Mizzima News (www.mizzima.com)
New Delhi, March 7, 2004

The Conference of Arakans in Diaspora, concluded in New Delhi yesterday, decided to establish an Arakan National Council as the only unified Arakan
Organization to lead the Arakan people. It also rejected the Burmese regime's seven-points Road Map, according to a statement released today by the participants.

"The Arakan National Council (ANC) is given political leadership role to represent the Arakan people and national interests until it holds national convention again", said the statement of Coordination Committee for Preconvention of Arakan National Convention (CCPCANC).

The Conference held from March 1 to 6, 2004 was participated by the representatives of four main Arakan organizations such as Arakan League for Democracy (ALD-Exile), Arakan Liberation Party (ALP), Democratic Party of Arakan (DPA) and National United Party of Arakan (NUPA) along with representatives from Arakan Buddhist monks associations, social welfare organizations, women, students and youth organizations, and intellectuals in exile.

The Arakan National Council (ANC) is formed with 18 members including two representatives each from the four major Arakan organizations and the rest are drawn from other strata of Arakans living outside Arakan State of Burma.

The Arakan State is situated in the western part of Burma and borders with
Bangladesh. It has the majority Buddhists as well as minority Muslims living together for centuries.

However, with the human rights violations committed by the Burmese military regime, several thousands, including Muslims from Arakan State have fled to Bangladesh as refugees.

According to New Delhi-based Rakhapura News, the seven-day Arakan Conference also unanimously decided not to recognize the term "Rohingya" but to accept the term "Arakan Bengalis" as the "Bengalis in Arakan State". Moreover, the participants viewed that the 7-points road map plan of Burmese Prime Minister General Khin Nyunt will not lead to any democratic changes in Burma but it is aimed to prolong power for the military junta in future.

"The ANC calls for tripartite dialogue, the National League for Democracy (NLD), the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), and the ethnic democratic forces and this is the only practical way to solve the political situation in Burma, and beginning with it, these three forces will establish trust and genuine national reconciliation that will lead the Burma emerging in decentralized federal state. "

"I can say that it was a 100 percent success for the conference in terms of being able to unify Arakan nationals with the outcome of forming the unified Arakan National Council (ANC). We were able to decide on the date for Arakan National Day, Arakan Flag, etc.. We were also able to form a drafting committee for the future Arakan State Constitution", said U Khaing Myo Min, General Secretary of Arakan Liberation Party (ALP) who participated in the Conference.

President U Kyaw Han from AASYC and the leader of Arakan Gas Pipeline Campaign Committee (AGPCC) said, "The largest gas well founded in the Arakan State is our national treasure and we have rights to get benefits from it for our people, but the SPDC just forces us in concession of the gas and the benefits to Korea based Daewoo and the India state owned gas and oil companies Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd. (ONGC) Videsh and Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL)."

"With the support of National Reconciliation Program (NRP), the four major political organizations of Arakan have started a process for unity since July 2001. This conference was an outcome of the unity process we started three years ago", U Thein Phe, president of CCPCANC told to Rakhapura News.

The Coordination Committee for Preconvention of Arakan National Convention (CCPCANC) was formed after series of meetings were held among the Arakan organizations in 2001.