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SLORC says Karen rebels hold hostag



Subject: SLORC says Karen rebels hold hostages from ferry

Burma says Karen rebels hold hostages from ferry 
01:53 a.m. May 05, 1997 Eastern 

RANGOON, May 5 (Reuter) - Armed guerrillas of the rebel Karen National Union
(KNU)
stopped a ferry boat in southern Burma, robbed its passengers and are
holding all 11 of them for
ransom, the Burmese military government said on Monday. 

The boat with 10 passengers and its owner were on its way between Myeik and
Taninthayee last
Thursday when the rebels attacked. They demanded a ransom to release their
hostages, a statement
from the ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) said. 

The statement gave no details on the fate of the hostages or the incident,
which was said to have
taken place in the Taninthayee district about 880 km (550 miles) south of
Rangoon. 

But officers of the KNU, which is fighting the SLORC for greater autonomy
for the eastern Burmese
Karen state, denied they were involved. 

``KNU fighters never rob people, we totally deny this groundless
accusation,'' said Pado Lakaphaw,
a KNU officer based at the Thai-Burma border who is responsible for the
rebel group's operations
in southern Burma. 

The KNU, formed in 1948, has been outlawed by the SLORC after the group
rejected several
peace offers from Rangoon. 

The SLORC said it has already reached ceasefires with 15 other ethnic rebel
factions which used to
fight Rangoon for various causes.