Burma thu tawmkhat

Sunday May 13, 3:49 PMMyanmar PM gets medical treatment in SingaporeYANGON, May 13 (Reuters) - Myanmar Prime Minister General Soe Win flew back to Singapore for medical treatment on Sunday, 10 days after a brief return to his country, witnesses said. Myanmar's military leader General Than Shwe and other senior army generals saw Soe Win off at the Yangon airport where he left on a commercial flight, they said. Soe Win, 58, earlier spent more than two months in a Singapore hospital receiving treatment for illnesses that may include leukemia. The Irrawaddy, a Thailand-based journal that covers Myanmar, reported in March that Soe Win may be suffering from leukemia. The Myanmar government has not given any information on his illness. He has been missing from the state-controlled Myanmar media since February. Soe Win was appointed prime minister in October 2004 after his predecessor and powerful military intelligence chief, Khin Nyunt, was purged in connection with alleged corruption scandals. An official at the Myanmar embassy in Singapore said in March Soe Win was treated at the Singapore General Hospital but he was not critically ill. The official declined to give details of his condition but said a team of doctors looked after him, including a couple of specialists who had flown in from Yangon. The United States has accused Soe Win, Than Shwe's trusted deputy, of direct involvement in the May 2003 attack by pro-government youths on Myanmar's democracy icon, Aung San Suu Kyi, and her supporters. The attack, near Mandalay, led to her detention. Myanmar leaders have turned to Singapore for medical treatments since Western nations imposed a visa ban on them a few years ago. Than Shwe also went to the same Singapore hospital for treatment late last year. ************ ********* ********* ********* ********* ********Saturday May 12, 3:55 PMThai PTTEP finds potential commercial gas in Myanmar wellYANGON, May 12 (Reuters) - Thailand's PTT Exploration and Production Pcl (PTTEP) has found a potential commercial natural gas deposit in an appraisal well drilled in Myanmar's Gulf of Martaban, state-run newspapers said on Saturday. PTTEP's Zawtika-3 well in Block M-9 produced 26 million thousand standard cubic feet of gas per day (MMSCFD) during tests, the official Myanmar Ahlin newspaper said. M-9, about 300 km south of Yangon, is one of five offshore blocks in the Martaban Gulf operated by PTTEP under a 25-year concession awarded by the Myanmar government. Gas produced from fields in the gulf by PTTEP, a wholly owned unit of Thailand's national oil company PTT Pcl , has been exported to Thailand in recent years. Thailand, the largest buyer of Myanmar natural gas, imports 15 to 20 percent of its national gas requirement from its western neighbour. Around 70 percent of the country's electricity demand is supplied by gas-fired power plants. Myanmar has at least 90 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of gas reserves and 3.2 billion barrels of recoverable crude oil reserves in its 19 onshore and three major offshore fields, according to government data. It has granted foreign companies exploration and production concessions for 25 offshore blocks, including 12 in the Gulf of Martaban, six off its Tanintharyi coast, and seven off its Rakhine coast. Multinational firms from Australia, Britain, Canada, China, Indonesia, India, Malaysia, Russia, South Korea, and Thailand have won concessions to explore for oil and gas in Myanmar. PTTEP reported to the Thai stock exchange in April that drilling of its nearby Zawtika 2 well to a depth of 3,500 metres yielded encouraging results. The natural gas flowing from three different zones within the Zawtika 2 well reached a combined 109.5 MMSCFD, its report to the bourse said. "The highly successful result of the Zawtika 2 exploration well gives the company confidence in the potential of natural gas in southern M9 block, as well as the potential of northern M11 block, which is adjacent to the south of M9 block," it said. PTTEP said it planned to drill four to five appraisal wells by July 2007 to determine petroleum reserves required for commercial development of eastern areas of Block M-9. PTTEP shares rose 0.50 baht to close at 92.00 on Friday. ************ ********* ********* ********* ********* ********Five die in Myanmar canal collision13 May 2007 05:10:45 GMTYANGON, May 13 (Reuters) - Five people died and nine were missing after a small passenger ferry and a double-decker passenger and cargo ship collided in a canal 19 miles southwest of Yangon on Saturday, a local police officer said.Five bodies were recovered from the canal and rescue workers continued to search for the missing, an officer at the Twante Police Station told Reuters.The double-decker carried about 30 passengers and a cargo of coconuts and bananas while the ferry had about 50 people on board when they crashed in the Twante Canal shortly before noon Saturday, the officer said.Marine accidents are common in river delta and coastal regions in military-ruled Myanmar.The collision was the second accident in less than two months. On March 24, 16 people were killed after a boat capsized near a river confluence about 30 miles southwest of Yangon. ************ ********* ********* ********* ********* ********Thursday May 10, 7:13 PMU.N. rights experts ask Myanmar to release Suu KyiGENEVA (Reuters) - Thirteen U.N. human rights experts called on Myanmar on Thursday to release Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, whose latest four-year detention term is due to end on May 27. Suu Kyi, one of the world's most famous campaigners, has been in prison or house arrest for 11 of the past 17 years without charge or trial. The U.N. experts, who include independent specialists on arbitrary detention, freedom of opinion and expression and Myanmar human rights, said junta leaders ought to release Suu Kyi and all other political prisoners unconditionally. "We believe this would give a significant sign of the government's will to initiate a genuine and effective transition towards democracy," they said in a statement released in Geneva. "The stability of Myanmar is not well served by the arrest and detention of several political leaders or by the severe and sustained restrictions on the exercise of civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights," they said. The former Burma has been under military rule since 1962. The military government ignored a 1990 landslide victory by Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party. She was meant to be freed last year, but those in charge of her detention extended it despite a direct appeal from then-U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan. His successor Ban Ki-moon has also urged Suu Kyi's release. Myanmar authorities have routinely rejected and disregarded criticism of their human rights policies by the U.N. General Assembly, U.N. rights monitors and world governments. ************ ********* ********* ********* ********* ********Sunday May 13, 3:40 PM16 Crew Missing After Ships CollideSEOUL, South Korea (AP) - Rescuers searched for 16 missing crew members of a South Korean cargo vessel that sank after colliding with a Chinese freighter in heavy fog in waters off northeast China, coast guard officials said Sunday. Chinese maritime authorities mobilized 22 boats and two helicopters for search and rescue operations, but no survivors or bodies have been found, said Yang Jong-ta, a South Korean coast guard official. "Two life rafts were found but no one was aboard," another coast guard official who identified himself only by his family name, Suh, told The Associated Press early Sunday after talking to Chinese maritime officials. Sixteen crew were on board the 3,800-ton Golden Rose when it sank around 4 a.m. Saturday, about 40 miles southeast of Dalian, Suh said. They included one Indonesian, seven South Koreans and eight from Myanmar. The crew of the Chinese ship _ the 4,800-ton JinSheng _ were unharmed and returned safely to Dalian, a coastal city in northeastern Liaoning province, where they reported the incident to Chinese authorities about seven hours after the collision, Yang said. South Korea's coast guard sent a telegram to Chinese maritime authorities demanding a thorough investigation into why there was a delay in reporting the accident, and proposing a joint rescue operation, Yang told the AP. Chinese maritime authorities told South Korean coast guard officials that they dispatched a rescue team to the site immediately after learning of the accident, but rejected a call for a joint rescue operation. The South Korean shipping company that manages the Golden Rose, Bukwang shipping Co., reported the accident to South Korea's Coast Guard on Saturday afternoon, Suh said. Chinese authorities blamed thick fog for the collision, he said. ************ ********* ********* ********* ********* ********The International Herald Tribune - Published: May 13, 2007Long-haired women face new threat of hair thieves in MyanmarThe Associated PressYANGON, Myanmar: Women in Myanmar not only have to watch out for pickpockets when they're commuting, shopping or walking down the street, but also hair thieves, a weekly journal reported Sunday.Long-haired women in crowded areas have fallen victim to surreptitious hair snippers who steal their hair to sell, the Burmese-language 24/7 news journal reported."My long hair was cut while I was on my way back from the office. I found out only when I got back home," an unidentified female bus commuter was quoted as saying.The woman said her friend's tresses were cut while she was walking down the street and she only noticed when some remaining strands fell. Another woman's hair was cut while she was shopping at a roadside store, the journal said.Many women in Myanmar have waist- or knee-length hair which they wear in a ponytail, making it easy for thieves to snip off the hair and sell it as extensions.Women are also approached by hair traders who ask to buy their long hair, the journal quoted the bus commuter as saying.The report said the price of hair has increased as demand for hair as an export or raw material rises. A viss (1.6 kilograms; 3.5 pounds) of hair is worth between 400,000 kyats (US$320; €235) and 500,000 kyats (US$400; €290), it said.************ ********* ********* ********* ********* ********India sells maritime aircraft to Myanmar Saturday May 12, 12:40 PM New Delhi, May 12 (IANS) The Indian Navy (IN) is in the process of transferring two BN-2 'Defender' Islander maritime surveillance aircraft to Myanmar, an add-on to the pair it had supplied the military junta in August 2006, as defence co-operation between them proliferates, UK's Jane's Defence Weekly reports. Quoting official sources, Jane's on Saturday said like the earlier two, the additional UK-built Islanders would be stripped of all armaments and deployed 'exclusively on relief and humanitarian missions'. The IN has around 13 remaining Islanders it acquired around 1976 and senior military planners do not rule out the possibility of providing Myanmar more in the 'near future', the respected defence magazine said. The IN Chief, Admiral Sureesh Mehta, who is on an official visit to Myanmar till May 13, is expected to finalise details of the Islander's hand-over during his four-day visit and clinch those relating to establishing a naval aviation training facility for the military regime. These two matters, amongst others relating to the transfer of Indian material to Myanmar, were discussed during the visits of its naval chief, Vice Admiral Soe Thane and Quartermaster General Lt Gen Thiha Thura Tin Aung Myint Oo to New Delhi in April. The navy's official spokesman declined to comment on the Islanders transfer but said Admiral Mehta's visit was aimed at 'constructive engagement and establishing co-operative mechanisms between the two navies'. The IN is anxious to keep the two Islander's transfer to Myanmar under wraps as Britain had opposed the ones supplied earlier to the military junta. The British claimed that it contravened the original sale contract that prohibits their transfer to a third party without prior clearance. India has recently stepped up strategic, diplomatic and economic ties with Myanmar agreeing to supply it varied military hardware like T 55 tanks, artillery guns, radar, assault rifles, light machine guns and ordnance. In exchange Delhi is seeking to jointly conduct military operations against anti-India separatist groups waging insurgency for decades from inside Myanmar in the contiguous north-eastern states of Assam, Nagaland and Manipur across the 1600 km long common border. By augmenting defence ties with Myanmar, India also hopes to dilute China's deepening military relations with that country. 'India has long ignored China and to some extent Pakistan's growing influence with Burma's military government at its peril and it is now looking to supersede it ' a senior military official told IANS. Pakistan and close military ally China, he added, were amongst the handful of countries which had disregarded international opinion and forged close military ties with Myanmar's military regime that seized power in 1988, cleverly complementing their strategy of encircling India. China is helping Burma modernise its naval bases at Hainggyi, the Coco's islands, Akyab and Mergui by building radar, refit and refuel facilities that could support Chinese submarine operations in the region. The Chinese are also believed to be establishing a Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) facility on the Coco's islands, 30 nautical mines from the Andaman islands, reportedly to monitor Indian missile tests off the Orissa coast, an activity that has proliferated after the 1998 nuclear tests. Pakistan, on the other hand, has been circumspect in fostering defence ties and quietly supplying Myanmar several shiploads of ordnance and other military hardware like 106 mm M 40 recoilless rifles and various small arms over the past decade. It also regularly trains Burmese soldiers to operate a slew of Chinese equipment like tanks, fighter aircraft, howitzers and tanks. Burmese military officers are believed to be regularly trained at Pakistan's Military Staff college at Quetta in Baluchistan province while others are reportedly learning how to operate 155 mm howitzers and tanks like the T 69, T 63 and T 53's which Rangoon recently acquired from China. Burmese air force and naval officers too are believed to be undergoing attending Pakistani defence academies. Meanwhile, Myanmar's intentions of vindicating the bargain and cracking down on Indian rebel bases was confirmed around end-April by Brigadier General Tin Maung Ohn who led an 18-member army delegation to north eastern India for talks with army and paramilitary commanders in Nagaland and Assam.'This is the first breakthrough, with Myanmar deciding to take proactive action against those Indian militants operating from their country,' Lt Gen Paramjit Singh, head of the paramilitary Assam Rifles engaged in anti-insurgency operations in the northeast, said.Despite pressure from the US, Britain and the European Union to shun Myanmar's military regime India has, since 2000 pursued a policy of 'constructive engagement' with its neighbour. Besides increasing military co-operation it is also building and upgrading roads in Myanmar, modernising its ports, setting up a hydroelectric station, a satellite communication centre and an elaborate information technology project.'Indian defence planners believe that Myanmar's military rulers entrench themselves more firmly every time the US and other Western powers put pressure on them in the UN and other world bodies. Engagement is a better way of dealing with them to secure Indian interests in Myanmar' former Brigadier Arun Sahgal of the United Service Institute said. ************ ********* ********* ********* ********* ********The Star Online - Sunday May 13, 2007Myanmar to launch polio vaccination campaign after new case detectedYANGON, Myanmar (AP): Myanmar will launch a polio immunization campaign after a toddler was found with the disease, the country's second case since it was declared free of the paralyzing illness seven years ago, a newspaper reported Sunday. The campaign, launched by the health ministry and the United Nation's Children's Fund, begins Monday in western and northwestern Myanmar following the detection of a polio virus last month in a 2 1/2-year-old boy in northwestern Rakhine state near the Bangladeshi border, the Myanmar Times reported Sunday. Health ministry official Dr. Than Htein Win was quoted as saying that the polio strain found in Rakhine state had never been detected in Myanmar before. It was similar to a strain previously found in neighboring Bangladesh, he said. "This is a situation in which the virus had been transmitted across the border from a neighboring country,'' the newspaper quoted the doctor as saying. Myanmar's health ministry and UNICEF will vaccinate more than 500,000 children under the age of five in 17 townships in western Rakhine and Chin State, the Myanmar Times reported, quoting Than Htein Win, the manager of the immunization program. A second round of vaccinations will be provided in June to 2.5 million children in Rakhine and Chin states, and in Magway, Ayeyarwaddy and western Bago divisions. A third round will provide repeat vaccinations to children in the same regions, the report said. The country's first polio case since February 2000 was detected in a 19-month-old boy from Pyin Oo Lwin near Mandalay in central Myanmar last June. Polio is spread when people -- mostly children under age five -- come into contact with the feces of those with the virus, often through water. The virus attacks the central nervous system, causing paralysis, muscular atrophy and deformation and, in some cases, death.************ ********* ********* ********* ********* ********People's Daily Online - May 13, 2007Malaysian academic exhibition to be held in MyanmarA Malaysian academic exhibition will be held in two major Myanmar cities of Yangon and Mandalay late this month, the official newspaper New Light of Myanmar reported Sunday. Jointly sponsored by Malaysia-based Winning Magnitude Sdn Bhd and Jenko Shwe Myin Educare Service of Myanmar, the exhibition will be held in Yangon on May 17-18 and in Mandalay on May 20, the report said. International education and significant strength of private- owned universities, colleges and international schools in Malaysia will be displayed at the event and information and facts will be available about 10 schools in Malaysia including University of Malaysia, University of Nottingham (Malaysia Campus) and Swinburne University (Sarawak Campus), the report added. Meanwhile, a 23-member Malaysian business delegation, led by Tan Sri Dato Soong Siew Hoong of the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers, is currently on a visit to Yangon. The delegation had talks with members of the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry on promoting trade between the two countries, bilateral cooperation and investment, the paper said in another report Sunday. Myanmar and Malaysia agreed in February 2004 to set up a joint commission for bilateral cooperation to promote the two countries' bilateral cooperation including economic and trade cooperation. According to official statistics, Malaysia stands as Myanmar's fourth largest foreign investor after Thailand, Singapore and United Kingdom with 660.75 million U.S. dollars contracted investment having been injected into Myanmar so far since late 1988, mostly in the sectors of oil and gas, hotel and engineering services. Figures also indicate that bilateral trade between Myanmar and Malaysia amounted to 233.3 million dollars in the fiscal year 2005- 06 with Myanmar's import from Malaysia standing at 140 million dollars and its export to Malaysia taking 93.3 million dollars. The bilateral trade volume for the first half (April-September) of 2006-07 was 90.01 million dollars with Myanmar's import from Malaysia at 52.6 million dollars and its export to Malaysia 37.41 million dollars. (Source: Xinhua)************ ********* ********* ********* ********* ********People's Daily Online - May 11, 2007Myanmar leader meets Indian navy chiefVice-Chairman of the Myanmar State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) Vice Senior-General Maung Aye met with visiting Indian Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Sureesh Mehta in Nay Pyi Taw Thursday, the state-run Myanmar Radio and Television reported in a night broadcast. Maung Aye is also deputy commander-in- chief of the Defense Services and commander-in- chief of the Army. No details about their meeting were disclosed by both sides. Sureesh, who leads an Indian naval delegation, arrived in the new Myanmar capital on Wednesday on a goodwill visit to Myanmar at the invitation of Commander-in- Chief of the Myanmar Navy Vice- Admiral Soe Thein. Sureesh is another Indian naval leader visiting Myanmar in nearly one and a half years after Admiral Arun Prakash, chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee and chief of staff of the Indian Navy, who came in January 2006. Before Arun's visit, two Indian warships called at the Yangon Port in December 2005 as part of India's efforts to forge closer ties with maritime nations including Myanmar in the Indian Ocean region. The warships, which comprise guided missile destroyer INS Ranjit and missile corvette ISN Kuthar, stayed in Myanmar for five days and had joint naval maneuvers with navy of the host nation. Earlier in January 2006, India also hosted its first major regional naval exercises off the Andaman and Nicobar island chain involving Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Thailand as well as Australia. In the border security affairs, Myanmar and India have resolved to strengthen cooperation in tackling insurgency, arms smuggling and drug trafficking in the areas. The Myanmar side has assured not to allow its territory to be used for anti-India activities. The two countries have also agreed to enhance cooperation in curbing terrorism and other illegal activities. (Source: Xinhua)************ ********* ********* ********* ********* ********People's Daily Online - May 10, 2007Construction of Asian highway Myanmar section to be continuedA ground survey is underway to continue to build another section of the Asian highway in Myanmar to stretch from Thingan Nyinaung to Kawkareik in southeastern Kayin state, the local Yangon Times reported Thursday. A prior section which extends from Myawaddy to Thingan Nyinaung in the state was completed with the assistance of Thailand last year. Connecting Thailand's Maesot, the Asian highway Myanmar section stretches as Myawaddy-Thingan Nyinaung-Kawkareik- Mawlamyine with a total length of about 1,400 kilometers (km). The present 40-km Thingan Nyinaung-Kawkareik section will be built also by Thailand through the low-lying areas of the Dawna mountain range after the 18-km prior section of Myawaddy-Thingan Nyinaung, the report said. Once the remaining 1,360-km section from Kawkareik to Mawlamyine, where a planned deep-sea port locates, is further built, it will provide a link to Europe through Asia's China, India and Thailand. The Myanmar section of roads are based on the existing ones and be upgraded to two to four lanes from single one and be durable to withstand 60 tons of load to meet the set standard according to an inter-governmental agreement to build the Asian highway signed in Shanghai, China, in April 2004 between 26 out of 32 member countries of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific. The Asian highway constitutes a network of 140,000 km of roads criss crossing the continent and linking up to Europe. The network, which will signify promotion of regional integration and cooperation, is expected to be completed by 2010. The highway plan was initiated by ESCAP in 1959 and revised at a meeting of 32 countries held in Bangkok in 2003. Meanwhile, the Asian highway sections also play an important role in connecting the East-West Economic Corridor Highway covered by the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS)- Economic Cooperation Program. The East-West economic corridor under the GMS program, links the South China Sea to the Bay of Bengal, that is from Vietnam's Danang Port in the East to Myanmar's Mawlamyine in the West. The Mawlamyine-Danang land route will take only 1,000 km whereas the sea route which passes through the Malacca Straits takes 4,000 km. The deep seaport project at Mawlamyine in Myanmar's southern Mon state, which will contribute to the development of the East- West corridor in terms of regional cross-border transportation and trade, has been underway. On completion of the project, Myanmar will become a key seaport in the GMS region and will benefit from being lying in the corridor. The development of the East-West economic corridor constitutes part of the strategic program for the current decade starting 2002 of the six GMS countries -- Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. The GMS economic cooperation program was initiated by the Asian Development Bank in 1992. Observers noted that Myanmar has been placing emphasis on road construction not only for the development of its economy but also for development of trade and economic cooperation with other countries. (Source: Xinhua)************ ********* ********* ********* ********* ********People's Daily Online - May 10, 2007South Korean company to implement e-citizens project for MyanmarA South Korean company will implement an e-citizens project for Myanmar after completion of a basic e-government project for the country, according to the Myanmar telecommunications authorities Thursday. Under a memorandum of understanding signed in Nay Pyi Taw on Tuesday between the state-run Myanmar Posts and Telecommunications and the Daewoo International Corporation of South Korea, Daewoo will undertake the project with the cooperation of Myanmar. The signing took place during a visit to the new capital by Daewoo President Young Won Kang and Korean EXIM Bank Chairman Cheon Sik Yang. The Korean delegation met with Myanmar Minister of Communications, Posts and Telegraphs Brigadier-General Thein Zaw on the day and discussions were made on cooperation between the two countries in the sector of communications, according to the sources. Daewoo along with another South Korean company, KCOMS, had implemented the basic e-government project for Myanmar under a 12- million-US-dollar contract which covered provision of information and communication technology infrastructure for the Myanmar government and linking of its 38 ministries to a high-speed internet network and computerizing of its document management system and personnel management system. So far, Myanmar has launched some e-government systems including e-visa, e-passport, e-procurement and e-D (departure) form to effect management of government bodies. Of them, the e-D form system was the latest introduced in last November for all travelers leaving the country to facilitate people across the nation in their process for exit after a passport is ready at hand. With a special website for e-D form purpose put up on the internet, the e-D form system is being directly administered by the ministry based in Nay Pyi Taw. Myanmar's e-government project is implemented under the e-ASEAN Framework Agreement signed at a regional summit in Singapore in 2000 with the aim of narrowing the IT gap among the ten members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Meanwhile, the authorities have projected to introduce 400 public internet service centers in 324 townships in the country within three years to facilitate communication links. According to the authorities, the number of internet users in Myanmar has reached to nearly 300,000, up from merely 12 four years ago. (Source: Xinhua)************ ********* ********* ********* ********* ********NhanDan Online. - May 12, 2007 Vietnam and Myanmar boost fisheries co-operationVietnam and Myanmar have agreed to work together to develop their mutual fisheries industries. An agreement cementing the new co-operation was reached following a visit to Myanmar by a Vietnamese delegation led by Minister of Fisheries Ta Quang Ngoc, from May 6-10.Fisheries officials from both countries exchanged views on the current state of their national industries and the Myanmar side made proposals on linking up on job training, stock production and the exchange of post harvest technology. The Vietnamese side made counterproposals on a joint venture fishing programme to be based in Myanmar's waters as well as in the promotion of fishery equipment trade. The Vietnamese delegation also invited Myanmar's Minister for Livestock and Fisheries, Maung Maung Thein to visit Vietnam for further discussions on fisheries development.Two-way annual trade between Vietnam and Myanmar has reached close to US $60 million. At a meeting of the Myanmar-Vietnam Joint Trade Committee held in Myanmar in February, the two sides agreed to strive to increase their bilateral trade to US $100 million by the 2007-2008 fiscal year.Vietnam mainly exports pharmaceuticals, fertiliser, chemicals, electrical equipment, plastics, garment materials and construction materials to Myanmar, while timber accounts for the majority of Myanmar's exports to Vietnam. (VNA)************ ********* ********* ********* ********* ********RigzoneInterra: Goldpetrol Abandons Myanmar Infill Well Thursday, May 10, 2007 Interra Resources Limited announced on 22 December 2006 that its jointly controlled entity, Goldpetrol Joint Operating Company Inc. had commenced drilling the last well of a three-well shallow infill program, well number CGP-05, at its Chauk oil field in Myanmar.Interra owns 60% of Goldpetrol ,which has a 100% interest in two Improved Petroleum Recovery contracts with the Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise ("MOGE") in respect of the Chauk and Yenangyaung oil fields in Myanmar. Goldpetrol is the operator of the fields.CGP-05 was drilled as a vertical well with the primary objective of testing the UL3300 and U3700 sands along with several secondary targets. It is located on the interpreted south flank of the northern fault block where there was a gap in drilling. Both of the primary objectives tested small amounts of gas with traces of oil. This was interpreted as being within the "gas invaded zone" (gas from the up dip gas cap) and as being a depleted reservoir. Consequently, the formation was not productive. Several other shallower zones were unsuccessfully tested. The well has now been plugged and abandoned.The well was drilled using Goldpetrol's Cooper LTO rig and operations were conducted jointly by Goldpetrol's staff and Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise's staff seconded to Goldpetrol. The rig has been moved off location and will be used in field production maintenance and enhancement operations. ************ ********* ********* ********* ********* ********New KeralaGAIL's project with Myanmar in troubleNew Delhi, May 9: State-run Gas Authority of India Ltd (Gail) Wednesday said its project with Myanmar to source 3.5 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) per annum has run into problems. "We have run into some problems with our Myanmar project, but we are still working on reviving it," U.D. Choubey, chairman and managing director, GAIL, told IANS. Last year, GAIL had bid for sourcing LNG as well as natural gas from Myanmar via a 1,573-km pipeline to India through the northeast.The company, which announced its financial results Wednesday, for fiscal 2006-07, registered a turnover of Rs.160.47 billion, a growth of 11 percent over 2005-06. It also recorded a net profit of Rs.238.67 billion in 2006-07 from Rs.231 billion in 2005-06. The firm during the financial year 2006-07 had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Mukesh Ambani-promoted Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) for cooperation in the gas sector. This included transportation of natural gas from the various gas sources of Reliance in the Krishna Godavari basin through an integrated pipeline network. "We are having good progress with RIL in transporting natural gas from the Krishna Godavari basin," said Choubey. GAIL said it plans to borrow Rs.25 billion by the end of this year in instalments over the next two years for its expansion projects, according to R.K. Goel, director of finance, GAIL. The company plans to invest Rs.180 billion within the current financial year to create new infrastructure, officials said. During 2006-07, GAIL also entered into an agreement with ONGC for transportation of gas from ONGC fields on the eastern coast of India.************ ********* ********* ********* ********* ********Bangladesh police arrest Burmese spyNyein Chan Mizzima News (www.mizzima. com )May 12, 2007 - A suspected Burmese spy, collecting information on Bangladesh border troops and activities of Burmese opposition in exile, was arrested by Bangladesh authorities on May 8.Harbi Rorarman (24) was arrested by the police from a house in Cox's Bazaar for allegedly spying for the Burmese military junta.On interrogation Harbi told the Cox's Bazaar police that he has been working for Nasaka, Burma's border security force. The alleged spy has been transferred to the intelligence department for further interrogation, said a police officer.The detainee is a native of Phonleik village in Buthidaung Township, Arakan State, western Burma, said a source close to Bangladesh intelligence.If found guilty he is likely to be sentenced to between five and 10 years in prison. Two informers working for the Burmese Army were arrested on January 2007 and this is the second arrest this year.************ ********* ********* ********* ********* ********Burmese labourers to file forced labour claimMay 10, 2007 (DVB)—More than 100 Naypyidaw construction workers are planning to file a complaint with the International Labour Organization, claiming the In Arr Htet company failed to pay them more than 3.6 million kyats-worth of wages.A laywer with the Guiding Star group, which provides legal aid to farmers and labourers, U Aye Myint, told DVB the In Arr Htet company hired engineer Ko Moe Kyaw Latt two months ago to head the construction of three buildings in Burma's new capital.After hiring more than 100 workers and starting construction, the company called off the project and refused to pay any wages to Ko Moe Kyaw Latt or the hired construction workers.Ko Moe Kyaw Latt reportedly filed a complaint over the incident with the Ministry for Labour on April 25 but no action was taken. U Aye Myint said the workers responded by occupying the former construction site in protest."If grassroots people in Burma, such as the workers and farmers are insulted, they shouldn;t just feel dejected. They should report it . . . We won't just stand by," U Aye Myint said.As the ILO does not comment on individual claims of labour rights violations it is unclear if the group will accept the case.************ ********* ********* ********* ********* ********Ninth-grader recruited by Burmese militaryMay 10, 2007 (DVB)—A young boy aged between 14 and 15 from Rangoon's North Okkalapa township was forcibly recruited into the Burmese military last month after leaving his home to visit his aunt.The boy, who can not be named, was taken off the street by a soldier from the 435th Infantry Regiment on April 23, according to his mother Daw Nu Nu Htway."[After they took him] we went to the military unit of that soldier but we weren't allowed to meet his commander. The guard at the gates told us that age didn't matter," Daw Nu Nu Htway said."We went to the recruitment centre . . . and it turned out our son was inside. We were able to send him some snacks and books and they let my son write us a letter back."The boy remains in military custody and has not been allowed to see his parents, according to his family. It is not the first time a son of Daw Nu Nu Htway has been forcibly recruited into the military."Our older son once ran away from home when he was a ninth grader. He and his two friends arrived to Phayagyi train station in Bago and they were threatened by a soldier to join the army or else they would be sent into a prison," Daw Nu Nu Htway said."So they got frightened and had agreed to join the army. We followed to Bago immediately and requested their captain to let our sons go. They were let go after we had agreed to pay 20,000 kyats for each one of them."The recruitment of child soldiers is unlawful under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and also violates child labour laws set down by the International Labour Organization.