INFORMATION SHEET No.A-0396(I)

[OKKAR66127@xxxxxxx]

                                                INFORMATION   SHEET

                                          No.A-0396(I)                     21
April 1998

(1)		Senior Officers Meeting of 24th FAO Regional Conference for Asia 				and
the Pacific Opens

		The Senior Officers Meeting of the 24th FAO Regional Conference for Asia and
the Pacific commenced at the Sedona Hotel on 20 April in Yangon with an
inaugural address by  Minister for Agriculture and Irrigation Maj-Gen Nyunt
Tin.  It was attended by Prime Minister of the Republic of Tonga Mr Baron
Vaea, ministers, deputy ministers, senior officers, officials and delegates of
Bangladesh, People?s Republic of China, Democratic People?s Republic of Korea,
Republic of Fiji, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Republic of Korea, Lao
People?s Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal,
Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Samoa, Sri Lanka, Thailand, the United
States and Vietnam, Resident Representatives and officials of UNICEF, UNDP,
UNEP, UNFPA, WFP, WHO and FAO, heads of department, observers, local and
foreign media, personnel and guests.  The Conference is of particular
importance as it is the first regional gathering of agricultural ministers
since the World Food summit held in Rome, in November 1996.  It is also unique
as it is the first FAO Regional Conference for Asia and the Pacific to feature
a Senior Officers Meeting charged with deliberating the issues before the
Conference and reporting its collective finding for consideration by the
Ministerial Meeting which will commence on 23 April.

(2)		KNU Central Executive Committee Member Meets the Press in Yangon
		CEC member and Head of Economic Department of KNU Phado Aung San who
exchanged arms for peace with the Government on 17 April met the Press at
Myanma Radio and TV on 20 April.  Phado Aung San and his group returned to
Myanmar on 7 April 1998. Training Commandant Yaw Mu with the rank of Colonel
and Saw Thay Gay with the rank of Major, who are prominent among the members
of the group which exchanged arms for peace.

		In the opening statement Head of the Department of Bureau of Strategic
Studies Col Thein Swe said: Today?s Press conference has a special
significance because it concerns the return to the legal fold of KNU members
to effect an exchange of arms for peace.  May I say at this point that this
particular group like previous KNU groups who have returned to work for the
country and the people together with the Government, have come home because
they are now convinced of the Government?s genuine desire for peace and unity
and its sincerity for upraising the quality of life for all the national races
of the country. 

		This group is led by Phado Aung San who is the Central Executive 
Member and also the Head of the Economic Department of the Karen National
Union and with him are Training Commandant Yaw Mu with the rank of Colonel and
Saw Thay Gay with the rank of Major, who also happens to be the nephew of KNU
leader Bo Mya.  They arrived back in Myanmar on the 7th of this month at Htee
Thay Khee village near the Thaung Yin river on the Myanmar-Thai border.  The
group consists of officers and other ranks, totalling 70 in number and 143
family members, bringing together with them 51 assorted arms including one
82mm mortar.

		Phado Aung San had not only dedicated himself for many years to the movement
of the KNU but was the leading fund-raiser and person responsible for the
economic undertakings of the KNU.  He was also someone depended on and trusted
by Bo Mya. Phado Aung San was a member of the KNU representatives at the
second peace negotiations held with the government at Mawlamyaing in February,
1996.  The Government on its own initiative had held many peace talks with the
KNU, but because of some of the more extreme and fanatical members within the
KNU, the discussions failed.

		Phado Aung San came to realize that the KNU was straying farther away from
the goal of peace, since Uncle Mya, under the influence of anti-government
instigators from both within and without the country, was using the peace
talks as an instrument for political coercion, such as convening a conference
of all dissident groups at Metharawhta on the Myanmar-Thai border.  He had
also begun to comply more and more to the wishes and demands of the opposition
groups.  Thus in the interest of the KNU members under his command of the
local populace, Phado Aung San made a decision to exchange arms for peace, and
on 1st March 1998, he contacted the  authorities concerned and wrote a letter
informing them of his decision.

		Phado Aung San and the military authorities were obliged to hold secret
meeting and consultations many times to plan for the safe conduct of the KNU
members and their families to Myanmar.  On the evening of 6 April 1998, the
KNU group led by Phado Aung San left the encampment of their families near
Maiwaikhee village in Thailand known as the New Camp.  They arrived at a
prearranged rendezvous on the morning of 7 April 1998 and were thus escorted
home to Htee Thay Khee village on the Myanmar side.

		 Now I would like to invite the press corps to interview Phado Aung San
himself to get a first hand account.

		Phado Aung San recounted that he entered KNU in 1967 as a lower division
clerk in Central Forest Department and later he was promoted to a
superintendent.  He was promoted to the department secretary and in 1980 and
elected as a permanent member of the Central Committee, he added.  He became a
CEC member and head of Central Forest Department after the demise of Phado
Thatee, who was the head of the department then, he said.  

		Departments were merged at the 1995 congress and later the departments were
reorganized, he recounted.  The congress elected him as a permanent CEC
member.  He was elected as head of Economic Department, he said.  He took
charge of Forest Department, Agriculture Department and Mining Department
which were under the Economic Department, he recalled.

		Although he was assigned duties as head of Central Forest Department in
1980, no rights and power were granted to him, he said.  The department never
earned money however it cut trees along Dawmwe Creek and Thanlwin banks,  he
recounted  

		The reason is that, illegal border gates were earning large sums of money at
that time, he said. KNU faced financial difficulties when the Tatmadaw seized
all those border gates after the 1986 Armed Forces Day, he recounted.  He
presented a plan to KNU Central Committee.  The Central Committee agreed to it
and the Central Timber Production Committee was formed.  From that time the
Forest Department earned income, he said.

		Central Forest Department had to cease timber production after Manerplaw
fell on 27 January 1995, he recalled.  Opportunists of KNU used the income of
over 200 small sawmills along the border.

		He said he would like to give the reason his group has exchanged arms for
peace with the Government.  He never accepted when actions did not follow the
theory as he is a pragmatist, he said.  When something was passed at the
meeting it must be realized, he noted.  What the meeting has agreed was to
always keep the door open to hold peace negotiations with the Government as
KNU wants peace, he said.

		But the door is kept open with a guard holding a stick in front of it to hit
all representatives who want true peace, he said.  But the door is kept open
only to those who said the Government will disintegrate soon and it is
oppressing the people, he added.

		?We understand that the people want peace and are demanding peace and if we
oppose their desire we will suffer one day.  If we serve the people?s interest
we will gain benefits,? he said.

		He could tell who really wanted peace and who did not want peace in KNU
central, he said.  But those who wanted peace had much difficulty.  When they
left KNU there were threats to harm or shoot or kill them, he said.

		He said they took infants, the old and the sick people together with them
and this proved their strong desire for peace.

		When they arrived at Htithekhee with their arms, the commanders, officers
and Tatmadawmen welcomed them, and as soon as they saw the welcoming sign
bearing ? We welcome our family members? , their fear dispersed, he said.

		He said that as they came to know that they were regarded as family 
members, they were in great joy and that at first, they planned to stay
Htihekhee where they would reclaim lands and work for border region
development.

		He also spoke of the welcoming ceremony arranged with the leadership of Lt-
Gen Khin Nyunt on 17 April and the government?s support for their
resettlement, agriculture, health, education and livestock breeding.

		He said they are 35 families and the government arranged for 200 
households and allocated 500 acres for cultivation.

		KNU has not returned yet because of the internal and  external subversives,
he said and added that KNU cannot still fulfil the desire for peace demanded
by the public.

		?We can know the taste of a fruit after we eat it but no one in KNU dares to
eat it as they fear death.? he said.  However our group ate it and knew how
delicious it is, ? he added.

		He said that he wished other members of KNU to come and eat the ?fruit?,
that among KNU members, there are some leaders who want peace and those who do
not and that they are disunited, some leaders working with NGO?s and some
leaving for other countries.

		He also spoke of the disunity in the KNU Central Executive Committee which
cannot held the meeting regularly.

		He said that their group went to Thai side on 27 January 1995 and had to
stay there though they did not want to, that they did not want to go to the
refugee camp, that they had many difficulties while staying at the so-called
new camps in Thailand.

		KNU is based at the refugee camp though they do not have the permission of
the Thai government, he said and added that for security of refugees, KNU
members are armed.

		The junior officers, management and clerical staff and troops stayed at the
refugee camp, and if they were asked about their strength, they would say that
they had about 20,000 to 30,000: but in reality, there were around 1,000, he
said.

		He said that the officers and troops of the refugee camp did not want to
fight the battles and  they  wanted peace, that in whatever attitude the KNU
upper echelon, the subordinates really wanted peace; Thai government wanted
KNU to make peace with Myanmar government and that he did not know what sort
of difficulty Thai government had to implement their desire.

		He said that Thai government allowed those who did not want peace to attack
them  when they were returning to the country and that it should support their
action if they really wanted peace.

		Continuing, he spoke about various hindrances they encountered when they
were returning to the country and noted that Thai government should allow and
make arrangements for those who wanted to return.

		He said he attended the 1974 congress as a delegate and at that time, Mahn
Ba Zan was elected chairman; Uncle Mya was the vice chairman and chief of
staff; in 1976, Mahn Ba Zan was put aside and Uncle Mya grabbed his place; the
CEC proposed to  dismiss Uncle Mya at its emergency meeting on 5 March 1995;
the date was fixed to call a congress as he turned down the proposal to
dismiss him and asserted that only the congress had the right to do so.

		He noted that when Mahn Ba Zan was removed, the CEC meeting was not called,
let alone the congress, that Uncle Mya did it on his own accord, that
Metharawhta congress was held to throw him out and that he knew there would be
bloodshed if Uncle Mya did not win in that congress.

		He said that he arranged the congress, that district and brigade leaders who
came to attend it had instructed the central leaders not to meet him and that
no one went to meet Uncle Mya.

		He said that as he knew what Uncle  Mya would do if he did not win in that
congress, he went to him and told him that he supported him, and that he
explained to him that they would choose one who could give them money as their
leader.

		He said he got money in his own way and gave it to Uncle Mya who in turn
gave it to the brigade and district leaders and thus, Uncle Mya got the
support.

Short Temper

		He said uncle Mya was short tempered and at times he behaved 
thoughtlessly and ruthlessly, he was credulous and used to take one-sided
action.  Phado Aung San cited one incident in which uncle Mya ordered the
killing of Shwelon, a KNU member, a follower of KNU instructor Col Yaw Moo
after believing the instigations of one Hsan Lon Tee.  He also recalled
another incident in which uncle Mya shot both hands and both feet of Saw
Klosay an ABSDF member, who snatched a gun of the group and tried to escape
but was captured.  He said uncle Mya ordered the man to be dragged out and
killed.  Uncle Mya charged Captain Kali Waw, who was regarded as a man of good
combat skills in the KNU, and ordered him to be killed based on an
insignificant offence, Phado Aung San said.  He recalled that when a woman
relative of uncle Mya's wife got entangled in love affair with a KNU member in
spite of her tender age, uncle Mya put the man in custody, got the girl
undressed and beat her in public.

Inconsistent Decisions

		He said a situation arose to remove refugee camps in 1996.  He said uncle
Mya told him if he could stop the plan in view of the big trouble to be
confronted by the people since the camps were very large. As asked, he said,
he made plans and he was in a position to manage it.  Because NGOs made great
profit if refugee camps had to be removed, he said. They claimed K 1,000
where  K 100 was sufficient for a job in order to pocket K 900, he said.  He
said since they could take the share they liked shifting of refugee camps.
Then the refugee camps had to be removed in February 1998, he siad. After
learning this, he said,  the Central Executive Committee meeting was called at
which it was unanimous that the camps should not be removed. The meeting then
considered who would carry out the resolution, he recalled.  Finally, the
meeting  asssigned duty to him, he said. The Thai government had ordered
removal of the refugee camps, he said.  As he was making arrangements, he
said, he received a telegram asking him to return immediately. So, he had to
return to Maesot, he said. 

		On his return, he said, the CEC meeting  was again convened. It passed  a
resolution that the camps should be removed, he said.  The people got angry,
he said. No one could persuade them, he said adding they would not move even
if they were to die, or else they would return to the homeland.  Since no one
could ask them, uncle Mya himself met them and told them, he said.  At first,
it was not to shift camps, people were asked to stand united and arrangements
were made accordingly.  Then questions were asked such as what the plans were,
what the Thai government said, he recalled.  He said he made plans secretly
but when they asked questions openly he found it difficult to answer. The Thai
government had already adopted the policy that refugees were to be shifted, he
said. He added that he would not want to say how NGOs had done. When Uncle Mya
himself had gone to the refugee camps and told them that they were to shift,
what the meeting had decided had become meaningless.  Phado Aung San said his
group was not alone in returning to the homeland. A large number of Kayin
People in the north of Papun had also returned. He said he would like to
request the government to make arrangements for them as well.

KNU Leadership  Divided 

		He said in the KNU, there are those who want peace and those who do not.
Those who want peace do not know how to achieve it, they do not have the gut
or they could not do to get it. But, he said, he had made peace.  By so doing,
many more will return, he said. He said he was pleased and peaceful to learn
that the government would take care of the returning KNU members and the
public by looking  after their accommodations, food and livelihood
irrespective of their number.  He then thanked the government for extending a
warm welcome, help and care to his group.  Afterwards, questions were asked by
U Sein Win of Kyodo News, U Hla Htwe of Antara News Agency and Nihon Keizai
Shimbun, U Khin Maung Myint of NHK, U Maung Maung of JiJi Press, U Aung Shwe
Oo of Nippon TV, U Nyunt Tin of  Fuji TV, U Khin Maung Thwin of AFP and U Tin
Maung Aye of Asahi Shimbun.

		Phado Aung San and Heads of Department of the Office of Strategic Studies
Col Thein Swe  and Col Than Aye replied to their  questions.  Replying to the
question asked by U Sein Win of Kyodo News about the KNU's desire for peace,
Phado Aung San  said in the KNU leadership, those who want peace are in the
majority. But they do not have the gut and are not able to manage to make
peace, he  said.  The rest in the KNU leadership are those who have settled
well economically in Thailand and who have possessed houses and farmland.
They are in the minority and most in the KNU followers want peace, he said. He
said that his entire group had returned in spite of difficulties. More  will
return when they know that the government has extended all the necessary
assistance to his group, he said.  Answering the question of U Hla Htwe of
Antara News Agency and Nihon Keizai Shimbun about the Metharawhta meeting,
Phado Aung San said he refused to accept that meeting and that he had not
attended it. He said although he usually made arrangements beginning  with
financial matters when KNU meetings were held, he had done nothing as far as
the Metharawhta meeting was concerned. He noted that the Mehtarawhta meeting
was not attended  by organizations but by single individuals.

		Regarding  the question about the connection between the KNU and NLD asked
by U Sein Win of Kyodo News, he said KNU announcements contained points in
support of NLD and NLD had supported the Metharawhta declaration.  This showed
there were connections between the two and no one could deny this, he said.
Replying to the question of U Khin Maung Myint of NHK about the number of
refugee camps and the wealth of KNU leadership, Phado Aung San said there are
about  nine camps and most of refugees have returned to Myanmar.  In the KNU
leadership, he said, vice-chairman  Col Shwe Hsaing, commander of No 6 brigade
major Tu Tu, battalion commanding officer Soe Soe and present chairman of Hpa-
an District Phado Ah To are rich. Phado Ah To is very rich and he owned a
large number of houses and farmland in Maesot.

		In connection with the question about short-term and long-term programmes of
the govermment to accommodate the group asked by U Aung Shwe Oo of NTV, he
said he thought he had to ask for land to live and for the families'
livelihood  but  he had found that the government had made all the necessary
arrangements such as accommodation, food  and clothing for one year. It had
also allocated  500 acres to engage for agriculture and livestock breeding, he
said, adding his group  had handed  over weapons that could endanger peace. He
said his group had abandoned all the destructive  acts since Myanmar New Year
Day. He said the group had no need to take up arms since the State had taken
charge of its security.

		In connection with the question of peace negotiations asked by U Nyunt Tin
of Fuji  TV, Phado Aung San said  both the KNU and the government want peace.
Since they have common objective they will have to realize it, he said.
However, there is no peace because the KNU had made demands to which the
government could not agree, he said. He pointed out there have been numerous
armed groups which had made peace with the government and they are extensively
engaged in development projects in the respective regions. KNU on its part is
not in a position to carry out regional development tasks so far.  Replying to
a question asked by U Sein Win of Kyodo News about KNU training courses
conducted with foreign instructors, he said KNU has to pay for their upkeep.
Though it did not have to pay salaries the upkeep cost more.  Their food,
accommodation and especially visa renewal expenditures cost much, he said.

		In connection with the distance between the refugee camp and the border as
asked by U Aung Shwe Oo of NTV, he replied that it is about ten miles from the
Maewaikhee New Camp to the border. Despite the distance, he said, the group
left the camp at 4 pm on 6 April and arrived at the bank of Thaungyin River at
about 8 am on 7 April. Replying to the question asked by U Khin Maung Thwin of
AFP about the number of CEC members, Phado Aung San said there are 10 CEC
members, namely, the chairman, vice-chairman, secretary, joint secretary-1,
joint secretary-2 and five CEC members. Then, the media personnel viewed
photographs and maps related to exchange of arms for peace by Phado Aung San
and group and Metharawhta agreement on display in the MRTV Hall.
	
	 
(3)		Woman who Carried Out Flesh-Trade Arrested

		A woman who carried out flesh-trade was arrested at Bago Railway Station on
18 April 1998 while trying to smuggle out nine women to Thailand for
prostitution. The nine women all from Singaing Township in Mandalay Division
were lured by Daw Tin Aye with promises of acquiring well-paid jobs in border
region of the other country. Severe  action  will be taken against her. The
Social Welfare Department has made arrangements to send the nine women back to
their parents.

(4)		PM of Tonga, Minister of Samoa Visit Pyinmabin Livestock Farm

		Prime Minister and Minister for Agriculture, Livestock, Forestry and Mines
of Tonga Mr Baron Vaca, Minister for Agriculture, Forest, Meat and Fish and
Meteorology of Samoa  Mr Mafasolia Vaai Papu and party, visited Pyinmabin
Livestock Farm of the Minister of Livestock and Fisherie s on 20 April.

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