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Reuter News on Nov. 29



Opium warlord said preparing new base near China

    By Sonya Hepinstall 
    BANGKOK, Nov 29 (Reuter) - Golden Triangle warlord Khun Sa has sent
soldiers to fight Burmese troops on the Chinese border to secure the area in
case he has to move his headquarters north, rebel sources confirmed on
Tuesday. 
    Sources with Khun Sa's Mong Tai Army (MTA) said about 2,000 MTA soldiers,
assisted by local people, are fighting government troops in the Shweli valley
on the northern border of Shan state in eastern Burma. 
    The MTA troops have been there since August, they said. 
    ``It is because of the (invitation of the) local people that we went
there,'' said one rebel source. 
    In one recent battle the MTA rebels claimed as many as 21 Burmese
government casualties, he said. No independent confirmation of the casualties
or movements was possible. 
    Khun Sa is being squeezed at his long-time headquarters at southern Ho
Mong, facing attacks by government troops from the west and a newly sealed
Thai border to the south and east. 
    The half-Shan, half-Chinese warlord proclaims himself head of an army
fighting for Shan independence from the repressive government in Rangoon. 
    But international narcotics authorities say Khun Sa is at the centre of
an opium and heroin producing and smuggling cartel based in the so-called
Golden Triangle where the borders of Laos, Thailand and Burma meet. 
    Thai authorities have recently set out to crack down on activity along
its notoriously porous borders, exploited most notably by the Khmer Rouge
rebel faction in Cambodia and drug smugglers and anti-Rangoon movements in
Burma. 
    ``A new task-force has been deployed to seriously implement government
policy to distance ourselves from all illegal rebel factions, so we have to
seal off all illegal passes,'' a senior Thai government official told
Reuters. 
    International officials and analysts say the impetus stems from
Thailand's efforts to improve economic relations with its neighbours and
build up regional trading blocs. 
    Despite pressure from all sides at Ho Mong and reports of residents
fleeing the area, the MTA rebel source said: ``Right now it is the safest
place. If we have to move it has to be safer.'' 
    Before any settlement along the Chinese border can replace Ho Mong, a
bustling border town, the Burmese armed forces must be forced out and an
understanding reached with the Chinese. 
    ``The first thing is the Chinese. Will they stay neutral?'' the rebel
source said. ``I am quite confident that we can deal with the Chinese.'' 
    He said he based his assessment on a sense that Khun Sa's operation could
exploit Chinese mistrust of the Burmese government. 
    Any move would likely be years away, the source said. 
    On an official level, China and Burma have signed a number of trade deals
in recent months, including a $40-million interest-free loan by a Chinese
cooperative to buy ships reported on Sunday. 
    Burma's ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council refuses to
recognise Shan state's once constitutionally mandated right to secede. The
junta has a record of human rights abuses in fighting insurgents. 
 REUTER


Transmitted: 94-11-29 12:04:46 EST
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Four Burmese soldiers killed in clash

    MYAWADI, Burma, Nov 29 (Reuter) - At least four Burmese soldiers were
killed and 10 others wounded in a clash with Karen rebels in jungles close to
the country's eastern border, a senior Burmese official said on Tuesday. 
    The three-hour exchange of gunfire took place late on Sunday near
Thichara village in Karen state about 20 miles (32 km) north of this Burmese
border town when a patrol unit of about 60 soldiers, deployed to crackdown on
illegal loggers, came across the rebels, the official told Reuters. 
    The official, who asked not to be identified, said at least four
government soldiers were killed and ten others wounded. There were no details
on rebel casualties. 
    The Karen National Union (KNU) is one of a number of ethnic minority
groups that have fought for autonomy from the central government in Rangoon
since the end of British rule in 1948. 
    Several of the groups have in recent months reached a peace agreement
with the government and ended their armed struggle against Burma's ruling
military junta, the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC). 
    SLORC was formed five years ago after the military crackdown on a
nationwide uprising by pro-democracy protesters. 
 REUTER


Transmitted: 94-11-29 04:35:39 EST