Taifreedom

Junta chief Sen-Gen Than Shwe kicked off his five-day state visit to China on Tuesday just weeks ahead of Burma's planned elections on Nov. 7.

The Burmese military government has mobilized hundreds of soldiers into areas near the Sino-Burmese border controlled by armed ethnic groups, including the United Wa State Army (USDA), the National Democratic Alliance Army (NDAA), the Shan State Army (SSA-North) and the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO).

The Burmese Army has imposed travel restrictions on the Kachin Independence Organisation, a source in the ethnic group says.

Two young men were shot dead in a dispute with soldiers of the Southern Region Military Command in Pegu, some 50 km north of Rangoon.

Detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi says she wants the military regime to negotiate with ethnic cease-fire groups for a better future in Burma, according to a spokesman who met with her on Saturday.