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SCMP : Fears of pillaging as junta



South China Morning Post
Thursday  August 6  1998

 Fears of pillaging as junta cuts off free food to troops on Thai border 

AGENCIES in Bangkok 
The junta has not supplied free food since June to troops along its border
with Thailand, raising fears the soldiers may turn to pillaging, dissident
sources said yesterday.

Aung Naing Oo, foreign affairs secretary for the All Burma Students'
Democratic Front, said Rangoon was instead giving troops money to buy their
own food.


The move was prompted by rice shortages caused by heavy flooding last year,
the front said.

"Also, the Government probably doesn't want to take the foreign exchange
risk," said Mr Aung Naing Oo.

Burma's kyat is traded on the black market at a rate of 350 to US$1
(HK$7.74), compared with the official rate of seven kyat to US$1.

The front, citing military reports from the border, said there had already
been reports of food shortages among troops.

Meanwhile, authorities in Rangoon warned it would be unwise for opposition
leader Aung San Suu Kyi to try to leave her home in the capital on Saturday
- the 10th anniversary of a massacre of pro-democracy protesters.

A government spokesman said the authorities did not know what Ms Aung San
Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy had planned to mark the
anniversary, but added they did not expect much trouble.

He said it could be dangerous for her to try to travel to see supporters
outside the capital.

"I think it would be very unwise," said the spokesman.

He said the country had many "shady groups" that posed a threat to the
country's security and to figures like Ms Aung San Suu Kyi.

Asked if the opposition leader would be allowed to leave Rangoon to visit
her supporters on Saturday or at any other time, he said: "She will first
have to request [permission].

"But we will have to be very careful about the places that she goes [to
visit]."

Ms Aung San Suu Kyi has been recovering at her lakeside residence since
July 29, when the authorities forcibly ended a six-day car sit-in protest
that drew worldwide attention.

She has vowed to try to leave her residence and visit her supporters again
as soon as she has recovered.