Update: KIA Under Heavy Attack Near Headquarters By SAW YAN NAING / THE IRRAWADDY| December 28, 2012 |

Five jet fighters and two helicopters gunships have launched heavy attacks against the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) in Lajayang region, about 11 kilometers from Laiza, where the rebel group makes its headquarters on the Sino-Burma border, according to local sources.

Making Friends with Foes? By KYAW ZWA MOE / THE IRRAWADDY| December 30, 2012 |

Making friends with enemies always entails an element of risk that the reverse might occur. In politics, that means losing allies and supporters and perhaps even being deemed a traitor to your cause. Although indeed risky, this is the current approach undertaken by both Myanmar’s opposition leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and reformist President U Thein Sein.
Why should these two former foes—captive and captor—become friends? Various reasons: to rebuild the nation; avoid reversing recent tentative reforms; reconcile the government, opposition and ethnic groups; lift international sanctions; and win the 2015 election.
The motives of each might differ, but the more important question concerns what the people of Myanmar will gain out of this new tactic.

Shinggyim Sak hkrung lam

Eskimo Masha ni a asak Hkrung lam 1949

cormorants hkaipyet myu myi hte Nga Hkwi

Ma Hta Galang Bum Bainam Dun Sha

Kachin State Safe for By-elections: KIO

By LAWI WENG
The Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) has promised that it will not interrupt Sunday’s by-elections and is even willing to help Burma’s main opposition party ensure security in Kachin State, according a statement released on Wednesday.

Burma: An End to Civil War?

Foreign investors are among the observers anxiously watching events unfold in Burma, monitoring the new government's program of reforms, trying to lipread government officials and foreign diplomats for indications that economic sanctions might soon be lifted.