had close military, economic and diplomatic ties with the Syrians. Russia is expanding its use of the Syrian naval base at Tartus and has maintained arms supplies to Damascus throughout this crisis.

“Start Quote

The Russians and Chinese had put themselves on the wrong side of history, and they will regret it”

US Senator John McCain

So all eyes were on Sergei Lavrov when he began his brief intervention.

Was Russia now ready to join in concerted international action to condemn the Syrian regime? The answer quickly became clear - No, it was not.
For all the hopes in the West of a last-minute compromise, with Mr Lavrov and Mrs Clinton hurrying off for bilateral talks in the margins of the conference, there was probably no deal to be done.
At one level it is quite simple. Russia is, as I have said, Syria's most prominent ally and that is that.
This, together with Russia's traditional antipathy towards what it sees as the UN Security Council's interference in a sovereign nation's affairs - here China takes much the same view - was enough to prompt the Russian veto.
But it is a little more complicated than that.

The killing of more than 50 people in Homs came on the day of the vote

I listened closely to Mr Lavrov's comments. "Russia," he said, "supported the call of the Syrian people for change." It had backed the Arab League observer mission and had persuaded the Syrian authorities to accept it.
But, he went on, Russia was not going to accept any resolutions that might open the way to foreign intervention or that would pre-determine the political outcome in Syria.
Mr Lavrov was clearly sceptical about what any UN resolution might achieve.
"What was the West's game plan?" he asked. If the violence continued, he argued, would you simply go back to the UN for another resolution? This was simply "not a serious policy".
If the draft resolution did not apply equivalent restrictions on all parties - for the Russians that means the "armed groups" who they believe are fomenting the violence as much as the Syrian government - it was going to be unacceptable to Moscow.
Similarly, if it referred in any way to the Arab League peace plan which involves President Assad stepping aside according to a tight schedule, then this too was unacceptable to the Russians, as was anything that they believe might pre-determine the outcome in Syria.
Impact on relations Contrast all this with the Western view and the context of Saturday's talks - reports of hundreds killed by Syrian government artillery in Homs. The fact that the death toll was significantly scaled down by the evening does little to alter the horror of the events there.
Western leaders believed the Syrian government's escalation of the violence required a prompt and unanimous condemnation from the international community.

“Start Quote

Russia fully supports the rights of the Syrian people for a better life. We are not friends or allies of President Assad”

Sergei Lavrov Russian Foreign Minister

But the broader context matters too.

In general terms, the West is far more enthusiastic than the Russians about the upheavals in the Middle East. Moscow has welcomed the advent of the Arab Spring in cautious terms, concerned by instability and the potential overthrow of established diplomatic patterns.
In the West there has been an altogether more jubilant tone. Syria is seen as the next outdated regime to fall and its departure would be a blow to Iran. After hoping that President Assad might deliver reform, he has turned his guns on his own people and the consensus in the West, along with the Arab League, is that he must go.
So where does diplomacy go from here? The sense of anger in Western diplomatic circles is palpable, and that is bound to have an impact on broader relations with Moscow.
"The Russians and Chinese have put themselves on the wrong side of history, and they will regret it," said veteran US Senator John McCain who is leading a Congressional delegation to the Munich conference.
"Didn't Mr Lavrov though have a point?" I asked him. "A UN resolution is not going to change President Assad's approach?"
"No" he said, such resolutions mattered.
"Secretary Clinton had gone the extra mile with Mr Lavrov here in Munich. She was willing to make changes to the resolution. It wasn't set in concrete," he said.
"But Mr Lavrov wanted to gut the resolution, it's as simple as that."
Western diplomats insist that the quest for a UN resolution condemning Syria will continue. Mr Lavrov is heading to Damascus for some bilateral diplomacy of his own.
What message will he carry with him to the Syrian capital? Russia of course does not want to lose an ally, but it is undoubtedly in an uncomfortable position. It wants any new Syria that may emerge to maintain its alliance with Moscow.
But there was perhaps just a hint of Moscow's thinking in Mr Lavrov's comments here in Munich.
"Russia fully supports the rights of the Syrian people for a better life. We are not friends or allies of President Assad," he said.
He said it again a few moments later: "We don't have any special concern for President Assad."
That is one straw in the wind, though. With the Assad regime struggling for its survival, Moscow may find that its efforts to manage regime change in Syria is just as fruitless as the diplomatic pressures coming from the West and the Arab League.
.......
BBC

UN's Ban says Arab League mission to Syria may resume

2012-02-08T23:20:00.000-08:00

Ban Ki-moon: "How many deaths will it take to halt this dangerous slide towards civil war?"

Syria Crisis

UN chief Ban Ki-moon says the Arab League plans to revive its mission to Syria, and has sought help from the UN.

Mr Ban said the "disastrous" failure to agree a UN resolution on Syria had encouraged Damascus "to step up its war on its own people".

The international community is struggling to find a way forward in the crisis after Russia and China blocked the resolution last week.

Syrian forces are continuing to attack opposition strongholds in the country.
Activists say shelling resumed early on Thursday in the central city of Homs - where the army launched an assault last week.

With several districts controlled by rebels forces - including many army defectors - Syria's largest city has become a major focus of unrest against President Bashar al-Assad.
More than 50 people were killed there on Wednesday alone, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Speaking at the UN, Mr Ban said: "I fear that the appalling brutality we are witnessing in Homs, with heavy weapons firing into civilian neighbourhoods, is a grim harbinger of worse to come."

He said Arab League chief Nabil el-Arabi had told him he intended to revive a monitoring mission in Syria, which collapsed last month amid escalating violence.

Mr Ban said Mr Arabi had asked for UN help with the project and proposed a joint UN-Arab League observer mission, including a joint special envoy.

"In the coming days we will further consult with the council before fleshing out details,'' Mr Ban said.

"We stand ready to assist in any way that will contribute toward improvement on the ground.''

Lost opportunity

Earlier, the US rejected Russian calls for talks between the Syrian government and the opposition.
White House spokesman Jay Carney said President Bashar al-Assad had missed the "opportunity" for dialogue.

"From the (earliest) days of this situation in Syria, there was an opportunity for the Assad regime to engage in dialogue with the opposition," White House spokesman Jay Carney said.
"Rather than take that opportunity, Assad brutally cracked down on his own people. We don't think that that opportunity is available any more.

“Start Quote

The situation is dire. We are short of food, water and medical aid. Doctors have collapsed after treating the wounded without rest for five days”

Omar Shaker Activist in Homs

"It is clear that Assad has chosen a path and that choice has resulted in the deaths of many Syrians, including innocent children."

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who visited Damascus on Tuesday, had said that President Assad was ready to talk with "all political forces" to end the violence.
But his comments were dismissed by opposition leaders and violence across Syria has continued unabated.

Mr Carney said the US planned to meet soon with its international partners to discuss ways to stop the violence in Syria and provide humanitarian aid.

In a day of intense diplomatic activity, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Wednesday that if the UN Security Council couldn't protect Syrian civilians, then like-minded countries should find ways to do so.

He is due in Washington for talks with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton early next week.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, in a phone conversation with French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Wednesday, urged the West "to avoid hasty unilateral steps" in Syria, Russian news agency Interfax reported.

Situation 'dire'

On Wednesday witnesses in Hom's Baba Amr district reported intense shelling by tanks, mortars, artillery and heavy machine guns.

Homes in the Baba Amr area of Homs have been badly hit by shelling, activists say

"The situation is dire. We are short of food, water and medical aid. Doctors have collapsed after treating the wounded without rest for five days," said activist Omar Shaker in Homs.
"We want Lavrov to come and spend a night in Homs to see what we have been passing through."

The Observatory also reported at least another eight civilians killed around the country on Wednesday.

Syria restricts access to foreign media and casualty figures cannot be independently verified.
The UN resolution backed an Arab League peace plan that would have seen President Assad hand power to a deputy to oversee a transition.

Russia, a strong ally of Syria, said that amounted to regime change.

The Syrian government blames the violence on foreign-backed groups and insists the Homs offensive will continue until "order" is restored in the city.
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BBC

Muslim Influence in Arakan and the Muslim Names of Arakanese kings - A Reassessment

2012-02-08T23:16:00.000-08:00

The Arakanese were a daring and turbulent people, a terror at once to themselves and to their neighbours. They fought among themselves and changed masters at will. Peace at home under a strong ruler signaled danger for neighbours, especially the undefended frontier districts of Bengal.

Skilled in sea and riverine warfare, they plundered, tortured and enslaved numerous inhabitants of the Gangetic delta. Their cruelty, comparable only to that of bargi marauders of later days, was a byword in Bengal. Shihabuddin Talish thus described it: "They carried off the Hindus and Muslims, male and female, great and small, few and many that they could seize, pierced the palms of their hands, passed thin canes through the holes and threw them one above another under the deck of their ships3." Yet, their association with Bengal was not an unmitigated evil. It had a positive and bright side too.

In one of those unhappy periods of internal anarchy and dissension in the history of Arakan4, one of the rulers, Mong-saw-mwan, driven out of the country, took asylum at the court of the Bengal Sultan Ghiasuddin Azam Shah in 1406 AD. After years of exile he regained his throne with the aid of Sultan Jalaluddin Muhammad Shah in 1430 AD. The grateful king readily entered into a tributary relationship with the Bengal sultan5. The event turned out to be momentous. The Arakanese king had stayed long enough in Bengal to benefit from her superior culture. On his homeward journey he was accompanied by a host of Bengali adventures, fortune hunters and admirers. While the king moulded his court on Bengal's model, his Muslim followers built the Sandikhin mosque at Mrohaung6. The expatriate Bengalis found employment in the king's civil and military establishments. Their rank was swelled by fresh arrivals and still later by Shah Shuja's followers who escaped slaughter at the hands of the Arakanese in 1661 and were retained as archers of the guard by the king; and some of them rose to very high positions in the court. Towards the end of the 17th century these Muslim soldiers of fortune commanded enormous power and influence and deposed and set up kings at will7. They burnt the palace in 1692 and for the next twenty years were the undisputed masters of Arakan8.

One concomitant of the settlement of a sizeable number of Bengalis in the capital of Arakan was the cultivation of Bengali literature and culture; and the 17th century was its heyday. The influential Bengali officers of the king patronised Bengali poets flourished under them. The Arakanese people, tribal and backward, would not easily be influenced by this expatriate culture. It is also not known to what extent, if at all, did the successors of Mong-saw-mwan, brought up and living in their own primitive society, respond to this cultural challenge. There is hardly any evidence to show that the Arakanese kings themselves patronised the poets and commissioned them to compose literary works for them. If the distressed prince Shuja had found the table manners of Sandathudamma who was revered as a very able and noble king, to be so repulsive as to keep aloof from him10 at his peril, then the Arakanese kings may hardly be said to have been much impressed by Muslim manners, customs and culture. In all probability the cultivation of Bengali literature and culture was confined to the Bengali element in the court and the capital.

Assumption of Muslim names and titles by some Arakanese kings11 and issuing coins in Arabic script containing these names and Bengal into the Arakan court. It is said that Mong-saw-mwan undertook to assume a Muslim name and strike coins bearing the kalima as a tributary. His successors threw off the yoke of Bengal but submitted to far superior culture, civilisation, statecraft, manners and customs of the Muslims and continued the practice.13 Bisveswar Bhattacharya sums up the position thus: "As the Mohammedan influence was predominant, the Arakanese kings, though Buddhist in religion, became somewhat Mahomedanised in their ideas- so much so that for a long time henceforward they used in addition to their own earlier names, Mohammedan designations and even used medallions bearing the kalima in the Persian script."14 But, a study of these coins will tell a different story.

The Arakanese had issued symbolical coins without dates and names of kings as early as the 8th century AD., if not earlier.15 Legendary coins with dates and names of rulers were not known to them and there is no doubt that they borrowed the concept from Bengal.16 One legendary coin of Mong-raza-gri (1593-1612 AD.) containing his Muslim name Salim Shah, now preserved in the Chittagong university Museum, has been published by Professor A. Karim.17 The legend in Arakanese script on the obverse of the coin reads: "963 [1601 AD.]. Lord of the White Elephant, Lord of Men and Land, Salim Shah". The upper part of the reverse having Arabic script reads: "Lord of the White Elephant, and the Just King Salim Shah Sultan" and the lower part containing Bengali described the obverse of three similar coins of Mong-raza-gri, Mong-hka-maung and Thiri-thu-damma bearing the Maghi (Arakanese) dates 963/1601 AD., 974/1612 AD. and 984/1622 AD. and their Muslim names.18 He could not decipher the Arabic and Bengali inscriptions on the three coins and took them to bear "illegible Persian and Nagri inscription".19

Some interesting and peculiar features of these Bengal coin-types have escaped notice of researchers. In the first place, unlike the Bengal coins with only Arabic legends these coins contain Arakanese, Arabic and Bengali legends. Secondly, they gave the Muslim names and titles of the Arakanese kings but not their Arakanese names. Thirdly, not all the successors of Mong-saw-mwan did take Muslim in 1430 AD. to the conquest of Arakan by the Burmese in 1784 AD. 48 kings20 ruled over Arakan and only nine of them, namely, Mong- Khari/Ali Khan (1434-59), Basawphru/Kalima Shah (1459-82), Kasabadi/Ilyas Shah Sultan (1523-25), Thatasa/Ali Shah (1525-31), Mongbun/Zabuk Shah (1531-53), Mong-hpa-laung/Sikander Shah (1612-22), Mong-raza-gri/Salim Shah (1593-1612), Mong-kha-maung/Hosain Shah (1612-22) and Thiri-thu-damma/Salim Shah (1622-38) are known to have assumed Muslim names and struck Bengal coin-types.21 Finally, these coins issued in Chittagong22 were different from those issued in Arakan. Phayre has described and published coins issued by 15 other Arakanese kings, namely, Nara-pati-gri (1638-45),Tha-do (1645-52), Sanda-thu-damma (1652-84), Wara-dhamma-raza (1685-92), Sanda-wizaya (1710-31), Sanda-thu-riya (1731-34), Nara-pa-wara (1735-37), Madarit (1737-42), Nara-apaya (1742-61), Sanda-payama (1761-64), Apaya (1764-73), Sanda-thu-mana (1773-77), Sanda-thadi-tha (1777-82), Dhammarit (1778?) and Thamada (1782-84).23 The coins were struck in the year of accession of these kings to the throne. Unlike the coins described above these coins certain the same inscription in Arakanese script on the obverse and reverse. They give the Maghi (Arakanese) dates of accession of the kings and their Arakanese names and titles. Until 1652 the king is styled "Lord of the White Elephant, Lord of the Red Elephant" but since that year he is no longer lord of the white and red elephants but "Lord of the Golden Palace" and this style is remained until the fall of the kingdom in 1784. Thus, while the coin of Narapatigri (1638-45) reads: "1000 [1638]. Lord of the White Elephant, lord of the Red Elephant, Na-ra-badi-gri", that of thamada, the last king of Arakan (1782-84) merely reads: "1144 [1782]. Lord of the Golden Palace, Ma-ha Tha-ma-da Raza."24

Again, Muslim influences rose its height during the long and prosperous reign of king Sandathudamma (1652-84). Yet, he did not take Muslim names and titles and was content with his Arakanese name and coin.25

From what has been stated above it is difficult to accept the view that assumption of Muslim names was the manifestation of Muslim influence in Arakan. Among other things, it does not explain why only 9 out of 48 rulers were won over by the superior Muslim culture. Again, Muslim influences rose its height during the long and prosperous reign of king Sandathudamma (1652-84). Yet, he did not take Muslim names and titles and was content with his Arakanese name and coin.25 In fact, increase of Muslim influence in Arakan coincides with total abandonment of Muslim names and coins. Thirithudamma (1622-38) was the last Arakanese king to take Muslim name and strike coin in Arabic and Bengali scripts. In reassessing the significance of Muslim names and titles we must not lose sight of the fact that the rulers who assumed Muslim names had Chittagong under their possession. Mongsawmwan, though a tributary to the sultan of Bengal, is not known to have assumed Muslim name and issued coins in Arabic script.26 His brother and successor Mong-khari (1434-59) who was the first Arakanese ruler to take a Muslim name defied the authority of Bengal and annexed Ramu to his kingdom.27 His son Basawphru (1459-82) took advantage of the weakness of the Bengal sultan and seized Chittagong.28 Mongbun (1531-53), ruler of great ability, remained Ramu and Chittagong in spite of Tipperan ( Tripuri ) raids.29 It was Munbun who leased to the Portuguese free-booters who took service under his flag the port of Dianga30 and introduced the Maghi era (Arakanese Era, AE.) and Maghi (Arakanese) unit of land measurement in Chittagong.31 Munghpalaung (1571-93) held all Chittagong and part of Noakhali and Tippera (Tripura) too.32 His son and successor Mongrazagri (1593-1612) had Chittagong under his sway and so had Monghkamaung (1612-22) who broke the power of the Portuguese.33 Thirithudamma (1622-38) captured and held Dacca (Dhaka) itself for a short while in 1625 and launched an unsuccessful attack against the Mughal fleet in the Hughli river in 1632 in his bid to conquer Bengal.34

It is so coincidence that only those rulers who had Chittagong under their possession at the time of accession to the throne assumed Muslim names and titles and struck coins in Arabic and Bengali scripts bearing these names and titles. Coins are a symbol of sovereignty and these rulers issued the Bengal coin-types to assert their sovereignty over Chittagong.35 The inhabitants of the conquered district being Hindus and Muslims, they expressed their sovereignty over the district in idioms which would be readily understood by them. Their Bengali subjects easily distinguished them by their Muslim names. Chittagong was a bone of commercial importance. For the small tribal kingdom of Arakan, Chittagong must have been a very valuable and proud possession; and they took strong measures to defend it. We have the evidence of Shihabuddin Talish that every year the king of Arakan sent to Chittagong a hundred ships full of troops, arms and ammunitions under a new commandant and then the ships and troops sent in the previous year returned to Arakan.36 Some trustworthy relative or clansman of the king was appointed lord or governor of Chittagong37 and he held the grand title of Mong-Re, meaning 'Bold Chief". During the reign of Monghpalaung (1571-93) his son Mong-nala was governor of Chittagong.38 Mongrazagri's (1593-1612) first governor was his wise minister and jurist Mahapinnyakyaw,39 second governor his uncle Sinabadi40 and third governor his son Anaporan.41 Mongsawphru, son of Nandabaron, king of Pegu, succeeded Anaporan as governor of Chittagong in 1614.42 Thirithudamma's first governor in Chittagong was a brother43 and so was his last governor Matak Rai. It was Matak Rai who revolted against Thirithudamma's successor Narapatigri in 1638 and handed over Chittagong to the Mughal governor at Dacca.44 The power, prestige and prosperity of the Arakanese people, founded on their occupation of Chittagong and profits of piracy came to an abrupt and inglorious end with the decisive victory of the Mughal over them in 1666 AD.
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Credit: Rakkhapura

THESE BUDDHIST KINGS WITH MUSLIM NAMES

2012-02-08T23:15:00.000-08:00

THESE BUDDHIST KINGS WITH MUSLIM NAMES

by Dr Jacques P. Leider

A discussion of Muslim influence in the Mrauk-U Period

‘Shut off from Burma by a hill range, Arakan has a separate history, but it is the same in kind’, is one of those unhappy generalizations of Geoffey, Harvey, the British colonial historian, which are waiting to be shaken by thorough research.

If Arakanese history were the same in kind, why should we care to study it in lengthy detail? It might turn out to be a case study of general Myanmar history and as such be local history. But can Rakhaing history be reduced to be a case study of Myanmar history?

If Arakan has a separate history, while having a common past with the country it belongs to, I wonder why there has been so little interest in Arakanese history.

Let’s go back to the colonial historians. Arakanese history makes up to ten percent of Phayre’s History of Burma. In Harvey’s History of Burma there is a chapter on Arakanese history which makes up about 5% of the whole book and in D.G.E. Hall’s History of Southeast Asia, Arakanese history deserves a whole chapter.

Whenever I have read anything about Arakanese history in general history books, it is reduced to be a by-side of Burmese history and it is mentioned only in connection with major political events.

For decades, interest in Arakanese history has remained not with properly trained historians, but with collectors of coins, local chronicles and amateur historians from Arakan or the Chittagong area.

There has been in fact no thorough research on modern Arakanese history among Western scholars? Even if you look at the early colonial period, nobody did for Arakan what John S. Furnivall did for Tenasserim, namely an analysis of the beginnings of British government and administration.3

As a result, there are fewer reference to Arakan in the recent Cambridge History of Southeast Asia (two volumes) produced by some foremost specialists of SE Asia (in 1992) than in Professor Sanjay Subrahmanyam’s remarkable, medium-sized book on The Portuguese Empire in Asia 1500-1700, which was published in 1993. The conclusion is that the sheer existence of an independent Arakanese kingdom over several centuries is virtually ignored by Southeast Asian historians.

This is indeed sad news which I do not however evoke to complain, but to stress that research on Arakanese history can certainly be considered as a field for pioneering studies. With a contribution on Arakanese history I am pleading for study of Arakan not as by-side of the history of the kingdoms of the Irrawaddy valley or Bengal, but as a thing of interest of its own. I do not believe that Arakanese history and its study should be isolated from the history of its prominent neighbours. Arakanese history forms an intricate part of the cultural and economic history of the whole area we are dealing with. One example may be enough to understand my methodological starting point. The main question is not to know if Arakanese Buddhism or Arakanese kingship were something different from Buddhism or kingship elsewhere, but to understand how Arakanese Buddhism, how Arakanese kingship integrated into political and cultural environment largely dominated by the Burmese, the Mon, the powers in Bengal and India and the actors from the abroad (Portuguese and Dutch).

I will deal with subject of Muslim influence and presence in Arakan and more specifically at the Arakanese court. The influence of the Islamic culture on the court of Arakan is in fact one of the very few subjects of Arakanese history that arose some interest among historians, especially Bengali historians. Arakan was a Buddhist kingdom which had a Muslim minority for several centuries. There is no doubt about the influence of the Sultanate of Bengal on Arakanese kingship. The open debate is about the nature and the importance of the influence exercised. Interpretations reach from political ascendancy over intermittent cultural prevalence to virtual rejection of any specific cultural identity.

The period under consideration loosely extends from the beginning of the 15th to the end of the 18th century.

During the first three decades of the 15th cent. the Burmese of Ava and the Mon of Pegu were rivals for the control of Arakan. Mrauk-U founded in 1430, remained the capital of Arakan until the conquest of the independent kingdom by king Bodawphaya in January 1785.

In the middle of the 15th century a thriving Arakanese kingship grew more and more powerful and pushed its military expeditions up to Chittagong. The end of the 15th and the beginning of the 16th century mark a period of drawback and short reigns; but in the middle of the 16th century, the reign of king Mong Ba (1531-1553), the builder of Mrauk-U’s walls and the defender of his capital against Tabinshweti, marks a culminating point of the history of the kingdom. The century of Arakan’s greatness and splendor extends from 1580 to about 1690, from the conquest of Chittagong, a pivotal center of power of the kingdom, to the aftermath of its loss in 1666. It covers the reigns of kings who fully profited from the weakness of their big neighbours and joined a keen sense of alliances to a remarkable spirit of openness to foreign influences. The 18th century is duly considered as a century of decline.

Now I should insist on the fact that while dealing with Islamic influences in Arakan during the Mrauk-U period, I am not concerned with the question of the so-called Rohingyas and the very contemporary problems of refugees on the Bangladesh-Myanmar border. My paper is but indirectly concerned with the origins of any Muslim community in Arakan. It can be confidently assumed that the contemporary problems are linked to the colonial period for more than to Arakan’s past history.

On the other side, I cannot hide the fact that articles written on the refugee question by western amateurs contain a painful lot of historical errors.4

**************

While discussing the question of Muslim influence on the Arakanese court, we should bear in mind two major facts.

First, the political relations between the sultanate of Bengal, later a Mogul province, and the kingdom of Arakan, were conflictual all over the period under review. The atmosphere was mostly hostile and the state of relations can be best described by a status of permanent war, a fact which has been emphasized by all Bengali and English authors. In the Muslim sources, the Arakanese navy is generally presented as an awful bunch of pirates infesting the rivers of southern and southeast Bengal. The most prominent economic activity of the Arakanese, the so-called Mugs or Maghs, in Bengal has up to now been described as slave raids.

The answer of Bengal’s sultans and governors to the Arakanese incursions has been a tenacious warfare against the Arakanese and, in the long run, the extension of Muslim power to southeastern Bengal and the conquest and control over the Chittagong area. Rivalry among the regional powers implicated as well local powers like the Hindu kingdom of Tripura and the semi-autonomous Portuguese communities around Chittagong.

The other fact that has not sufficiently been appreciated by historians concerns the poorly studied commercial relations between Bengal and Arakan. Arakan has always been a part of the commercial network of the Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean. Over centuries traders from India and Southeast Asia have come to Arakan. Many of these traders were Muslims. They did not come as enemies, they come for peaceful trade and they were welcome.

Let me shortly recall the arguments on which several authors have built their thesis of Muslim influence on the court of Rakhuin pran kri:, as the chroniclers call their home country.

The exile of King Man: Co Mwan in India and the reconquest of his throne with the help of Muslim soldiers.

The use of ‘Muslim’ names by an important number of Arakanese kings between the first half of the 15th and the beginning of the 17th century.

Arakanese silver coins issued between the 15th and the beginning of the 17th century imitate the Bengali coins and contain Persian inscriptions. The Arakanese coins are monolingual, bilingual and trilingual, using Bengali, Persian and Arakanese.

The presence of two famous Bengali poets at the court of Arakan, Dawlat Kadi resided for several years at the court of King Thirithudhamma (from 1622 to 1638) and Sayyid Al-Awwal flourished at the court of King Sa tui: (from 1645 to 1652). ‘At the court of Rosang (as they call Arakan), they were patronized by ministers which are introduced in their poetry with typical Muslim names and titles.

The presence of Persian archers in the royal guard. Their presence in Arakan has been attributed to the arrival of Shah Shuja, the brother of the Mogul emperor who took refuge in Arakan in November 1660. Shah Shuja was killed in 1661 under circumstances which have led to different interpretations as to who is to blame. As it seems, Shuja’s wealth arose the aim of dethroning the king. Many were killed in the ensuing massacres. A part of those men who survived were integrated in to the royal guard.

Everybody will agree that we are in front of evidence of a very diverse nature. But these are actually the arguments which, put on a string, have generally served to justify the thesis that Arakan has been subjected to Muslim influence since the 15th century.

The association of these elements is far from being self-evident as one may probably guess. The use of the so-called Muslim names extends from the 15th to the beginning of the 17th century while the use of Persian legends on Arakanese coins was discontinuous between 1523 and 1638. The arguments related to Shah Shuja and the archers of the Royal Guard pertain to the 17th century.

Appreciations and interpretations of the facts have varied according to the authors. In an article dating from 1925, the former British judge well-known for his romanticizing historical books, Maurice Collis, interpreted the stay of King Man: Co Mwan at the court of the sultans of Bengal as a decisive turn in the history of Arakan. Having reconquered his throne thanks to the military help of the sultan of Bengal, ‘he turned away from what was Buddhist and familiar to what was Mohammedan and foreign. In so doing he loomed from the medieval to the modern, from the fragile fairyland of the Glass Palace Chronicle to the robust extravaganzas of the Thousand Nights and one Night’.

On the use of Bengali-modeled coinage, Collis comments: ‘In this way Arakan became definitely oriented towards the Moslem States’. And so our author concludes: ‘Contact with a modern civilization resulted in a renaissance. The country’s great age begon’.5

Two years after Colli’s article in the JBRS, Bisvar Bhattacharya further developed Collis’s views and arrives at a most surprising conclusion. The author writes: ‘As the Mohammedan influence was predominant, the Arakanese kings though Buddhist in religion, became somewhat Mohomedanised in their ideas….’

The conclusion reads: ‘….the dynasty under which Southern Bengal suffered such untold miseries appears to have been essentially a Bengali dynasty.’.

In his article on the Muslim in burma6, Mohammed Siddiq Khan does not contribute any new elements to the question and what he writes on the Muslims in Arakan is nothing more than a compilation of what you read in the books of Collis, Harvey and Sarkar7. Moshe Yegar, in his important and well-known book on the Muslims of Burma follows to the letter the interpretation of Collis and U San Shwe Bu. The Indian historian Ramesh C. Majumdar speaks of a decisive role of the Muslims in the history of the kingdom of Arakan8 and Jamini M. Ghosh (writing in 1960) thinks that the use of Muslim names and the favours granted by the king to the Muslim poets testify to the ‘cultural affinity’ of the Arakanese and the Muslims9. Suniti b. Qanungo, starting from the gratuitous affirmation that Arakan had been dominated by Muslim powers, writes: ‘The Muslim subjugations of Arakan from time to time undoubtedly increased the Islamic influence in that country.’10

In two lesser known articles, A.B.M. Habibullah and S.M. Ali, are a good deal more sensible in their interpretation of facts.

In his excellent article on Arakan in the pre-Moghol history of Bengal, published already in 1945, A.B.M. Habibullah used for the first time previously neglected Persian and Bengali sources.11 In his contribution on the Arakanese government in Chittagong, S.M.Ali provides us with a useful synthesis on the period from 1550 to 1666.12

Habibullah notes an increasing Bengali Muslim influence starting from the reign of Mong Saw Mwan, but he does not exaggerate the role of Muslim officers at the Court.

Was Arakan politically dependent of the sultanate of Bengal after king Man: Co Mwan’s return to power? All the authors previously quoted are more or less affirmative on this point. But political subjection of Arakan to Bengal at this time is indeed far from being a historical truth. Habibullah does not hide his doubts when writing: ‘In these instances of Bengal’s influence one cannot, however, read anything like proofs of Arakan’s continued political subjection. How long and in what form Meng-tsau-mum’s vassalage was given expression in detail will remain a problem’….And he joins a persuasive argument: ‘Nor was Bengal, after Jalaluddin’s death, in a position to demand its fulfillment.13

The opinion that the adoption of Muslim names by Arkanese kings betrays a strong Muslim influence at the royal court of Arakan, seems to be still very popular in Bengal. So popular that in 1986 professor Alamgir M. Serrajuddin (from the University of Chittagong) strongly argued against it. This historian pointed- at last I should say- to the paradoxical fact that Muslim influence at the court is most prominent at a time when the Arakanese kings were no more assuming Muslim names and titles! We are talking about the first part of the 17th century.

The quality of Serrajuddin’s article suffers nevertheless from the prejudices of its author. Relations between Arakan and Bengal are analysed as relations between a superior and an inferior culture. Arakan qualifies as a little tribal kingdom14, the Arakanese are styled as ‘tribal and backward’,Arakanese society is said to be primitive, the Bengal army escorting King Man: Co Mwan on his way back to Arakan is characterized as host of adventures, fortune hunters and admirers.15

The Italian traveler Nicole Manucci16 relates the rumour that Shah Shuja had been disgusted by the table manners of king Candasudhamma17, a king who is generally considered as one of the most pious Buddhist kings of Arakan. Serrajuddin is using this gossip as a historical argument to establish that the superior culture of the Muslims did not produce any major effects on the manners and customs of the Arakanese kings. SO this author’s interpretation is falling into another extreme.

Recently professor Snajay Subrahmanyam of the Delhi School of Economics presented a diametrically opposite stand on the subject. He quotes Arakan as an example of the Persianisation of Southeast Asian courts. I do not favour this thesis which he bases on (what is termed) the translation of a letter of king Sirisudhamma in the Baharistan-i-Ghaybi of Mirza Nathan and the presence of Persian traders in Arakan18. I will put forward my arguments a little bit later.

It is quite astounding to see how far-reaching conclusions have been drawn for a century from such scarce evidence. Most of what has been said and thought on Arakan history is founded on Phayre’s and harvey’s chapters on the country. Their major source was the rajawan of Na Man, a learned Arakanese who wrote his chronicle in 1842 on the express demand of Arthur Phayre. Na Man responded perfectly to Phayre’s demand of a comprehensive history barring most supernatural digressions and making a choice among concurrent versions of a story.

What can actually be read in English are bare summaries of Arakanese history.

As far as other source material is concerned, the absence of any on-going research is a serious hindrance to a revision of earlier assumptions. Arakanese coins have been collected but were poorly studied.

Now it is time to expose my own hypotheses and present my arguments.

(1) It is still difficult to know anything clear on the relations between Bengali and Arakan in the 15th century as the traditions we find in different Arakanese chronicles are contradictory and as there are little Bengal sources on the question.

As I have previously said, the presence of Muslims at the court has been generally linked to the exile of king Man: Co Mwan in India. So let us turn to the biography of this king as it is found in the Arakanese sources.

The tradition followed by Harvey and Phayre tells us that the king arriving on the throne in 1404, was chased by the Burmese in 1406 and after an exile of some two decades reconquered his throne with the military help of the sultan of Bengal. In 1430 he founded a new capital, Mrauk-U, abandoning thus the old capital of Lon Krak.

In the rajawon of the minister Wimala, in Pandi’s Dhanawati rajawon sac19 and in Na Man’s rajawon, the three texts I am using here, the king assumed the name under which he is generally known only after he reconquered his throne. And the minister Wimala whose text is one of the oldest Arakanese historical texts (dating from 1536) joins ‘Mong Saw Mwan’ to the names of all the kings reigning from 1430 to 1525. So I think that this is not a name but an epithet, very probably honorific.20

So what was the proper name of our king? One tradition calls him Naranu, the other one Naramit-hla. The tradition which calls Naranu the king who ascended the throne calls his younger brother Naramit-hla, the future governor of Sam twe.21 The tradition which calls Naramit-hla the king, presents Naranu as a younger step-brother and future governor of Sam twe.22

The source do not even agree on the name of his father.23 Even the date of the king’s accession to the throne is variously indicated as 1401 or 1404. It seems however that the last date has been more generally accepted. I should mention that in the Maharajawan of U Kala, the date of accession of the king is given as 1403, but the king’s name is given by U Kala as Thora.

To appreciate what kind of influence Bengal Muslim culture should have had on the king on his court and maybe on Arakan generally, we should know these dissimilar and partly overlapping traditions tell us on the king’s stay in Bengal.

A. Tradition according to Wimala-

At the death of his father in 1401, Naranu ascended the throne and called his younger brother Naramit-hla to administrate Sam twe. According to this tradition, king Rajadaruik offered to the king of Arakan one of his minister’s daughters, called Shwe Chum. This lady, once she had become queen, provoked conflicts between the king and his Arakanese ministers until the king exiled his ministers to Sam twe, the province governed by his younger brother. At the same time, three Mons Phon Teja, Lakya Kri24, and Mon Khawn were appointed as ministers and advisors to the king. Once they were in charge, they invited king Rajadaruik and their fellow compatriots to invade the country.

King Naranu, says the tradition, fled to ‘Rum pashya’ ‘who governs the royal city of Delhi in the country of Indriya’. Naranu asked him for military assistance and Rum pashya offered him a coalition treaty, the king of Arakan should submit to his authority after reconquering Arakan and cede to him ‘the twelve towns of bengal’. Thus our author implies that Bengal belonged to Arakan.

While Naranu was marching at the head of 10,000 soldiers against Lon Krak, the capital of Arakan, his brother Naramit-hla supported the attack with 10,000 men from Sam twe. Once the country was free from the Mons, Narunu Saw Mwan reigned under the authority of Rumpashya strating from 1405.

(Naramit-hla succeeded to the throne at the death of his elder brother in 1432. He was then known as Naramit-hla Mong Khari.25)

It might strike us that this is a totally different story than the one which is generally known. It is not only different from the story we know from Phayre and Harvey, but it is indeed different from what U Kala’s chronicle suggests. We learn next to nothing about the stay of the Arakanese king in India. Even without anticipating a comparison with other traditions, we can easily see the improbabilities of this tradition.

The expression ‘Rum pashya’ residing in the city of Dili should evidently refer to the Moghul Sultan. AAround 1398-1399, Timur invaded and sacked Delhi, and the last sultan of the Tughluq dynasty, Nasir ud-din Mohmud, and his minister Mallu Iqbal were strictly not in the measure to retrieve the lost territories. under the Sayyid dynasty (from 1414 to 1451) the disintegration of the Delhi Sultanate went on. The request for armed assistance of the Arakanese king is thus entirely contradicted by the historical context. The Turkish Sultan of Delhi, being unable to reestablish his own authority, could surely not pretend to conquer Bengal and to help the exiled king.26

B. Tradition according to U Pandi-

When Naramit-hla became king in 1404, he appointed his brother as governor of Sam twe. He married Rhwe Chum, the daughter of Rajasu, the governor of Malwan and appointed his father-in-law as chief of the royal guard. By her immoral behavior and intrigues Queen Rhwe Chum incurred the dislike of the people and the former ministers of the king’s father. Some of these old ministers and chiefs fled to Naranu, the king’s brother and governor of Sam twe, and tried to push him to revolt against his brother. But the good-hearted Naranu refused.

Naramit-hla heard of the intrigues of those ministers, distrusted his brother and wanted to go and attack him. He even distrusted his brother when Naranu warned him against the imminent attack of the Burmese under the crown prince Man: Co Mwan, son of king Mong khon.27 Naranu’s messenger was considered as a spy and tortured.

After the conquest of Arakan by the Burmese in 1418, Naramit-hla took refuge in the 12 towns of Bengal, to employ the frequent expression of our author.

After thirteen years of Burmese government under Narathaa, who was married to the Burmese king’s daughter Rhwe pran khyam: sa, it was Naranu, Naramit-hla’s brother, who thanks to a coalition with the Mon king Rajadhiraj28 , reconquered Arakan from the Burmese, it was Naranu who called back his brother from exile and put him back on the throne.

So the tradition reported by U Pandi does not mention the stay of Naramit-hla in India at all. The reconquest of the throne is not at all put into relation with Bengal forces and it is not even related to the exiled king. The dates given by U Pandi do not match with those given by Phayre, Harvey and other writers as they do not match with the tradition of Wimala we just mentioned.

So once more we do not find any solid evidence which we could use as a proof for any kind of Muslim immigration, presence or even just influence on the court.

C. Tradition according to Na Man

While turning to the third tradition, I am not either confident to say that it is more reliable than any of the other traditions. Once again the names are not the same, the story is a different one and the dates do not match.

There is not need to completely retell the story as it is given in Phayre’s article on the history of Arakan, which is a convenient, though imperfect translation of the Na Man chronicle. I would above all stress one point as regards Na Man’s narration while dealing with this king’s reign.

The chapter on king Man: Co Mwan, as Na Man calls the king from the beginning, might be divided into three parts. First the chronicler explains the reason of the king’s exile. According to Na Man, the governor of Talak asked for Burmese help to dethrone the king who had raped the governor’s sister. Secondly the chronicler tells us what happened in Arakan during the 20 years extending from 1406, the year of conquest, to 1426, the date of the first attempt to reconquer the throne. This part of the story is quite laconic in style (as the chronicles mostly are) but gives detailed events and precise dates.

The third part is concerned with Man: Co Mwan’s stay in Bengal, which is called the country of the king of Suratan. The name ‘king of Suratan’ is another standard expression in Arakanese historical literature for Bengal. The etymology which has been suggested is Sultan. This part of the story on which a whole line of arguments has been built as regards Muslim presence and influence on the country, is the vague narration of adventures that the Arakanese king should have gone through Bengal.

Since this narration does not contain any proper name, nor any date, nor any geographical reference allowing to replace the adventures into a general historical setting of Bengal’s history of that time, even a superficial reading of these adventures must lead a critically-minded reader to throw heaps of doubts on the reliability of the stories.

Na man is boasting our exiled hero as somebody who teaches the Bengalis how to tame elephants and devises stratagems for the defence of their land while definitely ignores that the only enemy who confronted the Bengal sultan at that period was not the ‘king’ of Dili, but Ibrahim Sharqi, the sultan of Jaunpur. Thus it has been repeated that the actually read in Na Man chronicle is more a kind of anecdotes than historical accounts. When the army of the Sultan was blocked by a forest of bamboos, Man: Co Mwan told the Sultan to throw thousands of coins into the forest so that the local population would cut the bamboos and free the way.

Confronting the three traditions is not giving us a definite clue to recognize facts and fiction. It could be admitted that the king, after having been in exile somewhere in India and most probably in Bengal, came back after some years with support of arms and men to recover his throne. Still the circumstances of his exile, the extent of his stay, the conditions of his return to Arakan and the question who exactly gave him this support remain unknown and bound to speculation unless other sources confirm part of the tradition.

Another major problem related to the personality of Man: Co Mwan is the alleged dependence or vassalage of Arakan to Bengal after the reconquest of the throne.

Wimala’s assertion is categorical: Arakan was subject to ‘Musalaman Rum Pashya’29 for 125 years from Man: Co Mwan’s return from Bengal, dated 1401 to 1525.30 We could possibly understand that the Arakanese king was under an obligation to the sultan, but the fact is that we do not have any proof of it. Man: Co Mwan is precisely the king who did not adopt a Muslim name and who did not mint any coin on the Bengal model! His direct successors lead a policy of reconquest of the area south of Chittagong which does not conform to the idea of recognizing one’s suzerainety. No Muslim source confirms the hypotheses of any military aid from Ghiyas-ud-din Azam Shah (1389-1410) to Man: Co Mwan and the suzerainty of Bengal over the kings of Arakan. Habibullah thinks, as we mentioned, that the sultans were hardly able to provide such a help and to enforce their rule.

If the Bengal intervention happened at the end of the second decade of the 15th century (following the Na Man tradition), Jalal-ud-din, the son of Raja Ganesh converted to Islam under the pressure of the nobles would have been the one to provide the aid. He controlled by then the thriving port of Chittagong.31 Would geographical proximity render more probable a military intervention?

The origins of a first Muslim community in Arakan have been as well related to the name of the founder of Mrok U (Mrauk-U). The mercenaries at his disposal would have built the Santikan mosque at the Mrok-U. But this attribution to the 15th century seems to belong to the popular tradition, According to Forchhammer, the construction technique of the Santikan mosque is closely related to the Dukkanthein and Chitethaung pagodas which date from the first half of the 16th century.32 it is precisely at this period that we have a first written account of a Muslim religious mission at the Arakanese court.

Let me draw a first conclusion to this expedition into the evidence of Arakanese source material. I do not reject the Arakanese chronicles as sources of information, either do I completely reject the possibility of an Indian exile of our king. But I do not think that on the available written evidence which is, as I have shown, extremely controversial, one can build any argument testifying Muslim or Bengal influence on the Arakanese court.

2. The fact that an impressive number of Arakanese kings were apparently using so-called Muslim titles and names has been used as a most convincing argument to prove that there has been a steadfast Muslim influence at the Arakanese court.

But even for someone acquainted with Arakanese history it is difficult to quote spontaneously such Muslim names of Arakanese kings. They have been very popular and making a list of these so-called Muslim names has been a painstaking task for me. The list I have compiled can nowhere be found in such a complete form. I is an artificial compilation put together from a large range of sources, mainly dynastical lists joined to the chronicles.

Even those authors who, like Collis overestimated the Muslim influence, were unable to quote more than four names. Phayre gives none and Harvey mentions just three. Phayre observed in 1844 that ‘they (the kings) assumed foreign names…which are now frequently applied to them, though the some Indian names are not always applied to the same individual kings, even by the best informed among the Arkanese.33

Some of the names are known by the coins. The Arakanese written sources mention them erratically. As Arakanese numismatics have been insufficiently studied until now, a few general remarks must be sufficient to support my point which is: the use of Muslim names on the coins seems to be a political one, it may be interpreted as the expression of political overlordship over a Muslim community in the area south of Chittagong and maybe in parts of Arakan as well; but the available evidence leads me to think that the importance of the use of Muslim names should not be overrated. (See detailed list at the end of this paper!)

From this I infer that no major cultural influence can be related to the use of such names whose spelling has frequently been commented on as curious by Bengali authors.

The 15th century is considered as a great time of Bengali coinage and it is not surprising at all that the Arakanese kings some time later tried to imitate their prestigious neighbours and started to use silver coins using a similar device. Incidentally it should be interesting to point out that it has not been established yet who did the coinage and where the silver used for it, come from, since it was not locally produced.

If we provisionally accept that the Arakanese kings were using coins with so-called Muslim names and Persian legends to demonstrate their overlordship over their Muslim subjects, in the same way as did the Bengal sultans, there are nonetheless many puzzling facts that hardly conform to his candid explanation.

We should first notice of the fact that Bengal authors commenting on the coins have spoken of ‘curious’ Muslim names. It is indeed not easy to find out what original name the names of the coins are derived from. As my list shows, this is sometimes of the order of pure speculation.

-It is equally worth pointing out that these names are never mentioned in any Bengali sources as the names of the Arakanese kings.

- Little attention has been paid until now to the inscriptions in the nagari script on the coins. Difficult to read or even quite unreadable, no conjections have been formulated until now. When we look at Paton’s strange list of Arakanese kings, we might be puzzled at first at the way the names of the kings were written. There is no doubt for me that Paton transcribed the list with the help of a Bengali Muslim interpreter. But with the exception of one name, not a single Muslim name in the list is known from a coin.

- The Arakanese kings of the 15th centuries to whom Muslim names are attributed, did not all control the Chittagong area where a majority of Muslims may have lived.

- A trilingual coin is attributed by U San Tha Aung to king Cakrawate: (1564-1571) though this king did not have a Muslim name and he lost Chittagong.

- There are only two Arakanese kings whose Muslim names may be found on the coins and in the dynastical lists of the chronicles. These are two of the warrior kings: the famous Mong Razagri (1593-1612) and his equally famous successor Mong Kha Moung (1612-1622).

- While the Arakanese control over Chittagong extended until 1666, Arakanese kings did not use Muslim names any longer after 1622. Futhermore, after 1634, the coins did not bear Persian inscriptions any more.

When we analyse the history of Arakanese coins from the middle of the 15th to the 18th century, we get a clear picture of its evolution. In the middle of the 15th cent., inscription were in Persian only. in the middle of the 16th cent., a hundred years later, we find bilingual and trilingual coins. But starting from 1634 – as I just mentioned –inscriptions on the coins were in Arakanese only.

It is a striking fact to see that at the time when Arakanese kingship was at its peak and Muslim presence at the court and in the kingdom was prominent (a point I will stress later), the kings of Arakan did not feel compelled to use Muslim names any more to state their power. We are definitely dealing with self-conscious Buddhist kings, proud of their power, governing and employing Muslim subjects without resenting any Muslim cultural dependence.

There is only one Arakanese king whose Muslim name was more popular than his Arakanese name. He is the brother of king Naramit-hla/ Mng Saw Mwan, a prince always appearing in a very favourable light in the sources: a good-hearted, pious and virtuous man. One might speculate about any Muslim influence on the king. Might this king, reigning from 1434 to 1459, indeed have been a subject of the Bengal Sultan? Besides the fact that the thesis of subordination of Arakanese kings to Bengal sultans is difficult to uphold (there is not a single Bengal source affirmative on this point). King Ali Khan is said to have reconquered the territories north of the Naf river up to Pan Wa, i.e. Ramu. The famous meeting between the assembled court of Arakanese king and the court of king of Ava, Thuparum dayaka Narapati Mong, on mount Bhui: khon nway khyui (1454), shows the power and prestige of the Mrok U: dynasty34 at this time.

The successor of Ali Khan was his son Ba Co Phru (1459-1482). The Arakanese conquered Chittagong probably at the beginning of the reign, but lost the town a few years later. Around 1474, it was under the control of sultan Rukh-ud-din Barbak Shah (1459-1474), one of the great conquering sultans of Bengal.35 Ba Co Phru surprisingly adopted the title Kalima Shah, but coins bearing this title cannot be safely attributed to him.36 Owing to this title, the hypothesis was expressed that coins wearing the kalima (known since the 16th century only) had already been minted since the middle of the 15th century.37 It is at the court of Ba Co Phru that the minister Adu Mong Nyo38 composed the famous Mok-to-ekhran39, the first poem of the Burmese literature we know. The king, a pious Buddhist, is equally known as a builder of pagodas.4

Under the leadership of these two kings, the dynasty reached thus first political and cultural apogee while showing its military strength. The control exercised by the kings over a Muslim population in conquered territories and assuming a slightly growing influence of the prestigious Bengal sultanate can give us a satisfying answer to the adoption of Muslim titles.

Between 1474 and 1515, the Arakanese kings did not possess Chittagong. After the reign of Ba Co Phru until 1501, Arakan was governed by weak and insignificant kings. In Bengal however Ala-ud-din Husain Shah reigned since 1493, hailed as the greatest of the independent sultans of Bengal. In 1513 the king of Tripura took control of Chittagong and invaded, according to the Rajamala41, Arakan. But the invaders were rapidly repelled. Around 1515, Man: Raja (1501-1513/23) conquered Chittagong, but the heir-apparent of Bengal, Nasir-ud-din Nusrat Shah, retook the place in 1517 and the city remained under the Husain Shahi sultans until 1538.42 When Sher Khan Sur had it occupied by one of his generals.43

It is under the reign of Nasir-ud-din Nusrat Shah (1519-1532) that happened an episode which perfectly illustrates the influence of the prestigious court of Gauda: the arrival of a religious mission from Bengal aiming at converting the Arakanese to Islam. Wimala reports that the ‘ambassadors’ kadi, Musha et Honumya, having arrived in 1525, were preaching to the crowd, founding schools, Some Buddhist Arakanese were converted. The king receiving presents is said to have had much sympathy for the missionaries.44 if this mission and its results, which can not be traced in any other chronicle, are a historical fact, it is according to my knowledge the only available written instance to fix an origin to an indigenous Muslim community.

It is not clear which king the mission actually arrived. Mong Co the Old, became king at the age of 60 and reigned only 6 months. The foundation of three pagodas is attributed to him.45 His successor Sajata 91525-1531), crowned at the age of 52, is said to have minted a unlingual (Persian) coin with the kalima.46 The use of the Kalima deserves attention. It was Jalal-ud-din (1418-1433), the son of Raja Ganesh converted to Islam, who used the kalima for the first time in Bengal on his coins; this was interpreted as a symbolic gesture directed towards the Muslims to gain their support.47

While the use of the kalima on Arakanese coins can hardly be interpreted as an instrument of religious policy., it may possibly be looked upon as something on the court of the Arakanese kings is sensible through numismatic evidence and equally probable in the context of that period, we are still left with the problem of the Bengal-Arakan relationship at that time. The fact that the dependence of Arakan from the Bengal should precisely have stopped at the movement the mission arrived, as Wimala put, is quite inconsistent. The reign of this quite insignificant king is badly known. He was dethroned in 1531 by king Mong Ba, the greatest of the Arakanese kings of the 16th century.

Drawing a tentative conclusive to the analysis of the so called Muslim names or titles and the numismatic evidence, we might sum up like this. The imitation of Bengali coinage over a fairly long period of time is a remarkable sign of influence of the splendid court of the Sultans of Bengal on the tiny but wealthy Arakanese court. The use of coinage is linked to the king’s prestige, demonstration of power, overlordship and glorification. The use of the so-called Muslim names of the kings can hardly be interpreted as a proof of stronger Bengali Muslim influence as these names were neither very popular in Arakan, nor were they apparently used by the Bengalis themselves. Exceptions are Ali Khan and one of the warrior kings previously mentioned (Mong Raza Gri) whoseMuslim name is well known through the Portuguese sources (Xalamixa, that is Salim Shah).

Analysing the numismatic evidence, we can see clearly that the influence of Bengal on the court of Arakan was declining from the early 16th to the 17th century. but even in the 16th century, when Bengal Muslim influence may have been prominent, there is no conspicuous proof of political authority or cultural ascendancy on our Buddhist Arakan.

3. The Muslim in Arakan and at the royal court. What do we actually know about the Muslims living in Arakan between the 15th and the 18th century? Which kind of Muslim communities or individuals can possibly be identified?

Slaves – Through a Dutch source of the 17th cent., we know that the majority of the countrymen abducted from Bengal to be sold as slaves were hindoos, but it can be supported that an increasing number of those country-folk were Muslims. I would rather believe that these simple people about whom we do not have much information, formed the majority of the Muslims in Arakan. English sources from the end of 18th and early 19th century pretend that in some areas of Arakan, these Bengalis represented up to a quarter of the population. But in fact these estimations are contradicted by the more reliable figures of the early British period (after 1825) which do not confirm the former opinions.

Traders. – Traders came mostly from Bengal ports48, Orissa and the Coromandel. They definitely belonged to all the nationalities and races of India and the Middle East trading in the Bay of Bengal49. Most of them were Muslims. The importance of the Muslim traders in Arakan has been largely underestimated until now. The reasons for this are quite clear: lack of sources, little interest of the western trading companies in Arakan, lack of information on the traders going to Arakan, the fact that the Arakanese themselves did apparently not visit South Indian ports etc.

Manrique mentions their presence specifically in Urac ton (Orietan) and Ton bhak che: (Dobazi50) ‘Where there are settlements of merchants of various nationalities most of them being Maumetans with a captain of the same faith.51 Incidentally Dutch sources contain information on the Muslim traders in Arakan.52 According to Schouten, the numerous Muslim traders in the kingdom, coming from Persia, from Surat, Golconda (port of Masulipatam), Pulicat, Orissa and Bengal, were trading in cloth, precious stones, elephants and spices.53 Only a few had been born in Arakan; most of these traders did not settle in the country. Schouten specially notes that they were all under a strict control of the Arakanese authorities.

Since when Muslim traders had come to Arakan, we do not exactly know. I do not wholly agree with my Arakanese friends who think that Muslim traders only came to Arakan during the Mrauk-U period, nor do I easily accept that Arab traders had settled in Arakan since the 8th or 9th century.

Pretending that Arab traders had come to Arakan since the 8th or 9th century, as has been upheld by those who want to stress the antiquity of Muslim presence in the area, is just a matter of speculation. As far as I understand those who have been arguing the problem, this precise question is linked to the early history of Chittagong. if you sustain that the Arab ‘Sadkawan’ can be identified with Chittagong, you can speculate on the presence of Arab traders in the area.

Western Bengal had been under Muslim control since the beginning of the 13th century, but it took much more time to extend and to strengthen the sultans’ control over southeastern Bengal. An increasing number of Muslim traders may have taken part in the coastal trade from that period onwards, without necessarily settling in the Arakanese kingdom.

What kind of influence these traders may have had on the court and on the country generally, is -for the movement – equally a matter of speculation.

Muslims at the Arakanese court. – Friar Manrique mentions the presence of ‘Moorish’ officers and ‘many others of the latter faith’ at king Sirisudhamma’s crowning ceremony in 1634. But that is above all that we can learn about Muslims at the court of the Arakanese kings in this author’s book.54 We should bear in mind that Manrique, an Augustine monk and advocate of Portuguese interests, was always ready to vilify the Muslims of the good cause of propagating the truth of his own faith. The best example is in chapter 31 ‘the false preceptor, a Mohammedan’ who according to our Catholic author prompted the king to commit ‘murders and holocausts’ to become invisible and ‘obtain the vast empires of Delhi, Pegu and Siam.55 The fact is that Manrique had never any reason of complaining about conflicts with Muslim officers at the court.56 From the evidence of Manrique’s book, we can not conclude that any important functions at the court were held by Muslims. M. Collis inferred from Manrique’s scant remarks on the palace that there was a ‘seraglio’, suggesting in way that the court’s style matched a sultan’s or nabab’s court. But there is nothing in Manrique’s text to support such an assumption. While talking about ceremonies e.g., Manrique specifically speaks about ‘the true Magh style’57.

A.B.M. Habibullah writes that ‘…a large number of offices in the court and government appear to have been held by Bengali Muslims’…Arakanese sources do not provide us with useful information on this question, but Dutch sources confirm the presence of these Muslim offices. The shabandar, (master of the port) of the capital’s port fro instance, was a Muslim until 1785, when the Burmese conquered Arakan.

The presence of Muslim officers is testified as well by the works of two Bengali poets who lived at the court in the 17th century. Those Muslim ministers are presented as patrons of arts and letters. The two Bengali poets were Dawlat Kazi and Ali Awwal. Both are extremely famous and in a Bengali general history or a history of Bengali literature, one may find a chapter on Bengali literature at the court of Arakan. Dawlat Kazi who lived at the court of Surisudhamma (1622-1638) is the author of ‘Sati Maynamati’ written for Asraf Khan, his patron at the court.

Al Awwal wrote his magnus’ opus ‘padmavati’ at the request of Magan Thakur whom the poet characterizes as the principal minister of the king. He lived at the court of Narapati Gri: (1638-1645) and Sa tui (1645-52). Born in 1600, Al Awwal, a poet and a musician, fled to Arakan after having escaped Portuguese pirates and spent some years as a horseman in the king’s cavallery.

The presence of these foreign poets at the court, the protection given to them by the kings as much as the description of the court ceremonial by Dutch writers are an ample demonstration of the splendor of the Arakanese palace. This brilliant and refined court in its marvelously situated capital was at peak of its greatness in the middle of the 17th century, powerful and self-conscious, tolerant and open to foreign influences. The presence of Muslim artists and officers at the court at this time is just another sparkling element of cultural refinement at the Arakanese court.

Muslim mercenaries. Their role may sometimes have been exaggerated in the same way than the importance of the Portuguese pirates was exaggerated by travelers like Bernier.

While approaching this point, we should bear in mind that Buddhist Arakan and Muslim Bengali were rivals in the area for centuries. They were not the only competitors as you know. The little kingdom of Tripura and the semi-autonomous Portuguese communities were at times bold and staunch opponents. The Chittagong area was at the core of this rivalry. Once the Arakanese kings had done away with the Portuguese peril after the first decade of the 17th century, they were employing an impressive number of Portuguese mercenaries in their armies. I think it is unlikely that the same time i.e. in the three following decades up to the middle of the 17th century, they would have employed an important number of Muslim mercenaries.58

The presence of Muslim mercenaries in the Arakanese palace guard has generally been connected to the flight to Arakan of Shah Shuja, the brother and rival for the throne of Emperor Aurangzen. Shah Shuja fled with his followers to Arakan at the end of 1660. There he met with the hospitality of the Arakan king. it seems that he greed of the court for the incredible fortune of Shah Shuja and a conspiracy premeditated by Shuja’s attendants were the cause of the subsequent massacres of which Shuja himself ultimately became a victim. It is said that one part of the survivors among Shuja’s followers were integrated into the Royal Guard, other survivors ‘were didtributed in different parts of the kingdom. Lands and implements of husbandry were assigned to them, and they were further encouraged to marry with the women of the country.59 They were called ‘Kamanchis’, a Persian word referring to their prior occupation as archers. Harvey writes that the end of the 17th century ‘they, the Muslim archers, murdered and set up kings at will’, ‘rooming over the country, carrying the fire and sword wherever they went’.

This is an oversimplification of Na Man’s text. it seems to me that just as the Arakanese marine was not onlyu composed of Portuguese pirates, the Arakanese royal guard was not only made up of Muslim mercenaries. The major political problem of the period 1685 to 1710 were the revolts of the native populations north of the Naf river and the rebellions of the Mons that the royal guard proved unable to tackle .

The communities of Kamanchis were progressively integrated into Arakanese society fitting their behaviour to their surroundings, as English sources of the first half of the 19th century testify.60

It has been correctly said I think that the Muslim mercenaries received fresh arrivals from India after the conquest of Chittagong. But it is quite possible that even long before the fall of Chittagong, at the time of Islam Khan. Turco-Afghan soldiers losing ground in Bengal, fled their deadly enemies, the Moghuls, and took refuge in Arakan where they found employment at the royal court.

The historical content and the political situation in southeastern Bengal in the first half of the 17th century would, according to my opinion, favour such a hypothesis.

The arrival of three Sinhalese embassies (1693, 1696 and 1697) is mentioned by the chronicles and bears testimony to Arakan’s outstanding prestige as a Buddhist country in Ceylon, the cradle of Therawada Buddhism.

Recently Professor S. Subrahmanyam has tried to prove his thesis of persianisation in the Bay of Bengal by quoting extracts of the Baharistan-I Ghaibi of Mirza Nathan (17th century). Mirza presents an exchange of letters between Mir Abd-us Salam Mashhadi (Islam Khan), the subahdar of Bengal, and the king of Arakan, Thirithudhamma. I think it is an error to treat these documents as an original correspondence and interpreting them like this. S. Subrahmanyam thinks that the formulation of the letter where references are found to Persian heroes gives evidence of a Persian influence at the court of Arakan. I disagree with this point of view as the letters were very probably rearranged according to the gusto of the Persian author.

G. Bouchon and L.F. Thomaz published a letter of the king of Arakan to D. Manuel dated around 1518 and written in Portuguese.61. We evidently cannot deduce from this letter that the royal chancery of Arakan was using the Portuguese language and Portuguese diplomatic turns of phrase.62 The (rare!) letters of Arakanese kings that I came across do not use either Portuguese or Persian diplomatic terminology. Grandiloquent and sophisticated, they display in sumptuous Pali expressions the Buddhist conception of kingdom.

The study of Arakan, a small Buddhist kingdom situated on the fringe of a predominantly Muslim cultural area, needs still further attention. Conceptually speaking, this study implicates an analysis of the interactions between military and cultural resistance, tending to a relative isolation, and the insertion into a socio-economic network of the Bay of Bengal, implementing a gradual opening to influences form abroad.

Appendix

Introduction

Mong Saw Mwan never adopted a ‘Muslim’ name. Among the eighteen kings by whom he was succeeded, there were fifteen to whom ‘Muslim’ names were attributed.

The following list has been compiled from various dynastic lists and chronicles. One does not find a manuscript listmentioning all the Muslim names. Nor does any of the English-language articles quoted in the bibliography mention all the names.63 This list is only fairly identical with U San Tha Aung’s review of the Arakanese kings in his book on Arakanese coins64, but for one exception. San Tha Aung counts 19 kings for the period under consideration. The succession of the Arakanese kings from 1501 to 1531 has not yet been accurately established. Modern Arakanese authors attribute to the reign of Mong Raja65 a length of 12 years while Phayre, Harvey and Collis say 22 years.

All the lists do harmonize on the length of the three succeeding reigns. The gap of ten years between 1521 and 1531 (the undisputed date of the accession to the throne of the great Mong Ba) resulting from the first hypothesis is filled by the reign of a king variously called U: Don Raja, Mong Khoung Raza or Ton Raza.66 As no ‘Muslim’ name is attributed to this king and as far as the existence of the king himself has not been firmly established, I felt no need to join him to the list.

Names of the kings are presented in the following order:

Transliteration of the Arakanese name: the usual English transcription between (brackets): varieties of the ‘Muslim’ names found in the Arakanese sources: various transcription of ‘Muslim’ names in secondary works in [square brackets]; comments on the names and kings.67

Mong Kha Ri (Minkhari); Ali Khan, Ali Khan, Ali na khan, Alac Khan [Ali Khan].

Younger brother of Mong Saw Mwan68 whose youth name would be Naranu or Naramit-hla, according to one or the other source discussed. He is the only Arakanese king better known by his ‘uslim’name than by his Arkanese name. Curiously enough Wimala, does not mention his ‘Muslim’ name.

Ba Saw Phru (Basawpyu); Kalama shya, Kalama shya, Kalamra rha:, Kulama69 rha70: [Kalima Shah]. ‘Kamoola tha’ is a transcription of a 19th cent. English author.71 Son of his predecessor. This king,well known by his ‘Muslim’ name (‘a curious Muslim name’ says Habibullah72),is the first of the so-called Dhanawati dynasty to whom coins are tentatively attributed.73 The attribution is rather doubtful in my eyes.74

Do Lhya, Do Lhya, Do lya, Do lya, (Dawlya): Po Khu rha, Mo khu shya, Mon khu shya [Mokhu shah75, Mokhusya76].

Bha Co Nui, Na Ce nui, Mom nui (Basawnyo); Maha rhok rhi rha, Maha mok shya, Mahamat shya [Maha Moshah78, Mahamauk tha, Mahamosya].

Ran On, Ram On (rare) (Yanaung); rhi rha:, Non shit shya, Rhi shya [Nan Sheet tha].

Son of Do lya. I did not found in any source available to me ‘No ri shya’given by San Tha Aung. Ba Shin has (‘Norisya’) which he reads as Nuri Shah.

Ca Lan Ka Su, Ha Lan Ka Su, Ca Lan Su, Sin ga su (Salingathu): Do la shya, Sak khon ton rha:, Sak khon do lo shya [Sakkokdolasya; Secunder Shah].80

Maternal uncle of his predecessor. Ba Shin reads the name as Sheikh Abdulla Shah.81 I would rather derive the name from the Persian Sikandar.

Mom raja (Mong Ra Za); Bhali rha:, I shya [Pelee tha, Ili Shah, Illisya].82

Son of Ca Lan Ka Su. Should be read as Ilyas Shah according to Ba Shin.

Gajapati (Kasabadi), Ganhapati83; Ila shya.

Son of Man raja, Ba Shin does not mention this king. Serrajuddin includes him in his list of kings with Muslim names and interpretes the name as Ilyas Shah.84

Given the identity of names of this king and his predecessor, we are strongly reminded of Phayre who observed in 1844: ‘they [the kings] assumed foreign names …. which are now frequently applied to them, though the same Indian names are not always applied to the same individual kings, even by the best informed among the Arakanese.85

Mam Co (the od), Mam Jo, Mam Jo Si ri su (Mongsaw-O); Jalatta mam, Jala shya, Jala rha: [Jal Shah, Jalasya].

Younger brother of Ca Lan Ka su, paternal uncle of Mam raja, Ba Shin reads as Jalal Shah.

Sajata, Sajata, Sahajata, Sahatajata (Thatasa86); Ala shya [Itali Shah, Ilisya].

Sajata was the son of Do lya87. Okkantha presents the curious reading Itali Shah.88 Ba Shin interpretes Ilisya as Ali Shah89, a name given as well by San Tha Aung. According to an Arakanese source, he was also called Kamala tha.90 An undated coin with Persian inscription on the two faces, with the kalima on one face and the title Sultan Ali Shah, father of the victorious, on the other, is attributed to him (1525).91

Mam ba:, Mam ba, Mam pa, Mam pa (Mongba); Kok Pok rha:, Jok Pok shya, Jok Bhok shya [Zabuk Shah, Zabauk Shah, Zubbur].

Son of Mam raja. Habibullah considers the name as ‘apparently a misreading either for Mubarak or Barbok.92 Undated bilingual coins (Persian/Arakanese and Bengali/Arakanse) have been quoted as proofs for Mam Ba’s control of Chittagong.93 Phayre read Jatkane as Chatiganu, i.e. Chittagong.

(the three kings whose reign stretches from 1553 to 1571 did not assume ‘Muslim’ names.)

Mam pha lom (Mongphaloung94): Shyok kyindra shya, Shyo kindra shya raja, Rhok kannara rha:; [Secundra95, Sekendar Shah, Sikandar Shah96]

Uncle of his predecessor, called sive Mam cakkya sive Cakrawate:, and son of Mam ba.
Robinson ascribes to his king a monolingual coin with the name Sikandar.97 San Tha Aung does not transcribe the Persian and Bengali text on a trilingual coin that he refers to this king. The Arakanese text on the coins variously reads as Naradhipati urito mahasisura98 or.. ….urito siri shya.99 The king’s Pali name was Sirisuriyacandra mahadhammaraja.100

Mam raja kri: (Mongrazagri)101; Thin lin rha:, Cho lim shya, [Salim Shah].

Son of Mam pha loung. Contemporary Portuguese sources quote the king by his Muslim name Xilimixa.102 First dated coin according to Robinson. On his trilingual coins the titles Lord of the White Elephant, Naradhibbati Cholim Shya and Shah Sultan are found.

Mam kha mom (Mong Kha Moung)103; U: Shyon shya, U Shyon rha [Hosein Shah, Husein Shah].

Son of Mam raja kri:, his trilingual dated coins are close to those of his predecessor. A coin quoted by Robinson reads Lord of the White Elephant Waradhammaraja U: Shyo:, shya.104 San Tha Aung presents a coin with the increasingly ncomplex title Lord of the White Elephant, Lord of the Red Elephant Mam : tara kri: U: Shyon Shya.

Sirisudhamma raja (Thirithudamma).

Son of Mam Kha moung:, Some authors call him Salim Shah II not to confuse him with Mam raja kri:, but the attribution of this name may eventually be erroneous.105 The only authority to my knowledge mentioning his name as Salim Shah is Manrique who calls him twice Xalamiza, the second of that name106. The trilingual coins of Sirisudhamma shown by Robinson and San Tha Aung bear an unread Persian inscription107, which apparently is not Salim. Habibullah writes: ‘For the next two kings, Narapadigri (1638-1645) and Thirithudhamma (1622-1638), no Muslim titles which undoubtedly were designed to represent their Muslim oppellations.’108. The coin issued at Sirisudhamma’s crowning ceremony is monolingual (in Arakanese)109, the king assuming the prestigious titles of Lord of the White Elephant and Lord of the Red Elephant. Dating from Narapati kri’s reign, all the Arakanese coins were monolingual110.

Bibliography

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An: Cok Rajawan [Rakhuin mam can an: cok ca ran}] [s.l.n.d.]. Ram pran Ton kyon: pe mu. (Remree, menuscript).

BM Add. 26583. British Library (London). Western manuscripts.

BM OR 3465. British Library OIOC (London):

BN Indochinois 20. Bibliotheque nationale (Paris), Manuscrits orientaux.

BN Anglais 26. Bibliotheque nationale (Paris), Manuscrits occidentaux.

Bhattacharya, B. 1927. ‘Bengali Influence in Arakan’, Bengal Past and Present 33.

Bouchon, G. /Thomaz L.P. 1988. Voyage dons les deltas du Gange et de I’Irraouaddy 1521, Paris: EHESS (Collection du Centre d’Etudes portugueses).

Candamalalankara 1943. Rakhuin rajawan sac kyam: (vol.2). Mantale: Hamcawati.

Chris. J.A. van der (ed.) 1885-1990. Dagh-Register gehouden in’t Casteel Batavia 1602-1811. Batavia/ The Hague.

Collis, M. 1925. ‘Arakan’s place in the civilization of the Bay’, Journal of the Burma Research Society XV,1.

De Jonge, J,K,J, 1865. De Opkomst van het Nederlandsh Gezag on Oost-Indie (1595-1610). s-Gravenhage.

De Barros. J. 1973. Da Asia: decadas III & IV. Lisboa: S. Carlos.

Fistie. P. 1985. La Birmanie-ou la quete de l unite. Paris: EFFEO.

Forchhammer, E. 1891. papers on subjects relating to the Archaeology of Burma.

Ghosh, J. M. 1891. Interferencia et integracao dos Portugueses na Birmania’c. 1580-1630. Lisboa: Universidade Nova (Dissertacao de Mestrado).

Habibullah, A.B.M. 1945. ‘Arakan in the Pre-Mughal History of Bengal’ Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal (Letters 11).

Harbsmeier, M. 1982. ‘Reisebeschreibungen als mentalitatsgeschichtliche Quellen: Uberlegungen zu einer historisch-anthropologischen Untersuchung fruhneuzeitlicher deutscher Reisebeschreibungen’ in: Reiseberichte als Quellen europaischer Kulturgeschichte. Aufgaben und Moglichkeiten der historischen Reiseforschung (ed. A. Maczak/ H.J. Teuteberg). Wolfenbuttel: Herzog August Bibliothek.

Harvey, G.E. 1967. History of Burma. London: Cass.

Hossein, S. 1988. Art and the Vintage. A Catalogue of exhibits in the Chittagong University Museum. Chittagong: Chittagong University Museum.

Kawisara [Kawisarabhisiripawara Aggamahadhammarajadhirajaguru] 1881. Dhanawati Are: to pum, Rangoon: Burmah Herald Steam Press.

Kyaw Zan Tha 1991. Background paper on the Rohingya Problem, Yangon (dactyl).

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Leider. J. 1994, ‘La route de Am (Arakan). Contribution a l’ etude d’une route terrestre entre la Birmanie et le golfe du Bengale’ Journal Asiatique 282.

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Manrique 1926. Travels of Fray Sebastien Manrique 1629-1643. Vol.1: Arakan. London: Hakluyt Society.

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Syria crisis: Gulf Arab states expel Syrian ambassadors

2012-02-07T20:40:00.001-08:00

BBC's Paul Wood, in Homs, says Russian-made tanks are firing on residents

Syria Crisis

Gulf Arab states say they are expelling Syrian ambassadors in their countries and recalling their envoys from Syria.

The Gulf Cooperation Council said Syria had rejected Arab attempts to solve the crisis and end 11 months of bloodshed.
The US closed its embassy in Syria on Monday, and several European countries have recalled their ambassadors.
The moves came as Syrian government forces continued their fierce assault on the restive city of Homs, and Russian officials visited Damascus.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called for a solution to the crisis based on Arab League initiatives, days after Russia and China vetoed a UN resolution on Syria.
After meeting Mr Lavrov, Syrian media quoted President Bashar al-Assad as saying he was willing to co-operate with "any efforts towards stability".
Separately Russia's ambassador to the UN, Vitaly Churkin, denied reports that he had threatened Qatar's prime minister during talks at the UN last week.
Someone was trying to drive a wedge between Russia and the Arab world, he said.
'Operations continue'

Analysis

Jim Muir BBC News, Beirut, Lebanon

On the surface, Sergei Lavrov's talks with President Assad in Damascus don't seem to have produced any kind of breakthrough.
If things were agreed behind the scenes without being announced, that could become apparent in the coming days, especially in places like Homs, where the violence continues unabated.
But on the face of it, there was nothing new in the statements made after the talks, though Mr Lavrov said the Syrian leader seemed to have taken on board the need for swift action.
He remains committed to ending violence from any source - but the Syrians have used that formula to cover their crackdown on armed opposition fighters.
The powers which backed the torpedoed UN resolution are not waiting for the Russians to pull a rabbit from the hat.

The BBC's Paul Wood - one of the very few foreign reporters in Homs - says the Syrian army resumed mortar attacks and heavy machine-gun fire after daybreak.

He says Russian-made tanks have been seen close to the city centre, but there is no sign so far of the ground assault feared by many residents.
Hundreds are reported to have died since the shelling of the city began on Friday. At least 95 people were killed on Monday alone, activists say.
At least 15 were killed on Tuesday, they said.
The Interior Ministry said it would continue its operations in the city against "terrorist groups" until "order" was restored, in a statement quoted by state news agency Sana.
There were reports of more fighting in Hama, another flashpoint city, and the town of Zabadani near Damascus.
'Honest efforts aborted' A Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) statement said: "Members have decided to withdraw their ambassadors from Syria and ask at the same time for all the ambassadors of the Syrian regime to leave immediately."
There was "no point in them staying after the Syrian regime rejected all attempts and aborted all honest Arab efforts to solve this crisis and end the bloodshed", it added.
Member states "follow with sorrow and anger, the increase in killing and violence in Syria, which has not spared children, old people or women with heinous acts that at best can be described as mass slaughter".
The GCC said it would urge all other Arab states to adopt "decisive measures" when the Arab League meets next week.

Ambassadors recalled from Syria

United States (embassy closed)
Europe

France
UK
Italy
Spain
Netherlands
Belgium

Gulf Arab states

Saudi Arabia
Qatar
United Arab Emirates
Bahrain
Oman
Kuwait

The decision comes a day after the US closed its embassy in Damascus and pulled out all remaining staff.

The UK, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain and Italy have also recalled their ambassadors.
Mr Lavrov called for a solution to the crisis based on initiatives put forward by the Arab League on 2 November 2011 to end the violence, though he has given no indication that Russia supports the league's more recent call for Mr Assad to step down.
He said Damascus was ready for a larger Arab mission to monitor peace efforts, and would set a date for a constitutional referendum.
The Arab League deployed an observer mission to Syria in December but suspended it in late January amid worsening violence.
Later, Syrian state news agency Sana said Mr Assad "reiterated Syria's willingness to work with all efforts towards stability in Syria".

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov: "The President of Syria has assured that he is fully committed to the goal of putting an end to the violence"

But US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Washington would withhold judgement on Mr Lavrov's visit.
"You can understand that the international community as a whole would be pretty sceptical of, instead of focusing on ending the violence, what we seem to have is a re-upping of this same offer that Assad has been making for months and months and months," she said.
The Syrian opposition, meanwhile, has voiced strong criticism of the stalemate at the UN, saying the Russian and Chinese vetoes on Saturday encouraged the Syria government to step up the assault on Homs.
Mr Lavrov has said Western reaction condemning Russia's veto on Saturday bordered on "hysteria".
Moscow has said the draft - which backed an Arab League peace plan calling for President Assad to hand over power - would have forced regime change on Syria.
The Syrian government, which has been fighting an uprising against President Assad's rule since March, says it is fighting foreign-backed armed gangs.

Thousands of former army soldiers have defected to the rebel side, forming the Free Syrian Army.
Syria's interior ministry said operations against "terrorist groups" would continue until "security and order are restored" in Homs.
Human rights groups and activists say more than 7,000 people have been killed by Syrian security forces since the uprising began last March.
The UN stopped estimating the death toll in Syria after it passed 5,400 in January, saying it was too difficult to confirm.
President Assad's government says at least 2,000 members of the security forces have been killed.

.................
BBC News

Burmese Military Oppression Continue in Arakan State

2012-02-02T21:28:00.000-08:00

Narinjara News

Kyauk Pru: Burmese military oppression is still continuing in western Burma’s Arakan State like in the military era, though it has been nearly one year since U Thein Sein led the civilian government takeover of state power, according to local residents.

“We are still suffering from military torture and extortion. We do not know now to whom and where we have to complain of our suffering because no government authority is coming to protect us from those unruly oppressors despite our repeated complaints”, said a boat owner from Kyaukpru in Arakan State.

The boat owner said the sailors of the warships being deployed by the Danyawady Naval Headquarter at Ohngyein Port situated 10 miles east of Kyaukpru are inflicting human rights abuses, including torture and extortion on the local travelling boats.

“The naval forces at Ohngyein Port have ordered every passerby boat to report to them and they will ask for whatever they want from the boats. They even ask the boats to bring liquor, beer, cigarette, sugar and condensed milk for them from the town. If they do not get it they beat the boatmen and make them stand the whole day in the bright sun”, he said.

According to the source, the boats and travellers from the islands of Myotchaung and Masarai are suffering the most from extortion and torture by the naval forces of the Ohngyein port because the port is situated between the islands and the town. There are over 60 villages on the islands and the villagers of the islands depend solely on the local boats to travel from their islands to the town in the area.

A villager from Myotchaung Island also said, “No boat is allowed to pass by without reporting in Ohngyein. Recently they have even stopped the boat in which State Parliament MP U Kyaw Lwin was coming. They ask for money or goods from the boats and will seize or fine the boats that fail to report to them. Their unruly practices have troubled the boats and travellers here very much.”

It is also learnt from the local residents that besides the naval forces, the artillery battalion based at Saigree Village nearby the Naungtaw River is collecting forcible toll taxes from the local fishing and travelling boats patrolling in a speed boat in its nearby waters.

The residents said the armed forces in their area are continuing their practices upon the civilians like before, even though the government has claimed to have already changed to civilian rule in Burma.

Poisoning Endangers Giant Prawns in Arakan Coast

2012-02-02T21:27:00.000-08:00

Narinjara News

Thandwe: Widespread use of poison is endangering the scarce lobster or giant prawn population on the coast of western Burma’s Arakan State, said a local environmentalist.

“The hunters of lobsters are now widely using poison to catch the scarce lobsters in Arakan coast and if they continue this practice, the lobsters in our coast will quickly become extinct”, said the environmentalist from Thandwe in south eastern Arakan State, on condition of anonymity.

He said the lobsters inhabit the undersea rock masses and the hunters dive into the sea where rock masses are and pipe the liquid poison into and around the rocks in order to catch the lobsters running out from their hiding places.

“They are using this technique to catch the lobsters very easily, but this technique hurts not only the lobsters but also fishes and other creatures that are living in and wandering around the rock masses”, he said.

According to the fishermen from Jatetaw Fishing Zone in Thandwe, where undersea coral reefs and rock masses are abundant, the lobster hunting causes a great disturbance to their fishing industries as well.

“The poison used for lobster hunting can stay in the water for a long time and no marine creature, including fishes can come close to the poisoned waters and this hurts our fishing industries in the area a great deal as well”, said one of the fishermen.

The lobsters in Arakan Coast are different in type and colour, and are the most expensive seafood exported to foreign countries via Rangoon. The standard lobsters are now priced at 80,000 Kyat per viss, while the sub-standard lobsters at 45,000 Kyat per viss in the markets in Arakan State.

The environmentalist said they have complained about the use of poison for lobster hunting to the Directorate of Fisheries. As the hunting continues it threatens the extinction of lobsters as well as other endangered species inhabiting the undersea rock masses on the coast of the region, but the department is still reluctant to take the necessary steps to stop the hunting.

Villagers Fear Arrest after Refusing to Pay Paddy to Army

2012-02-02T21:25:00.000-08:00

Narinjara News

Minbya: The villagers from Palaypauk (Balipauk) Village in Minbya Township in Arakan State are in fear of arrest after being threatened by the army because they were unwilling to sacrifice their paddy harvests which are charged by the army as rent for their confiscated farmlands.

One of the villagers told Narinjara that the Military Operation Command or Sa-Ka-Kha (9) based in nearby Kyauktaw Township has threatened to arrest the villagers because they were hiding when the army personnel came to collect paddy from them.

“The army personnel from Sa-Ka-Kha (9) led by Major Ne Win and Corporal Ar Jone came to our village on the 31st of January to collect paddy from us. All the villagers were hiding when they came. After this they went to the village monastery and informed the monk of the monastery that they would arrest us if we do not pay the paddy to them”, said the villager.

Palaypauk Village is situated in the place where Minbya and Pauktaw Townships meet in north eastern Arakan State. According to the villagers, the Sa-Ka-Kha (9) has forcibly confiscated over 300 acres of paddy farmlands that were owned by the villagers, and have then been leasing the lands back to the owners with a rent of 25 baskets of paddy per acre.

“The army personnel even picked a quarrel with the monk as the monk requested they spare the villagers the rent this year. The monk told them the paddy harvest in the village was very poor this year, and the villagers are very poor, and then they asked the monk if he would pay, or who would pay 40,000 baskets of paddy that the government has ordered them to annually contribute to the state”, said the villager.

According to the source, there are only two villages in the Palaypauk Village Group namely Palaypauk and Dokekanlae, and the army have been annually collecting 15,000 baskets of paddy harvests—9,000 baskets from Palaypauk and 6,000 baskets from Dokekanlae—since it confiscated the farmlands from those villages.

“We villagers here are very poor farmers who are mainly living on the traditional paddy farming and we have been facing a lot of trouble in our livelihood since we have had to pay our harvests to the army. That is why we are unwilling to pay our harvests anymore, and we have recently written an appeal to the President U Thein Sein”, said the villager.

The villager said they are worrying about arrest by the army, as the army personnel have informed them that they would come again on 5 February threatening they would take action against those who fail to pay the paddy to them on that day.

Location, location, location: Myanmar's the hot new neighbourhood

2012-01-30T18:43:00.000-08:00

By a Reuters staff reporter

YANGON | Mon Jan 30, 2012 5:32am EST

YANGON (Reuters) - Property agent Kyaw Saw leafs through a thick pile of real-estate listings in Myanmar's faded commercial capital, Yangon.
"Our customers used to be all people from the east -- from China, Taiwan and Japan," said the portly businessman.
That's changing fast.

"We had no Westerners a year ago. Get in now before the rush begins," said Kyaw Saw, adding his former boss was now his competitor, having just left to start his own agency.
If you pay two years up front, Kyaw Saw promises to lock in further price rises at only 10 percent a year. He's keen to tap a sudden wave of foreign interest in a crumbling city that until recently was a Southeast Asian backwater.

The capital of a former British colony ruled for five decades by a reclusive junta has faded under economic mismanagement and sanctions imposed by Western governments because of the military regime's human rights record and refusal to embrace democracy.

Now ministers from those same governments are beating a path to the door of President Thein Sein, a retired junta general who, since coming to office as a civilian leader 10 months ago, has embarked on political and economic reform with a speed that has astonished even seasoned observers.

Residents say a groundbreaking visit by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at the end of last year, followed by British Foreign Secretary William Hague this month, gave another nudge-up to property prices.

"Sanctions will go soon and that will be very good for business," Kyaw Saw said.

INVESTMENT INTEREST

Businessmen are quietly flooding in, too, sensing that the country -- with its oil, gas, timber and gems and a population untouched by the consumer boom seen elsewhere in Asia -- could be the next big investment story once sanctions are removed or softened, which may be soon.

As a result, Yangon, which ceased to be the capital after the junta suddenly relocated to remote Naypyitaw in 2005, is in the midst of a property boom, felt especially keenly at the top end of what little proper office space there is, and for the type of housing Western executives expect in large Asian cities.

"The prices here are outrageous," said an American businessman sitting in the lobby of a posh Yangon hotel, one of only a handful in the city, most of which have been fully booked over recent months.

The man, who lives in Bangkok and gave his name only as James, gives a resigned sigh when asked how his search for a home in Myanmar was going.

"This place is just exploding with investor interest."

James visited a year ago to "scope out opportunities" and accommodation, but villas that were available for rent then at a few thousand dollars a year now cost up to $50,000.
"And you don't get much for what you're paying. There is very little choice," James added, before heading off to meet a lawyer to hammer out details for a deal.

Those looking for offices to rent are not having much luck either. There's not much available, and prices have soared.

Rental space in Yangon's Sakura Tower, one of only two international standard office blocks in the downtown financial and former government district, have doubled in the space of a year to $50 a square metre from $25, and the smallest office, little more than a pokey room, now costs $3,000 a month.

Rents could go up another 30 percent before the end of the first half, said one sales executive, noting an occupancy rate of 99 percent compared with 75 percent this time last year.

"There is a lot of demand for office space but supply is very limited for space like ours," she said, asking not to be identified, something that has become the norm in Myanmar after years of strict army control and fear.

"We are seeing more and more inquiries as the country's situation changes, more and more investors," she added. "Companies want to open an office first to do market research before the sanctions are lifted."

SHORTAGES

It is a similar picture at the Centrepoint Towers just down the road, overlooking the golden dome of the Sule Pagoda, one of the city's main Buddhist temples.

Office space that was only $13 per square metre a year ago is now $30 and up, depending on the floor, and will probably rise by another $10 in April or May, a sales executive said.
The government keeps no official data on property prices.

Foreigners are not allowed to own property although they can rent offices and houses from Myanmar citizens. In some cases, they are able to sign for long-term leasehold-type purchases as long as they have a local partner.

Authorities are working on amending a Foreign Investment Law and are studying regulations in other countries, officials said. In Thailand, for example, foreigners cannot own land. They can buy condominium units outright as long as the building has majority Thai ownership.
"The government has clearly stated they will not allow foreigners to own land," said a real estate executive who gave his name as Myo, adding it could take several years for laws to be passed to allow the ownership of apartments.

Still, the properties on his books, mostly houses in leafy suburbs, were now going for $1,000-$1,500 per square metre, up from about $500 last year.

Property sales are often in the kyat currency, which has multiple and fluctuating exchange rates, including an official rate of about 6 kyat to the dollar that barely anyone uses. On the black market, it traded at about 820 to the dollar last Friday.

One house Myo sold recently by Inya Lake, on whose shores lives pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, went for 850 million kyat (about $1 million), up by 150 million kyat from last year.

"We think things will continue to go up though not quite as fast," he said.
Another realtor, who asked to be identified as Mr La, said prices had begun to become more rational after it dawned on people after Clinton's visit that sanctions would not be lifted immediately.

"It all depends on the sanctions. This is the main thing," he told Reuters, before describing how he had large villas to rent for the eye-watering price of $25,000 a month.

The properties that are available are often far from salubrious. Pictures in estate agents' windows show dilapidated buildings optimistically termed "condominiums", rarely more than a few storeys high and with the main selling points being either air conditioning or elevators.
An office in a building like this will cost about $900 a month, paid a year up front in brand new, flawless $100 bills, the only kind accepted in Myanmar's cash-only economy.
Internet access needs to be separately arranged. It could take weeks to install, and even then probably runs at a crawl.

Singapore businessman Brian Jee has lived in Yangon for more than a decade, defying power cuts and the effects of sanctions to build an entertainment firm. But skyrocketing rents have forced him to take the unorthodox step of working from the gym.

"It's a bargain at 70,000 kyat a month," he said, in the midst of swapping rent horror stories with a friend in a Yangon cafe, referring to a figure equal to $85. "I get gym membership and free Internet access. I can work at the treadmill."

"Otherwise you're looking at $15,000 a month for top-of-the-line office space," Jee added, sucking back on a cigarette.

"You could get something cheaper, but then you'll have to wait weeks for them to put in a landline and internet."

MANDALAY MADNESS

Only one thing is more outrageous to people in Yangon than the soaring prices there -- the even more outrageous rises in Myanmar's old royal capital of Mandalay and nearby towns like Lashio, both of which are dominated by ethnic Chinese traders, from both Myanmar and China.

While Yangon's prices have only really been rising in the past year to 18 months, Mandalay and Lashio have seen huge increases in the last five years, driven by Chinese money and, some say, speculation by high-ranking members of the military.

Soe Win, an ethnic Chinese businessman in Lashio, said his neighbour bought a small house for 300 million kyat a few years ago. Last year a Yangon-based bank bought it for 700 million kyat. They knocked it down and will build two in its place to sell for a total of 1 billion kyat.

"I'm holding on to my land. Prices could rise even higher," he said over a dinner of noodles and cow offal.

Money from China is able to flow into property and skirt the foreign ownership ban as many mainland Chinese either obtain Myanmar identity cards via bribery, marriage to a Myanmar national or through middlemen who are ethnic Chinese Myanmar citizens, businessmen say.
In Mandalay, one acre of land can cost up to $3 million, compared with $100,000 in Yangon, said businessman Aung Zaw Win.

"How can you do business in a situation like this? How are new investors supposed to come in?" he said.

POTHOLES AND FERAL DOGS

Even Yangon's best office buildings, like the Sakura Tower, offer little in the way of amenities considered de rigueur in other Asian cities such as Singapore, Kuala Lumpur or Shanghai.
Parking spaces are close to non-existent, or hidden in dank alleys and pavements out front are potholed and sometimes little more than open drains.

But new office buildings are being thrown up around town, even if their wobbly looking brickwork and rickety bamboo scaffolding belie English names such as "The Prosper Centre".
A few Asian builders are at work: Singapore-listed property firm Yoma Strategic Holdings Ltd (YOMA.SI) says an emerging middle class is buying its homes as quickly as it can build them and its shares have quadrupled in the past three months.

Some properties have started going up where once stood buildings from Yangon's colonial days, when the city was known as Rangoon. Not many people seem upset they are disappearing.

"I have contractors knocking at the door all the time," said Min Lwin, whose art gallery, one of a handful in the city, sits in a lovingly protected colonial-era villa.

"It doesn't make financial sense for many people to live in these old buildings when they can make a lot more money selling up for a new high-rise," added the U.S.-educated art lover.
Myanmar people, many of whom get by on just a few dollars a day in what is one of the world's poorest countries, are starting to worry about the rent, too.

"I only make $150 a month. What am I supposed to do if my rent keeps going up?" complained cosmetics trader Maung Thein, who runs a small stall in a Yangon market.
Taking a longer view, some reckon they could be sitting on a goldmine, as long as they can keep up with the rising rents.

Malaysian-born Verity Oo runs a coffee shop in what could one day be a very trendy part of central Yangon.

"Who knows? In two years this could be the location of Yangon's first Starbucks," she said. "I think it's very possible. Myanmar is changing so fast."

‘Burma and Myanmar mean exactly the same thing’

2012-01-11T17:35:00.001-08:00

Mizzima News

Editor’s Note – The Financial Times in London recently changed its policy of using Burma to using Myanmar when referring to the country. Burma expert Bertil Lintner, the author of numerous books on Burma, wrote to the newspaper, saying the words are synonymous, but other changes involving the names of ethnic towns have more sinister implications. His letter to the newspaper was published on Wednesday, January 11, 2012.

The following is an expanded version of the letter and goes into more details about the importance of names in identifying a country or city:

Dear Sirs,

You claim that you have adopted the name “Myanmar” for Burma “on the grounds of neutrality” and because it “smacks less of domination by a majority ethnic group.” (January 5, 2012). This is linguistically and historically incorrect. It is correct that today’s Burmese rulers claim that Burma, or bama, is a colonial name while Myanmar is more indigenous and encompasses all the many nationalities of the country. But it was not the British who “named Myanmar Burma.” The once British colony has always been called Burma in English and bama or myanma in Burmese. The best explanation of the difference between the two names is found in the old Hobson-Jobson Dictionary of “Colloquial Anglo-Indian Words and Phrases,” which despite its rather unorthodox name remains a very useful source of information:

“The name (Burma) is taken from Mran-ma, the national name of the Burmese people, which they themselves generally pronounce Bam-ma, unless speaking formally and empathically.” (Col. Henry Yule and A.C. Burnell, New Edition Edited by William Crooke, Hobson-Jobson: A Glossary of Colloquial Anglo-Indian Words and Phrases, and of Kindred Terms, Etymological, Historical, Geographical Discursive. New Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers, 1979, originally published in 1903, p. 131.) Both names have been used interchangeably throughout history, with Burma being the more colloquial name and Myanmar a more formal designation.

If Burma meant only the central plains and Myanmar the Burmans and all the other nationalities, how could there be, according the Myanmar Language Commission, a “Myanmar language”? Its official Myanmar-English Dictionary also mentions a “Myanmar alphabet.” Clearly, Burma and Myanmar, and Burmese and Myanmar, mean exactly the same thing, and it cannot be argued that the term “Myanmar” includes any more people within the present union than the name “Burma” does.

But the confusion is an old one and when the Burmese independence movement was established in the 1930s, there was a debate among the young nationalists as to what name should be used for the country: bama or myanma. The nationalists decided to call their movement the Dohbama Asiayone instead of the Dohmyanma Asiayone. The reason, they said, was that:

“Since the dohbama was set up, the nationalists always paid attention to the unity of all the nationalities of the country...and the thakins (Burmese nationalists) noted that myanma meant only the part of the country where the myanma people lived. This was the name given by the Burmese kings to their country. Bama naing-ngan is not the country where only the myanma people live. Many different nationalities live in this country, such as the Kachins, Karens, Kayahs, Chins, P-Os, Palaungs, Mons, Myanmars, Rakhines and Shans. Therefore, the nationalists did not use the term myanma naing-ngan but bama naing-ngan. That would be the correct term...all nationalities who live in bama naing-ngan are called bama.” (A Brief History of the Dohbama Asiayone (in Burmese). Rangoon: Sarpay Beikman, 1976, p. 215)

Thus, the movement became the Dohbama Asiayone and not the Dohmyanma Asiayone .The Burmese edition of The Guardian monthly, another official publication, also concluded in February 1971: “The word myanma signifies only the myanmars whereas bama embraces all indigenous nationalities.”

In May 1989, however, the present government decided that the opposite was true and changed the name in English to Myanmar — although it had been myanma naing-ngan, “the State of Burma,” in formal Burmese since independence in 1948. The bitter truth is that there is no term in Burmese or in any other language that covers both the bama/myanma and the ethnic minorities since no such entity existed before the arrival of the British. Burma with its present boundaries is a colonial creation, and successive governments of independent Burma have inherited a chaotic entity which is still struggling to find a common identity. But “changing” the name of the country to what it has always been called in formal Burmese is unlikely to make any difference. Burma has been in a state of revolt since independence in 1948, with no lasting solution to its ethnic and political problems in sight.

Rangoon or Yangon is another reflection of the same kind of misunderstanding. Rangoon begins with the consonant “ra gaut”, or “r”, not “ya palait” or “y”. In English texts, Rangoon is therefore an etymologically more correct spelling. The problem is that the old r-sound has died out in most modern Burmese dialects and softened to a “y” — but not in Arakanese and Tavoyan, which both have a very distinct r-sound. Further, there is another dimension to the recent “name changes” in Burma. It was not only the names of the country and the capital which were “changed”; in the minority areas new names were also introduced as well, and here it was a real change. A few examples from Shan State: Hsipaw became Thibaw, Hsenwi became Theinli or Thinli, Kengtung became Kyaingtong, Mong Hsu became Maing Shu, Lai-Hka became Laycha, Pangtara became Pindaya and so on.

The problem here is that the original names all have a meaning in the Shan language; the “new” names are just Burmanised versions of the same names, with no meaning in any language. This undermines the argument that the changes were done in order to make them “more indigenous” and not only reflecting the majority Burmans. This has prompted Gustaaf Houtman, a Dutch Burma scholar, to coin the term “Myanmafication” to refer to the top-down programme of replacing “unity in diversity” — which had been Aung San’s vision of an independent Burma — with a more ethnically streamlined nation state. (Mental Culture in Burmese Crisis Politics: Aung San Suu Kyi and the National League for Democracy. Tokyo: Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, 1999, pp. 15ff.) Others would claim it is just a concerted drive to Burmanise the whole country and wipe out the separate identities of the ethnic minorities.

Bertil Lintner
Chiang Mai, Thailand

People Support RNDP Plan for Gas Benefits at Rally

2012-01-07T04:03:00.001-08:00

Narinjara

Kyauk Pru:People in Kyaukpru, a town at the heart of the Shwe Gas project in Arakan State, showed their support for the RNDP's plan for sharing benefits from the gas projects between the central and regional government, said RNDP Vice-President U Tin Pe, who chaired the rally.

RNDP rally in Kyauk Pru (Photo by Narinjara)

The rally was held by the Rakhine Nationalities Development Party, which won 34 seats from Arakan State in the last election in Burma, at the Independence Monument grounds in Kyuak Pru on 1 January, 2012.

"The Rakhine state election commission permitted only 500 people to attend the rally but over 1000 people attended the rally and showed their willingness to support our party plan to fight for sharing profits from our own gas that the government decided to sell to China,” U Tin Pe said.

The people in the rally cheered and cried out loudly to support the plan of RNDP when party leaders delivered speeches about Shwe Gas and how to fight for this by party candidates in parliament in Naypyidaw, he said.

In the rally, four RNDP party senior leaders, including party chairman Dr Aye Maung, delivered speeches on the gas project and also other issues like their activities in the upper and lower houses in Naypyidaw.

“Our party chairman Dr Aye Maung told people in rally that some of legislators from RNDP asked questions to concerned responsible ministers at the last parliament session on the Shwe Gas project but we could not get a satisfactory reply from those ministers. Because of this we arranged the rally to show how our people hope for revenues of our Shwe gas,” he said.

In the last sessions of parliament, the candidates from RNDP asked questions to government bodies on whether there is any plan to use gas from Arakan State for Arakan State’s development. The concerned ministers replied in the parliament that the government has no plans to use gas from the first quota for Arakan State.

Afterward, the Arakanese people were angered and demand the government use the gas for Arakan State's development.

According to party sources, the RNDP arranged the rally in Kyaukpru to raise their voices for Shwe Gas sharing benefits for Arakan State.

“People support our party activities for Shwe Gas and we are going to request the government to share revenues from Shwe Gas to upgrade our state development. Our state is very poor in Burma and we should get some benefits from our own gas,” U Tin Pe added.

Party leaders and the attendees at the rally vowed to fight for equal rights in Burma, not only for national resources but also for political, economic, and social rights. The rally was peacefully ended that night, but the authority did not allow some party leaders to deliver a speech instead of some who submitted their names with the election commission but were absent from the rally.

Child Soldier Returned to Parents After Broadcast by Foreign-Based Radio

2012-01-07T04:01:00.000-08:00

Narinjara

Buthidaung: A child soldier was returned to his parents by army authorities two days after a report was aired by a foreign-based Burmese broadcast service, said a monk close to a relative of the boy.

"Maung Ray Nyien was handed over by army officers to his family on 19 November after the BBC broadcasted the report on 17 November," said the monk.

14-year-old Maung Ray Nying, who is studying in class 7, was recruited by Corporal Soe Aung and Private Maung Pya from local LIB 234 based in Buthidaung. They tricked the child by claiming he would get a better education in the army.

Maung Ray Nyien is the son of U Aingar Aung and Daw Pulay Maung from Awrama Village in Buthidaung Township.

His parents went to the army on 31 October 2011 and asked the army to return their child to them, but he was unwilling to return because he believed he would get a better education if he stayed in the army.

Afterwards, a politician in Buthidaung who is close to the family reported the situation to the BBC and they aired a report on the matter on 17 November.

"High army authorities knew of the incident after the BBC aired it through its program. Afterward, the army authority brought him from the recruiting center in Sittwe and handed him over to his family. His parents are happy and thankful to the BBC and other media for their child's return home," the monk said.

Reports on the child's recruitment were also published by Narinjara News based in Bangladesh, and Toe Tet Ray Journal, owned by the information department of the Rakhine Nationalities Development Party inside Burma.

The RNDP published the report in their Toe Tet Ray Journal in issue No. 1, Volume 20, on 20 November, but there has been no other reaction by the Burmese a

Young Woman Commits Suicide After Rejection by Sailor

2012-01-07T04:00:00.000-08:00

Narinjara

A young woman from Sittwe in western Burma's Arakan State has committed suicide by consuming poison, reportedly after her boyfriend, who is a sailor in the Burmese navy, refused to marry her after she ran away with him.

The woman was identified as 19-year-old Moe Moe Ei Khine, the daughter of U Nain Moe and Daw Moe Sandar, from Shwe Mingan Ward in Sittwe.

One family member said she committed suicide on the evening of 26 December, 2011 in the canteen inside the naval station in Shwe Mingan Ward, two days after she left home to be with him.

"Naval Private Thura Win had secretly taken her from her house to his station on 24 December and then dismissed her back to her house on the morning of 26 December after living together with her for two nights at his station. As her mother had scolded her for running away with him without their knowledge, she went back to him, but he also refused to marry her, and she finally committed suicide by consuming poison at the canteen of the naval station," said her family member.

The source said that Moe Moe Ei Khine was sent to the public hospital in Sittwe by her family after a sergeant from the naval station came to inform them that she was suffering an emergency at the station's canteen.

"We found her lying unconscious with foam in her mouth at around 5 pm at the canteen of the station and took her to the hospital, but she was dead on arriving at the hospital," said the source.

The family member said the in-charge of the station has promised her parents they will take action against Thura Win for their daughter's death, telling them not to bring the case to the police, but no action has yet been taken against the accused. The source added that the hospital has also declined to issue a postmortem report concerning the cause of death.

It was learned that Moe Moe Ei Khine, like her parents, was a day laborer working at the port near their village, and they are a very poor family.

Rakhita Prize to be Awarded to Prisoner Monk Rammarwady Ashin Pinnyasara

2012-01-07T03:58:00.002-08:00

Narinjara

By Maung Aye
------------------
Tokyo: The Japan-based Arakan Nationlist Group said it has selected Rammarwady Ashin Pinnyasara, who is imprisoned by the Burmese government for his patriotic work, for its annual "Rakhita" prize for national conservation.

U Kyaw Than Hlaing, the spokesperson of the group, said the members chose Ashin Pinnyasara by a ballot system on 14 December, and the prize will be awarded to him on 31 December, which marks the 227th anniversary of the downfall of the Kingdom of Arakan to Burmese colonial rule.

"We have chosen the venerable monk for the prize after reviewing his selfless service for Arakan. He is a scholar who has made so many valuable contributions to Arakan history and has worked hard to flourish and preserve Arakanese patriotic spirit, culture, and religion, and he is such an affectionate person who has founded an orphanage to nurture the abandoned and orphaned children in our homeland," said U Kyaw Than Hlaing.

Venerable Pinnyasara was arrested in July 2010 at his orphanage, Mahamuni Buddha Vihara, in the capital Sittwe. He was forcibly disrobed from the monk-hood and sentenced to eight years and three months in prison by the Burmese authorities in September 2010 on charges of hiding children's dead bodies, possessing illegal foreign currencies, misappropriating the orphanages funds, failure to comply with municipal laws, and having sexual relations with the orphanage's maid. He is now being held in Tharat Prison in central Burma's Magway Division.

When they arrested him, authorities also confiscated his collections of many ancient artifacts of Arakan, including coins, Buddha statues, palm-leave scriptures on Arakan history, and books on traditional medicine. They then shut down his orphanage and sent over 100 of the children to central Burma.

The general opinion among Arakanese people at home and abroad is that his arrest was nothing more than a ploy by the authorities so they could confiscate the priceless ancient Arakanese artifacts he had collected, and suppress his selfless endeavors for the cultural and social welfare of his own national people.

Kyaw Than Hlaing said his group created the $1,000 prize this year to honor the individual who has done selfless service for the cause of Arakan and its people, and they also have plans to expand with separate prizes in the fields of literature and music in the coming year.

Farmers Complain of Army Office Confiscating and Leasing Their Land to Foreign Company

2012-01-07T03:58:00.000-08:00

Narinjara

Kyauk Pru: Local farmers in Arakan State have recently lodged a written complaint with the central government because they have become landless after their arable land in Kyaukpru was secretly grabbed and leased to a foreign company by a retired Burmese naval officer.

India Company is bulldozing the lands of farmers.

A farmer said their land in Pyatae Village Group in Kyaukpru Township were taken and rented out to an Indian company by the retired navy officer, Lt. Colonel San Aung who bears national identity no. 9/Ma-Na-Ma (Nain) 013961, without their knowledge or consent.

"Lt. Colonel San Aung has secretly grabbed 24.16 acres of our farmland in Pyatae Village and rented it out to an Indian company that is cooperating with the Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise for 29 months at a rent of 20.548 million kyat. Those lands are our traditionally cultivated farmlands and we complained of the matter to the central government on 26 December because we have become landless after the officer rented our lands to the Indian company secretly," said the farmer.

He added that four farmers from Krattin Village, five farmers from Katthapae Village, and one from Kamdee Village under the Pyatae Village Tract in Kyaukpru Township have complained to the high government authority about their land being rented out by the navy officer.

"We have sent the written complaint of the matter to the Union Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation, forwarding copies of the letter to the President, the Chairmen of the People's and National Parliaments, our regional government, and responsible senior officers in our region," he said.

According to the farmer, they came to find out their lands were grabbed by Lt. Colonel San Aung after the Indian company and its Burmese partner started to bulldoze the land for construction.

The farmer said officials of the companies told them they had rented the land from Lt. Colonel San Aung, and showed the written agreement between the Indian company and the retired Lieutenant Colonel.

"There are the names of six people on their agreement, but only three of them have signed on the deal," said the farmer.

"Sergeant Htun Aung Kyaw of the navy, who bears identification Ka-Pa No. 25249 and national identity no. 10/Ma-La-Ma (Nain) 019867, has signed on behalf of Lt. Colonel San Aung as the receiver of money for renting the land, while U Ko Ko Htwe, the Assistant Director General of Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise, who bears national identity no. 12/La-Ma-Na (Nain) 048223, has signed as lessee of the land, while U Khin Maung Myint, Assistant Director of Kyaukpru Township, who bears national identity no. 9/Pa-Ba-Na (Nain) 124780, has signed as the witness to the deal," the farmer said.

He added that the other three people who are named but have not signed the deal are U Aung Sein Shan, Administrator of Krattin Village, U Saw Lwin, Assistant Construction Engineer of MOGE, and Morim Jom, Chief Supervisor of the Indian company.

According to the deal, the lands were leased to the company effective from 8 August, 2011, through December 2013, at a payment of 20,548,000 kyat.

"Now we have no land for our livelihoods and hope the government will look into the matter and take necessary steps to get back our lands to us as soon as possible," said the farmer.

Colonial Era Exploitation Should Be Avoided: Dr. Aye Maung

2012-01-07T03:17:00.001-08:00

Narinjara

Sittwe: Dr. Aye Maung, Chairman of the Rakhine Nationalities Development Party, says the Burmese government should avoid colonial-style exploitation of natural resources, referring to its lack of a plan to utilize any portion of the gas from the Shwe Gas Project in Kyaukpru in Arakan State for regional development.

He made the statement when he was asked about his party's public conference that is scheduled to be held on 1 January, 2012, at the clock-tower grounds in Kyaukpru to demand local rights in the project.

"Our dreams for unity and amity in our nation will be far away if the natural resources from one region are swept away and just used for the benefit and development of another region in the similar manner of exploitation as in the colonial era. So, the government should share some portion of profits that will be obtained from the gas project in Arakan State for the benefit and development of local Arakanese people, who have rights to the natural resources in their homeland, and while it is building a genuine union, it should ensure equal benefit and development in all ethnic regions in the union," said Dr. Aye Maung.

He added that the natural resources are most abundant in ethnic regions and the hope for ethnic unity will be shattered if the government continues to sweep away the resources from those regions to use in only Rangoon, Mandalay, Naypyidaw, and other parts of central Burma where industrial zones are being established.

Dr. Aye Maung said the main aim of holding the public conference is to mobilize the local Arakanese people as well as their brethren of other ethnic nationalities for their wider participation in making demands on the gas project for the development of Arakan State.

"We will make demands just for what we should get from our union and we hope all Arakanese people and our ethnic brothers with their kind hearts will support our move to strive for our regional development and hope the responsible authorities in all levels will do their best to meet our demands," he said.

He also said his party would be able to make known to the central government what local people are expecting from the Shwe Gas Project after holding public conferences in the region, although lawmakers from his party had not received any positive answers from the union ministers when they raised questions about the project last September, with the aim of softening the stance of the central government over the region's natural resources.

"No matter how the regional natural resources are being centralized in the 2008 constitution, we hope the government will consider the fact that every region or division needs to use its own resources for its development," he said.

The regional election commission granted permission on 27 December for the RNDP to hold the public conference, which is scheduled from 5 pm to 11 pm on 1 January at the clock-tower grounds in Kyaukpru. It was learned that only 500 people are allowed to take part in the conference, and six senior leaders of the party, including Dr. Aye Maung and U Ba Shin, the legislator from People's Parliament in Kyaukpru, will speak at the conference.

Arakanese Diaspora Marks 227th Anniversary of the Fall of the Kingdom

2012-01-07T03:15:00.001-08:00

Narinjara

Dhaka: The Arakanese diaspora in several countries held ceremonies marking the 227th anniversary of the fall of Arakan's sovereignty and called to demolish colonization in Burma as practiced by the Burmese central government in Arakan State.

Photo Caption: 1. Thailand, 2. USA, 3. Danmark, 4. Bangladesh. 5 Phuket.

The memorial ceremony was held in Bangladesh, Japan, India, Thailand, USA, Denmark, and Malaysia on 31 December, 2011, which was the day in 1784 when Arakan lost its sovereignty when it was invaded by Burma's King Bodawpura.

In the USA, over 80 Arakanese and other ethnic people gathered in front of the UN building in New York at noon on 31 December 2011 to demand an end to colonization in Burma.

Ko Tin Wai, an organizer for the event, said, "Arakan was a sovereign country until 1784, when the Burmese king invaded. Since then, our people have fallen in one colony after another. Even though Burma regained independence in 1948, our land is s till a colony under Burmese rulers. Our people call it a hidden colony. Because of this, we came to in front of the UN building to demand decolonization of our land."

Replying to Narinjara's question about why they claim Arakan is a colony, he said, "We have no right to use our own natural resources for our state development. The Burmese government sells the gas to China and there is not any reserve or revenue for our state. It is colonial-style exploitation by the Burmese government."

The memorial ceremony was also held in Phuket, a beautiful town by the sea in Thailand, where over 600 Arakanese politicians and workers were in attendance.

Ko Soe Myint, chairman of the ceremony, told Narinjara over the phone, "We have no rights to learn our own literature or history, nor any rights to preserve our cultural heritage ourselves. We have neither human rights nor nationality under the successive Burmese governments. There is no self-determination for our people despite that we have our own land and our own nationality. We held the ceremony to raise awareness about our history and present the situation of our homeland to our people as well as to demand the Burmese government give us our rights."

The ceremony was also held in front of the press club in Cox's Bazar during the afternoon with many Arakanese, including politicians, women, and students participating. Arakanese leaders delivered speeches during the ceremony and called for unity among the Arakanese people in the fight against the Burmese Government.

U Pho Hla, chairman of the Arakan freedom movement, urged the people of Arakan to unite in fighting against the Burmese junta in order to reach the national goals of Arakan. He also remarked to attendees that Arakan lost its sovereignty in 1784 as a result of disunity among the Arakanese people, so Arakanese today must unite in achieving their goals. He added that without unity, "we can not achieve our goal."

Ko Zar Ni, an Arakanese leader in Malaysia who led a ceremony in Kuala Lumpur, said, "The Burmese government has no concern for Arakan as a state of Burma and it rules our state as if it is a territory like a defeated colony because there is much discrimination and no equal rights. Because of this we need to fight unitedly against the imperialism practiced by Burma's central government.

Arakan was a sovereign kingdom before Burmese King Bodawpara invaded. Arakanese hold ceremonies on 31 December every year around the world to mark the somber anniversary, but the Burmese government has banned any such ceremonies inside Burma.

Arakanese refer to 31 December as "Black Day," because it is the day their kingdom lost its sovereignty to the Burmese invaders who occupied Mrauk U palace. The Mrauk U royal palace was subsequently burned by the Burmese invaders after the Arakanese king was deposed.

After Arakan lost its sovereignty, it was ruled by Burmese kings from 1784 to 1826. The British then invaded and ruled Arakan from 1826 to 1942, with the Japanese taking control of Arakan and Burma from 1942 to 1945. Britain again ruled briefly from 1945 to 1948, when Burma was granted independence. Arakan has since been ruled by successive Burmese regimes, and is today part of the officially named Union of Myanmar.

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