UPI: BURMA REBELS VOW TO FIGHT ON A

[strider@xxxxxxxxxxx]

Received: (from strider) by igc2.igc.apc.org (8.6.9/Revision: 1.7 ) id EAA26664; Sat, 28 Jan 1995 04:40:17 -0800
Date: Sat, 28 Jan 1995 04:40:17 -0800
Subject: UPI: BURMA REBELS VOW TO FIGHT ON AFTER DEFEAT


01-28-95,04:58:54p r ibc-burma-karen 1-28
 Burma rebels vow to fight on after defeat
    By John hail
   bangkok, Jan. 28 (Upi) -- Leading dissident organizations opposed to
Rangoon's military junta vowed Saturday to fight on after losing their
headquarters to a powerful Burmese army assault. 
   The Karen National Union (Knu), the main armed force of Burma's
Christian-led ethnic Karen minojity, admitted it had withdrawn Thursday
from its self-proclaimed capital of the past 21 years at Manerplaw, near
the Thai border 330 miles (542 km) northwest of Bangkok. 
   A knu statement said four Burmese army divisions supported by heavy
artillery took part in the assault on Manerplaw. 
   Thai military officers and relief officials said most of the
headquarters buildings, including the office of Karen National Union
president Bo Mya, were burned by the fleeing Karen. 
   An official of the Burmese Border Consortium, which represents several
international relief organizations, said Saturday the latest fighting had
forced between 3,000 and 5,000 civilians to seek shelter on the Thai side
of the border. 
   He said the Karen civilians had made "an orderly withdrawal"  from
Manerplaw, bringing along food and other supplies. 
   But as the number of refugees increases, he said, relief officials
faced increased problems treating outbreaks of malaria and other diseases. 
   American officials based in Rangoon reportedly visited several Karen
refugee camps along the border Saturday. 
   The U.S. State Department condemned Rangoon's assault on Manerplaw and
called on Burma's State Law and Order Restoration Council (Slorc) to abide
by its pledges to resolve differences with the country's ethnic minorities
peacefully. 
   The Karen National Union statement blamed the loss of Manerplaw on an
internal battle between Christian and Buddhist factions in the
organization. 
   It said a "vegetarian Buddhist" abbot had started the revoltn against
the Knu's predominantly Christian leadership. 
   The union's leaders managed to subdue the dissidents in a military
attack in early January, the statement said. 
   "As a result of their defeat some returned to the Knu and others
entered into open alliance with the Slorc," the statement said. "Although
the defectors were small in number, they presented the Slorc with the key
to the capture of Manerplaw." 
   The Knu statement said that while the loss of its headquarters was a
major setback, it "does not weaken the Knu's determination to continue the
struggle for genuine peace, democracy and freedom for all Burma's
peoples...The Knu is convinced that out of the loss of Manerplaw the Knu
will emerge united and strengthened." 
   American Baptist missionaries converted many Karen to Christianity in
the late 19th century when Burma was under British colonial rule. 
   The Karen have been in almost continuous revolt against the Rangoon
government since independence from Britain in 1948. 
   In addition to serving as the "capital" of the Karen independence
movement, Manerplaw had also been the headquarters of the National League
for Democracy, an alliance of opponents to the Rangoon junta. 
   "The National League for Democracy (Liberated Area) strongly condemns
Slorc for breaking its own unilateral cease-fire and calls on the
international community to intervene to stop the fighting immediately," a
National League for Democracy statement said. 
   Manerplaw had been a major rallying point for Burmese dissidents,
including several thousand students who fled Rangoon in the wake of Slorc
repression beginning with its coup in 1988. 
   "The fall of Manerplaw is a big blow to the opposition, but the
struggle with continue," a Burmese dissident said Saturday.  "I talked to
some of students this morning and they are quite depressed." 
  upi jh ccccqqe ;01280943 ---End---