UPI: USG worried over Manerplaw off

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Date: Thu, 26 Jan 1995 05:49:09 -0800
Subject: UPI: USG worried over Manerplaw offensive



01-26-95,06:50:02p r ibc-burma-karen 1-26
 U.S. "concerned" over Burma attacks
    By John hail
   bangkok, Jan. 26 (Upi) -- The United States has expressed concern to
Rangoon over a week-long Burmese military offensive apparently aimed at
stamping out one of the last centers of anti- government resistance, a
U.S. embassy spokesperson said Thursday. 
   Rebel sources said at least three battalions of Burmese troops were
deployed in artillery and infantry attacks beginning Jan. 20 around
Manerplaw, headquarters of the Karen National Union and an alliance of
pro-democracy groups opposed to the ruling junta in Rangoon. 
   "The United States government has expressed concern about reports of
fighting around Manerplaw to the Burmese government,"  the U.S. embassy
spokesperson said in response to press queries.  "The U.S. government is
also concerned about the possibility of a new outflow of refugees." 
   "We call on the government of Burma to act in accordance with its own
oft-stated intent to resolve its difficulties with Burma's ethnic
minorities peacefully," the official added. 
   The American spokesperson also condemned the Burmese army's use of
press-ganged civilian "porters" who are forced to carry ammunition and
perform other dangerous duties without pay. 
   "We condemn forced porterage," the embassy spokesperson said.  "We have
stated repeatedly that we view such practices as forced military
porterage, forced work on infrastructure projects, etc., as a violation of
internationally accepted standards of human rights to which the Burmese
government is committed by its membership in the United Nations." 
   The U.S. official, who requested anonymity, said the expression of
American concern over the fighting in Burma was relayed to Rangoon "in the
past few days." 
   The sound of Burmese artillery could be heard Thursday in the Thai
province of Mae Hong Son, across the border from Manerplaw, 337 miles (542
km) northwest of Bangkok. 
   The fighting has sent about 1,000 Karen villagers fleeing across the
border into Thailand, a United Nations official said. 
   He said he had been assured by Thai authorities that the refugees would
not be sent back to Burma against their will. 
   The U.S. and most other Western governments have downgraded diplomatic
relations and limited commercial contacts with Burma since 1988, when the
present military junta seized power in a coup and gunned down or jailed
thousands of pro-democracy demonstrators. 
   The Burmese junta, known as the State Law and Order Restoration Council
(Slorc), has made cease-fire agreements with several of the country's
rebel armies and had been in preliminary negotiations with the Karen until
its present military offensive. 
   "This new offensive against Manerplaw follows a two-year lull in
fighting after the Slorc failed in a major offensive against Manerplaw in
early 1992," a Karen National Union statement said. 
   Karen spokesman Art Shwe said in a telephone interview Thursday that
the attack on Manerplaw appeared to doom efforts to resolve the war
between Rangoon and the Karen peacefully. 
   "I don't think (the Slorc) have any intention to solve the problem by
peaceful means," Shwe said. 
   upi tt jh ccccqqe ;01261135 ---End---