Myanmar seeking nuclear weapons

[TopCat]

Documents smuggled out of Myanmar by an army defector indicate its military regime is trying to develop nuclear weapons and long-range missiles, and North Korea is probably assisting the program, an expatriate media group said Friday.


The Norway-based Democratic Voice of Burma said the defector had been involved in the nuclear program and smuggled out extensive files and photographs describing experiments with uranium and specialised equipment needed to build a nuclear reactor and develop enrichment capabilities.


But the group concluded in a report that Myanmar is still far from producing a nuclear weapon.


On Thursday, US Senator Jim Webb announced he was postponing a trip to Myanmar because of new allegations that it was collaborating with North Korea to develop a nuclear program.


Webb, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on East Asia and Pacific Affairs, referred to documents provided by a Myanmar army defector.


Myanmar's military government has denied similar allegations in the past, but suspicions have mounted recently that the impoverished Southeast Asian nation has embarked on a nuclear program.


Myanmar's junta, which has been condemned worldwide for its human rights abuses, has no hostile neighbours. The military's prime concern is suppressing dissidents at home and battling several small-scaled insurgencies.


Last month, UN experts monitoring sanctions imposed against North Korea over its nuclear and missile tests said their research indicated it was involved in banned nuclear and ballistic missile activities in Iran, Syria and Myanmar, which is also called Burma.


The DVB report said Russia has also trained Myanmar technicians in nuclear and missile technology.


The group, which operates Oslo-based television and radio stations, said the defector, Sai Thein Win, was an army major who was trained in Myanmar as a defense engineer and later in Russia as a missile expert. It said he had access to secret Myanmar nuclear facilities including a nuclear battalion north of Mandalay "charged with building up a nuclear weapons capability."


It said the documents it obtained were examined by Robert Kelley, an American nuclear scientist and former director in the International Atomic Energy Agency who concluded that Myanmar "is probably mining uranium and exploring nuclear technology that is only useful for weapons."


The group said its report was based on a five-year study that indicated that North Korea was involved in assisting the program.


Documents obtained earlier showed that North Korea was helping Myanmar dig a series of underground facilities and develop missiles with a range of up to 3,000 kilometers (1,860 miles).


The group said the documents obtained from the defector show a number of components used in nuclear weapons and missile technology, including a missile fuel pump impeller, chemical engineering equipment that can be used to make compounds used in uranium enrichment, and nozzles used to separate uranium isotopes into bomb materials.


"The total picture is very compelling. Burma is trying to build pieces of a nuclear program, specifically a nuclear reactor to make plutonium and a uranium enrichment program," the report said

http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/latest_news.php?nid=24066

 

[TopCat]

It will be fun

 

[Nahraf]

Myanmar 'nuclear plans' exposed - Asia-Pacific - Al Jazeera English

Myanmar 'nuclear plans' exposed
Defectors say Myanmar's military is pushing ahead with efforts to aquire nuclear weapons [EPA]

An investigation by an anti-government Myanmar broadcaster has found evidence that it says shows the country's military regime has begun a programme to develop nuclear weapons.

Journalists from the Norway-based Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) have been gathering information about secret military projects in Myanmar for years.

But they say recent revelations from a former army officer show that the military government is pushing ahead with ambitions to become a nuclear power.

The allegations are contained in a special documentary produced by the DVB being aired by Al Jazeera.

On Thursday evening, shortly before the film was due to be broadcast, US Senator Jim Webb announced he was postponing his scheduled trip to Myanmar in response to allegations in the documentary.

"They really want a bomb, that is their main objective"

Sai Thein Win,
former Myanmar army major

"Until there is further clarification on these matters, I believe it would be unwise and potentially counterproductive for me to visit Burma," Webb, who is the Democratic chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee Subcommittee on East Asia and Pacific Affairs, told reporters in Bangkok.

Burma is the former name of Myanmar.

Webb had been due to fly to Myanmar late on Thursday for talks with detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and senior officials in the country's reclusive military junta.

Defector speaks out

The producers of the DVB documentary say evidence of Myanmar's nuclear programme has come from top-secret material smuggled out of the country over several years, including hundreds of files and other evidence provided by Sai Thein Win, a former major in Myanmar's army.
On Al Jazeera

The film Myanmar's military ambitions can be seen on Al Jazeera from Friday, June 4, at the following times (GMT):

Friday: 0600; Saturday: 1900; Sunday: 0300; Monday: 1400; Tuesday: 0530; Wednesday: 1900; Thursday: 0300.

Sai Thein Win says he was deputy commander of a highly classified military factory that was the headquarters of the army's nuclear battalion.

But he says he decided to defect and bring top-secret evidence of the project with him.

"They really want a bomb, that is their main objective," he says in the film.

"They want to have the rockets and nuclear warheads."

His smuggled files were shown to Robert Kelley, the former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), who told the producers they showed clear indications of a programme to build atomic weapons.

"It appears it is a nuclear weapons program because there is no conceivable use for this for nuclear power or anything like that," he says.

Suspicions

However other experts like John Isaacs, executive director of the Washington-based Centre for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, are not ready to make a definitive conclusion yet.
Photos and other documents show equipment used in the alleged nuclear programme [DVB]

"I would say there are a lot of suspicions," Adams told the DVB. "But it's hard to say there's actual proof of what Myanmar's trying to do."

Sai Thein Win says he decided to defect after seeing a previous report by the DVB about the Myanmar regime's extensive network of secret underground bunkers and tunnels.

The broadcaster gathered thousands of photos and more defector testimony, claiming some of the tunnels are used as command posts, while others – some are large as two football fields – are used for storing secret weapons and equipment to protect them from aerial bombardment.

The tunnels have allegedly been built with the help of expertise from North Korea – a link that has drawn growing international attention.

'Bunker mentality'

Aung Zaw, an exiled Myanmar journalist and editor of the Thailand-based magazine Irrawaddy, told Al Jazeera there was substantial evidence Myanmar had been buying conventional weapons and missiles from North Korea, but the secret nature of the ruling regime makes it very difficult to get at the truth.
A network of tunnels and bunkers is allegedly being built with North Korean help [DVB]

"They live in a bunker mentality," he said of the ruling generals.

"They live in fear of an invasion by the West - that's why they relocated the capital to central Burma."

A recent UN report on the sanctions against North Korea banning nuclear and ballistic missile activities, found what it called "suspicious activity in Myanmar" and experts say that might build up the case for an IAEA inspection.

"In many ways North Korea is a parallel to Burma," the Centre for Arms Control's John Isaacs says in the DVB film.

"It's a poor country with a weak economy and starvation at home, and yet they manage to gather resources to build a nuclear weapon."

The DVB investigation agrees, but also points out it was not that long ago when few people imagined that countries like North Korea, Iran and Pakistan would also become nuclear powers.

 

[Al-zakir]

Why is it in BD defence section?????

 

[leonblack08]

I saw the exclusive Al-zazeera report on this issue today.These guys are sending military officers to Russia to study rockets and nuclear for last one decade.

The major who fled Burma with all the secret photographs,revealed some stunning facts.I will post the videos later on.

 

[leonblack08]

Why is it in BD defence section?????

The Burmese are financing their missile programs with gas money.And we have a dispute with them on this matter.So we should keep a close eye on their military development.

 

[IBRIS]

Burma's Nuclear Ambitions - 43min Documentary

Myanmar drops a nuclear 'bombshell'
Asia Times Online :: Southeast Asia news - Myanmar drops a nuclear 'bombshell'

 

[leonblack08]

Myanmar 'nuclear plans' exposed


An investigation by an anti-government Myanmar broadcaster has found evidence that it says shows the country's military regime has begun a programme to develop nuclear weapons.

Journalists from the Norway-based Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) have been gathering information about secret military projects in Myanmar for years.

But they say recent revelations from a former army officer show that the military government is pushing ahead with ambitions to become a nuclear power.

The allegations are contained in a special documentary produced by the DVB being aired by Al Jazeera.

On Thursday evening, shortly before the film was due to be broadcast, US Senator Jim Webb announced he was postponing his scheduled trip to Myanmar in response to allegations in the documentary.

"They really want a bomb, that is their main objective"

Sai Thein Win,
former Myanmar army major

"Until there is further clarification on these matters, I believe it would be unwise and potentially counterproductive for me to visit Burma," Webb, who is the Democratic chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee Subcommittee on East Asia and Pacific Affairs, told reporters in Bangkok.

Burma is the former name of Myanmar.

Webb had been due to fly to Myanmar late on Thursday for talks with detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and senior officials in the country's reclusive military junta.

Defector speaks out

The producers of the DVB documentary say evidence of Myanmar's nuclear programme has come from top-secret material smuggled out of the country over several years, including hundreds of files and other evidence provided by Sai Thein Win, a former major in Myanmar's army.
On Al Jazeera

The film Myanmar's military ambitions can be seen on Al Jazeera from Friday, June 4, at the following times (GMT):

Friday: 0600; Saturday: 1900; Sunday: 0300; Monday: 1400; Tuesday: 0530; Wednesday: 1900; Thursday: 0300.

Sai Thein Win says he was deputy commander of a highly classified military factory that was the headquarters of the army's nuclear battalion.

But he says he decided to defect and bring top-secret evidence of the project with him.

"They really want a bomb, that is their main objective," he says in the film.

"They want to have the rockets and nuclear warheads."

His smuggled files were shown to Robert Kelley, the former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), who told the producers they showed clear indications of a programme to build atomic weapons.

"It appears it is a nuclear weapons program because there is no conceivable use for this for nuclear power or anything like that," he says.

Suspicions

However other experts like John Isaacs, executive director of the Washington-based Centre for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, are not ready to make a definitive conclusion yet.
Photos and other documents show equipment used in the alleged nuclear programme [DVB]

"I would say there are a lot of suspicions," Adams told the DVB. "But it's hard to say there's actual proof of what Myanmar's trying to do."

Sai Thein Win says he decided to defect after seeing a previous report by the DVB about the Myanmar regime's extensive network of secret underground bunkers and tunnels.

The broadcaster gathered thousands of photos and more defector testimony, claiming some of the tunnels are used as command posts, while others – some are large as two football fields – are used for storing secret weapons and equipment to protect them from aerial bombardment.

The tunnels have allegedly been built with the help of expertise from North Korea – a link that has drawn growing international attention.

'Bunker mentality'

Aung Zaw, an exiled Myanmar journalist and editor of the Thailand-based magazine Irrawaddy, told Al Jazeera there was substantial evidence Myanmar had been buying conventional weapons and missiles from North Korea, but the secret nature of the ruling regime makes it very difficult to get at the truth.

A network of tunnels and bunkers is allegedly being built with North Korean help [DVB]

"They live in a bunker mentality," he said of the ruling generals.

"They live in fear of an invasion by the West - that's why they relocated the capital to central Burma."

A recent UN report on the sanctions against North Korea banning nuclear and ballistic missile activities, found what it called "suspicious activity in Myanmar" and experts say that might build up the case for an IAEA inspection.

"In many ways North Korea is a parallel to Burma," the Centre for Arms Control's John Isaacs says in the DVB film.

"It's a poor country with a weak economy and starvation at home, and yet they manage to gather resources to build a nuclear weapon."

The DVB investigation agrees, but also points out it was not that long ago when few people imagined that countries like North Korea, Iran and Pakistan would also become nuclear powers.


Myanmar 'nuclear plans' exposed - Asia-Pacific - Al Jazeera English

 

[oct605032048]

it will end up in failure.

 

[leonblack08]

Burma's Nuclear Ambitions - 43min Documentary

Thanks for posting..I was about to post it.

 

[leonblack08]

it will end up in failure.

Amen to that....the world will be a much safer place then.

 

[mijanur]

Amen to that....the world will be a much safer place then.

yuppp

 

[T-Faz]

Pakistan can help them, we have great capabilities in providing such countries with nuclear technology, well us and Israel but we will give them a 5% discount.

Contact GOP for more info.

 

[IBRIS]

Pakistan can help them, we have great capabilities in providing such countries with nuclear technology, well us and Israel but we will give them a 5% discount.

Contact GOP for more info.

Myanmar's close contacts with Pakistan have also recently come under diplomatic scrutiny. Western diplomats based in Islamabad say they are convinced that the junta's desire to acquire nuclear know-how has been a central focus of the budding bilateral relationship. Pakistani officials have fervently denied that they are in any way abetting Myanmar's nuclear ambitions. But widespread rumors that two Pakistani nuclear scientists accused of nuclear proliferation were given sanctuary in Myanmar in 2003 still linger.
Asia Times Online :: Southeast Asia news - Myanmar drops a nuclear 'bombshell'

 

[no_name]

Guy in the pic in the first post is same as first guy in video of post 7.

Also when you interview someone you should state on camera who he is, or have a caption, makes it more credible that way