G-8 nations pledge continued aid for Myanmar; Junta reshuffles cabinet and top military posts
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    • The foreign ministers of the Group of Eight (G-8) industrialized countries - United States, Japan, Germany, France, Britain, Italy, Russia and Canada - in a joint statement issued during the two-day meeting ending in Kyoto on June 27 pledged to continue aid for reconstruction. They however called on the Myanmarese authorities to improve transparency in its receipt of international help, as well as for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners1.

    The ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) meanwhile reshuffled two cabinet positions and elevated the navy’s commander-in-chief to a ministerial post. State-run radio and television announced on June 20 that the SPDC reshuffled Maj. Gen. Maung Maung Swe, Maj. Gen. Saw Lwin, and Vice Adm. Soe Thein. While Maung Maung Swe would continue to act as the minister for social welfare, relief and resettlement, he would no longer head the ministry of immigration and population. The change was apparently made to allow him to concentrate on relief and resettlement efforts in the wake of Cyclone Nargis. Saw Lwin will take over as minister of immigration and population, leaving his previous post as minister for industry. Adm. Soe Thein has been named the new minister for industry2. Further, reports noted that the SPDC has reshuffled its military commanders. The chiefs of four of the junta’s six Bureaus of Special Operations (BSOs) were also retired3.

    Meanwhile, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODOC) in a new report entitled World Drug Report 2008 released on June 26 noted that illicit cultivation of opium and coca in Myanmar - the raw materials for heroin and cocaine, has risen by 29 per cent. The UN report noted that most of the production was in the southern Shan state, where rebels were seeking autonomy4. In other developments, Myanmar has signed an $87 million loan agreement with India5.

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