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Wired News on Jan.25 & 26, '95



Attn:Burma Newsreaders
Re: Wired News on Jan.25 & 26, '95
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Twenty foreign banks now have licences for Burma   

    RANGOON, Jan 26 (Reuter) - The Central Bank of Myanmar has issued a
licence to Banque Francaise du Commerce Exterieur to open a representative
office in the Burmese capital of Rangoon, official newspapers reported on
Thursday. 

    A total of 20 foreign banks now have licences for representative offices
in Burma -- six from Thailand, five from Singapore, three from Malaysia, two
from France and one each from Indonesia, Cambodia, Hong Kong and Bangladesh. 

 REUTER


Transmitted: 95-01-26 09:00:27 EST
*************

Burmese army closes in on rebel headquarters   

    BANGKOK, Jan 25 (Reuter) - Several thousand Karen civilians from Burma
have fled to Thailand as Rangoon government forces closed in on the minority
group's guerrilla headquarters on the border, guerrilla and Thai military
sources said on Wednesday. 

    A Thai officer monitoring the situation said Burmese government troops
were continuing a heavy artillery bombardment of Karen positions around their
Manerplaw headquarters. 

    Burmese troops have crossed the Salween River, Manerplaw's last major
line of defence to the west, and fighting was taking place along a ridgeline
above the rebel headquarters, a senior guerrilla source said. 

    Government forces had also made significant advances from both the south
and the north towards the Karen National Union (KNU) headquarters, the
sources said. 

    More than 2,000 civilians and wounded guerrillas have crossed the border
River Moie to Thailand since last week when Burmese troops began what may be
their final push on Manerplaw. 

    ``The situation is getting bad. We have been forced to relocate a field
hospital to the Thai side of the river,'' said a Karen guerrilla source who
asked not to be identified. 

    The KNU, in a statement dated Tuesday, confirmed that the government
troops had attacked and seized important positions around their headquarters.


    ``The military situation continues to become more tense... In recent days
the SLORC troops have occupied key positions along the Salween River,'' the
KNU said, referring to the Rangoon junta, the State Law and Order Restoration
Council. 

    The KNU is the strongest guerrilla army still fighting the Burmese
government for greater autonomy. 

    As well as the headquarters of the KNU, which has been fighting since
1949, Manerplaw is also headquarters for an opposition alliance grouping
other autonomy-seeking minority groups and democracy-seeking guerrillas from
the majority Burman community. 

    There has been sporadic fighting in the area since the middle of December
when Burmese troops, taking advantage of an unprecedented mutiny within the
KNU, launched what were then the heaviest attacks on the guerrillas in more
than two years. 

    One guerrilla source said on Wednesday that some of the Karen mutineers
had joined Burmese government forces and were guiding them through the rugged
ridgelines and valleys towards Manerplaw. 

    Preliminary moves to open ceasefire negotiations between the KNU and the
SLORC were underway last year but became bogged down over agreeing on a venue
for the talks. 

 REUTER


Transmitted: 95-01-25 04:26:49 EST
**********

Burmese minority calls on Rangoon to stop fighting   

    By Sutin Wannabovrn 

    BANGKOK, Jan 26 (Reuter) - One of the Burmese rebel groups which have
agreed to stop fighting called on Thursday on Rangoon's military government
to halt a military operation against former allies still fighting on the
border. 

    The Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO) said in a statement obtained
by Reuters it looked ``with alarm and concern'' at the growing conflict
between the ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) and the
Karen National Union (KNU). 

    ``In the interest of peace and national reconciliation the KIO urges the
SLORC to use their utmost restraint in the use of force and desist from the
army's onslaught against the KNU immediately,'' the statement said. 

    The KIO was one of the major organisations in the fights of Burmese
minorities against Rangoon since independence from Britain in 1948. 

    Along with 12 other rebel factions so far, it signed a peace pact after
SLORC declared a unilateral ceasefire two years ago. 

    The strong statement came as Burmese soldiers attacked KNU headquarters
at Manerplaw on the Thai-Burma border. The town is also the base for
dissident rebel politicians and student organisations. 

    ``The SLORC has been shelling Manerplaw every minute in the past few
days,'' a senior Karen source told Reuters. 

    Thousands of troops are involved in what appears to be a three-pronged
offensive against Karen positions launched last week. 

    Government troops had taken total control of the junction of the Salween
and Moei rivers to the north of Manerplaw, located 280 km (175 miles)
southeast of Rangoon. 

    The two rivers are the main transportation lines for the rebel forces. 

    One source in the student militia said Burmese troops were moving
northward from their position at Nohta, about 30 km (18 miles) to the south
of Manerplaw. 

    ``Burmese troops are advancing about half way from Nohta to Manerplaw,''
He said. 

    ``There has been heavy fighting at White Elephant Hill just about seven
km to the north of Manerplaw,'' He said. 

    More than 3,000 Karen civilians and wounded soldiers have fled to seek
refuge on the Thai side of the border. 

    There were no details of casualties available. 

    The KNU, the strongest of the rebels still fighting the government, was
about to start negotiating peace with Rangoon but talks were delayed by a
mutiny within its own ranks. 

    The KNU blamed the SLORC for instigating the mutiny, which pitted
Buddhist guerrillas against the Christian-dominated KNU. 

    The KIO statement said the government attack was counterproductive. 

    ``We firmly believe that the pressure on Manerplaw, as indeed any
military or political pressure, is a regression to the past... (and) inhibits
the further exploring of the negotation process with the KNU and others,'' it
said.


Transmitted: 95-01-26 08:38:01 EST
*********

Rights group protests against Burmese army attacks   

    LONDON, Jan 26 (Reuter) - A human rights group based in London protested
on Thursday against a major offensive by Burmese military forces on a
rebellious ethnic minority living along the border with Thailand. 

    Article 19 said it was gravely concerned about the plight of Burman's
Karen ethnic minority after a major assault in the Manerplaw region by armed
forces of the ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC). 

    Burma's government had reversed its ceasefire policy towards the Karen
National Union (KNU) in an attack that had left thousands of Karen poised to
flee across the border, the group said in a statement. 

    ``Article 19 is dismayed that the government is carrying out its assault
on the KNU while at the same time presenting itself as a government with
which other countries can have a meaningful dialogue,'' it said. 

    ``Article 19 calls on the international community to take urgent measures
to help prevent this crisis and to urge the SLORC to take all necessary steps
to ensure a peaceful settlement,'' the article 19 statement said. 

    Burmese army forces had seized key KNU outputs along a 30-mile front on
the Thai border in preparation for a final assault on Manerplaw, which also
serves as a liaison base for other minority groups opposed to the government,
the statement said. 

    Karen sources in Bangkok told Reuters on Thursday thousands of troops
were involved in what appeared to be a three-pronged offensive against their
positions launched last week. 

    Another Burmese rebel group which has agreed to stop fighting, the Kachin
Independence Organisation (KIO), called on Thursday in Bangkok for a halt to
the bloodshed. 

 REUTER


Transmitted: 95-01-26 12:25:51 EST
***********

Burmese government reassures hotel operators   

    RANGOON, Jan 25 (Reuter) - The Burmese government has issued a statement
reassuring small hotel owners that they are free to continue their businesses
as normal after rumours that some licences might be revoked. 

    The statement from the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism said entrepreneurs
were allowed to open and operate hotels, motels and guest houses and to
engage in other tourist-related businesses in accordance with existing laws. 

    Published in the state-run media on Wednesday, the statement was
apparently issued in response to rumours that hotels and guest houses with
less than 15 rooms would have their licences revoked. 

    Rumours of the withdrawal of licences were unfounded, it said. 

    The ministry said that up to the end of 1994 it had issued 195 licences
to hotels and other lodging places, 247 for travel agents, 631 for tourist
coaches and 468 for tour guides. 

    The tourist sector has been one of the fastest growing sectors since the
military government introduced economic reforms in late 1988. 

 REUTER


Transmitted: 95-01-25 05:29:20 EST
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Fm:Zz