UPI: BURMESE MOUNT NEW OFFENSIVE AG

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Date: Mon, 23 Jan 1995 21:27:50 -0800
Subject: UPI: BURMESE MOUNT NEW OFFENSIVE AGAINST KAREN

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01-23-95,04:57:54p r ibc-burma-karen 1-23
 Burmese mount new offensive against Karen
   Bangkok, Jan. 23 (Upi) -- Burmese army units have begun a three-pronged
attack on the headquarters of the Karen National Union near the Thai
border, a rebel statement said Monday. 
   The statement quoted a spokesman of the rebels' Foreign Affairs
Department as saying the offensive began Jan. 20 against the Karen
"capital" at Manerplaw. 
   The Karen National Union is the most powerful of several ethnic
minority armies fighting Burma's military junta, known as the State Law
and Order Restoration Council (Slorc). 
   The Union statement said simultaneous attacks were carried out against
Karen positions elsewhere in eastern Burma. 
   "On the northern front, three newly arrived battalions of the Slorc's
66th Light Infantry Division under 662 Tactical Command has begun moving
towards Thay-ro-hta, a place on the Salween River a little north of the
junction of the Moei and Salween rivers," the Karen statement said. 
    Since the Slorc seized power in a coup in 1988 it has negotiated
separate cease-fire agreements with several of Burma's restive minorities,
including the Wa in 1989 and the Kachin in 1993. 
   Preliminary cease-fire talks were undertaken last year between the
Slorc and the Karen, with the latter proposing United Nations mediation. 
   "The latest (military) move appears to indicate clearly the
determination of the Slorc to discredit attempts made by the Karen
National Union during the past year to open negotiations with the Slorc
concerning a cease-fire and the necessary political settlement in Burma,"
the Karen statement continued. 
   It said the Karen leadership had "expressed deep disappointment that
the Slorc should now through its military offensiv seek to destroy the
potential for a political solution before dialog has even commenced." 
   Thai military officers along the Burmese border could not confirm the
scale or location of the latest government offensive against the
Christian-led Karen forces. 
   Thailand has provided logistics support to the Karen in the past, but
this support has dwindled recently due to warming relations between
Bangkok and Rangoon. 
   An officer of Thailand's National Security Council denied recent press
reports saying Karen leaders would no longer be allowed to transit through
Thailand. 
   The shift in Thai policy had been reported after last week's visit to
Rangoon by Thai Foreign Minster Thaksin Shinawatra. 
   "There is no change so far in Thailand's policy toward the Karen," the
Thai officer said. "But a change is coming." 
   upi tt jh ccccqqe ;01230943 ---End---

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