AP-Karen Rebels, Myanmar Troops Cla

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Subject: AP-Karen Rebels, Myanmar Troops Clash

Wednesday January 6 11:31 AM ET

Karen Rebels, Myanmar Troops Clash

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) - Ethnic Karen rebels are skirmishing with Myanmar
government troops near a $1.2 billion gas pipeline, Thai military officials
said Wednesday.

Fighting has been erupting on and off for several days inside Myanmar
opposite the western Thai cities of Kanchanaburi and Sangkhlaburi, said a
high-ranking officer with Thailand's Surasee Task Force, who spoke only on
condition of anonymity.

The Thai military monitors troop movements and clashes inside Myanmar
because combatants and refugees frequently spill over the border.

The Myanmar military is in the early stages of a dry season offensive
against a slew of ethnic insurgent guerrilla armies based near the Thai
border.

The area near the most recent fighting is home to a controversial gas
pipeline owned jointly by Myanmar's military government, Total of France,
Unocal of the United States and the Petroleum Authority of Thailand.

However, the pipeline corridor has been heavily guarded by Myanmar troops
ever since Karen rebels attacked it with rockets, killing four workers, in
February 1996.

Myanmar's rebellious ethnic minorities, democracy activists and
international human rights groups have criticized the oil companies for
building the pipeline.

They say that profits from the pipeline will provide the cash-strapped
military government with much needed revenue to beef up its armed forces.

They also say villagers have been forcibly relocated to make way for the
pipeline, and that forced labor has been used by the military to construct
infrastructure necessary for the project.

Both the military and the companies deny the charges.

The Karen have been fighting for autonomy from governments in Yangon for 50
years.