|
|
|
Last Updated: Jun 30, 2009 - 8:18:55 AM |
New images have emerged that show North Korean and other foreign
advisers in Burma consulting
with officials on what now appears to be an extensive network of some
800 underground tunnels across much of the country.
While rife government corruption and uneven development in Burma
yesterday awarded Burma a spot at the bottom of Foreign Policy
magazine’s Failed States Index, billions of US dollars are now known to
have been channeled by the Burmese government into building the tunnels.
DVB has been tracking the development of the tunnels and underground
installations in Burma for a number of years. This is the first in a
series of DVB stories revealing the secretive tunnel project.
Evidence has been obtained that shows between 600 and 800 tunnels in
various stages of construction, with work on some sections dating as
far back as 1996.
Photographs of a number of tunnel sites clearly show North Korean
advisers present. In one photograph of a work site at Pyinmanar Taung
Nyo, dated 29 May 2006, North Korean advisers are seen training Burmese
soldiers and technicians in tunnel construction.
Several government budget files also show evidence of foreign aid and
loans being used to fund construction work.
A number of senior Burmese officials have been dismissed in recent days
following the first publication of DVB’s tunnel photographs in the Yale
Global Online on 8 June.
The military government has launched an investigation into how details
of such a sensitive project were leaked, with associates of former
intelligence chief Lieutenant General Khin Nyunt being questioned by
police.
Further intelligence documents obtained by DVB show that the tunnel
system is being disguised by the government as a fibre optic cable
installation project.
Leaked engineering designs show, however, that some sections of the
tunnels are wide enough to allow trucks to enter and leave. There is
also storage space for food and weaponry, and separate rooms that would
hold around 600 personnel for several months.
The documents also reveal plans to hold large rockets and satellite
communication command centers inside the tunnels.
Although the financially weak Burmese government is thought to allocate
some 40 per cent of its budget for military purposes, the tunnel
project over the course of 13 years has likely run into the billions.
Some observers have speculated that the abrupt hike in fuel prices that
sparked the September 2007 protests may have been a prelude to securing
extra capital for the project.
Likewise, Burma struck a deal with China in April this year to siphon
its vast offshore natural gas reserves to China’s energy hungry
population, a venture that will have given the tunnel project an
important boost.
Speculation that Burma is trading in military hardware with North Korea
was reinforced on Monday with reports that a North Korean freighter
ship believed to be carrying arms was headed in the direction of Burma.
Despite only reestablishing diplomatic ties in 2007, following North
Korea’s bombing of a South Korean delegation in Rangoon in 1983, the
two countries share characteristics that make them obvious allies.
According to journalist and expert on North Korea-Burma relations,
Bertil Lintner, both countries have “absolutely no interest” in
supporting respective UN arms embargoes.
Indeed, North Korea is one of the few countries willing to continue
military trade with the pariah state, with “even China…reluctant to
sell certain types of equipment to Burma”, according to Lintner.
Perhaps most worryingly for countries outside of Burma’s friendship
group, it has renewed an alliance with a country that is rapidly
becoming the icon of a new generation of ‘rogue states’ threatening
nuclear warfare.
With this in mind, speculation will likely start to circulate as to
whether the tunnel network could be linked to rumours that Burma is
mining uranium ore, a key ingredient for nuclear fission. No evidence
has yet appeared to verify this, however.
In our next story we will reveal the purpose of these tunnels, foreign
involvement in the project and what is inside the tunnels.
Source:Ocnus.net 2009
Top of Page
|
|
|
|