NLD BASHING TRUMPS COUNTERDRUG SUCCESSES

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 RANGOON 000576 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR EAP/MLS; PACOM FOR FPA E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/06/2016 TAGS: PGOV SNAR BM SUBJECT: NLD BASHING TRUMPS COUNTERDRUG SUCCESSES REF: RANGOON 530 RANGOON 00000576 001.2 OF 002 Classified By: P/E Chief W. Patrick Murphy for Reasons 1.4 (b,d) ¶1. (C) Summary: According to attendees at an April 26 drug burn in eastern Shan State, the GOB's Minister of Information and other senior officials hijacked the law enforcement event to pursue an ongoing political campaign to paint exile groups as terrorists and to denigrate recent efforts by the National League for Democracy to seek a dialogue with the regime. Contrary to international media reports, the GOB did not link the NLD directly to acts of terrorism, although the Information Minister claimed the NLD has connections with unnamed terrorists and the GOB has "firm evidence to declare the NLD unlawful." He added that the GOB still permits the NLD to operate as a legal party, and NLD leaders told us they have no particular concerns about their current status. End Summary. ¶2. (C) The GOB hosted a drug burn and press conference on Wednesday April 26 in Kentung, eastern Shan State. According to GOB sources, the Ministry of Home Affairs had planned the drug burn to showcase several massive drug seizures and recent counternarcotcs law enforcement successes. However, diplomatic attendees, including the Embassy's DEA chief, observed that Minister of Information Brig Gen Kyaw Hsan and other senior GOB officials essentially hijacked the event, using the opportunity to pursue an ongoing campaign to paint exile groups as terrorists. ¶3. (C) Diplomats told us that the event was "a boring waste of time" and that the GOB offered nothing new. The political portion of the event, delivered in Burmese with a poor English translation, prolonged the agony several hours beyond its scheduled conclusion. ¶4. (SBU) In his opening statement, the Information Minister delivered a standard regime diatribe against various insurgents and exile groups. As the GOB has been doing for months, he specifically cited as "unlawful associations" the insurgent army SSA-South and the Thailand-based exile groups NCGUB, FTUB, ABSDF, NDD, and the NLD-Liberated Areas (NLD-LA). He accused these organizations of committing alleged acts of terrorism, sabotage, and other "above ground and underground" attacks. ¶5. (SBU) Contrary to international media reports on the press conference, a GOB-provided copy of Kyaw Hsan's statement revealed no indication that the GOB had directly linked the National League for Democracy (NLD),Burma's leading pro-democracy opposition party, to acts of terrorism. Several media sources apparently confused the Thailand-based NLD-LA with the NLD. ¶6. (SBU) Nonetheless, Kyay Hsan did not ignore the NLD. He used the press conference as a means to denigrate the party's February and April statements seeking dialogue (reftel), which he characterized as "above ground attacks." He stated that "No dialogue is possible with the NLD, which is no longer winning the public trust and not representing the people." As evidence of the NLD's alleged misdeeds, he reported that "diplomats of the embassies of foreign masters" had visited NLD headquarters 51 times in March. ¶7. (SBU) The GOB's New Light of Myanmar (NLM) published on April 28 summary transcripts of a mostly scripted Q&A session at the press conference. The transcripts underscored confusion over the distinction between the NLD and the NLD-LA. During the Q&A session, BG Kyaw Hsan also claimed the NLD has connections with unnamed terrorists. NLD leaders told us on April 27 that they have no reason to suspect that the GOB has immediate plans to de-register the party. RANGOON 00000576 002.2 OF 002 ¶8. (U) Begin text of relevant portion of NLM transcript: --(Question by U Ko Ko of Yumiyuri Shinbum) "Officials said that the government has no plans to hold a dialogue with the NLD concerning the party's special announcements issued on 12 February and 21 April. The minister also explained the NLD's connections with foreign organizations. Recently the government also announced the three organizations including the NLD(LA) as terrorist groups. Has the government any plans to take further actions against the NLD?" --(Answer by Minister Brig-Gen Kyaw Hsan) "I have already explained that the NLD has been continuously following the wrong policy of defiance of authority, confrontation, utter devastation, sanctions, and relying on aliens that never benefits the nation. NLD has connections with expatiate groups, terrorists and destructive groups. The government has firm evidence to declare the NLD unlawful. But the government assessing the situation from all view points and exercising tolerance and patience and farsightedness still permits the NLD to stand as a legal party." End text. ¶9. (C) Comment: DEA's Burmese police sources are "annoyed" that the GOB's political message overshadowed the law enforcement message. Authorities at the event destroyed 28 different categories of illicit drugs and chemicals, including 126 kilos of heroin and opium and 1,523 kilos of methamphetamine tablets. The most interesting part of the GOB's newspaper account of the press conference was the publication of various regime shortcomings identified by the NLD on April 21 (reftel). Thus, the GOB credited the NLD with making what we consider legitimate charges. One way or the other, the truth can get out, if read carefully. End Comment. VILLAROSA