Saturday June 20, 2009, 4:55 am
Than Shwe has not forgotten the last time he released Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest, in 2002, in the mistaken belief that Western sanctions would be eased in return.
They were not and she was greeted as a national saviour, mobbed by huge crowds as she travelled around the country. A year later, dozens of her supporters had been killed or jailed by military-backed thugs, and she was back under house arrest.

That is why there is a clause in the military-drafted constitution barring anyone "who enjoys the rights and privileges of a foreign citizen" from running for office - Ms Suu Kyi, through her marriage to the late British academic Michael Aris, falls into that category.
There was never much realistic hope that she would be released before the election. A criminal conviction now would disqualify her from contesting the election even as a candidate. The chances are she will still be in custody when it takes place.

So what about afterwards?
Once the generals have, in their own view, consigned the 1990 election to the history books by holding an election they are more or less guaranteed to win, perhaps then they will have the confidence to release Aung San Suu Kyi.
And perhaps, once Than Shwe, who is 76 and often in poor health, has left the scene, Burma may see a gradual softening of its repressive political climate. But no-one is counting on it.

Monday June 22, 2009, 8:27 am
Suspicious N. Korean Ship to Dock in Burma Soon (Irrawaddy)
"The same ship docked at the port in 2004, at that time raising suspicions about the nature of its cargo. Speculation centered on convention arms, missiles or some type of nuclear weaponry."
More:
http://www.irrawaddy.org/highlight.php?art_id=16150

Monday June 22, 2009, 8:33 am
Russia Rejects Pressuring Burma (Irrawaddy)
The Russia Foreign Ministry Department in Moscow has rejected using political and economic pressure to influence the Burmese government, said Moscow’s Itar-Tass Russian News Agency on Sunday.

According to the news website, www. itar-tass.com, the Russia Foreign Ministry Department said that Russia opposed attempts to internationalize the internal situation in Burma as it did not endanger peace and security in the region or in the world at large.
“In our opinion, the political and economic pressure on that country is counterproductive, as it enhances isolationist feelings of the Myanmar military and exacerbates the [poor] socioeconomic position of citizens,” the department said.
More:
http://www.irrawaddy.org/index.php
A Russian diplomat in Thailand, who participated at the forum on Burma held at Chulalongkorn University on the anniversary of Aung San Suu Kyi’s 64th birthday on Friday, June 19, said, “We don’t see Burma as a threat and danger to world security.”
He also rejected Burmese activists’ calls on the UN to isolate the Burmese military government from the world.

Tuesday June 23, 2009, 3:25 am
Like all brutal dictatorships the one which sends shivers down their spines is truth and the mention of democracy.The one thing that all dictatorships lack is any sense of accountability, they are terribly afraid of any scutiny of their actions thats why everything is done in secret.they are I am convinced in denial of the undisputable proof that Suu Kyi will in the end triemph over these wicked unprincipled monsters.

Tuesday June 23, 2009, 3:55 am
Cyberattack on 64forSuu.org
Media Release From 64forSuu.org

64forSuu.org, the website which features messages of support for Burma’s democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi on her 64th birthday, faced a cyberattack on Friday 19th June. The attack is likely to have been by the Burmese dictatorship, which has previously attacked Burma related websites.

Aung San Suu Kyi spent her 14th birthday in detention on Friday, and the website has received more than 15,000 messages of support, including from U2, George Clooney, Paul McCartney, and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. It has generated thousands of media articles.

The attack happened just after 8pm on Friday 19th June, and the site was down for 20 minutes. No information was lost and no data compromised. The attack was a highly sophisticated one, attempting to bring down the website by an indirect method to avoid the existing security measures used to protect the site. For security reasons we cannot reveal more details about the attack.

In recent years, websites run by Burmese exiles which report on Burma, such as www.irrawaddy.org, www.mizzima.com, and www.dvb.no, have come under attack. Analysis by the Burma Campaign UK indicated these attacks originated in Burma. With the dictatorship’s tight control over the internet, it would be impossible for these attacks to happen without their authorisation.

“The dictatorship is now trying to censor at an international level,” said Johnny Chatterton, Project Manager at 64for.org. “They censor information in Burma, and arrest those who support Aung San Suu Kyi. Now they are trying to silence those around the world who support her. They won’t succeed. The attack was quickly identified and dealt with.”

64forSuu.org was created by Burma Campaign UK, US Campaign for Burma, Open Society Institute, Not On Our Watch, Amnesty International, Avaaz, English Pen, Trade Union Congress, Christian Solidarity Worldwide, Human Rights Watch, Norwegian Burma Committee, Burma Campaign Australia, Burma Info Japan, Info Birmanie (France), Burma Action Ireland, Article 19, International Peace Bureau (IPB), People in Peril (Slovakia), The Free Burma Campaign (South Africa), Austrian Burma Center, People in Need (Czech Republic), Altsean-Burma, Swedish Burma Committee, Freedom Now, and Forum of Burmese in Europe.
http://64forsuu.blogspot.com/2009/06/cyberattack-on-64forsuuorg.html

Wednesday June 24, 2009, 12:45 pm
Police patrol Rangoon, security tightened near Insein prison (Mizzima)
There is heightened security in Rangoon with at least 30 army trucks with uniformed riot police personnel, patrolling the city on Wednesday.

The army trucks are each carrying at least 20 policemen and are patrolling various townships of Rangoon, eyewitnesses said.
“We can see about 30 to 40 army trucks carrying uniformed policemen patrolling the city. It looks like they are on high alert. They also have machine guns mounted on the trucks. They came to our township at about 3 p.m. (local time),” an eyewitness from Insein Township told Mizzima.
“Earlier, when they patrolled like they are doing now, the police would carry shields but today they had a policeman standing on the truck with a machine gun mounted on the hood,” he added.

Another local resident said he had seen about three army trucks, full of riot police, patrolling downtown Rangoon near the City Hall, which is one of the busiest places in town.
“They had the trucks covered with shields and had batons and guns in their hands,” he said.
A source near the Insein prison told Mizzima that the riot police No. (8) have been relocated and repositioned near the Insein prison.

Some of the townships, where eyewitnesses saw army trucks patrolling include San Chuang and Dagon South.
The reason for the sudden tightening of security, however, remains unknown but some believe it could be because of the United Nations special envoy Ibrahim Gambari, who reportedly is planning to visit the country later this week.
http://www.mizzima.com/

Thursday June 25, 2009, 12:14 pm
Thanks, Ben.