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The Nations-Govt seeks help from Bu



Subject: The Nations-Govt seeks help from Burmese on villagers' deaths

The Nations, April 17, 1999.
Politics
Govt seeks help from Burmese on villagers' deaths

THAILAND yesterday sought assistance from the Burmese military government to
help solve the mystery behind the deaths of nine Thai villagers believed to
have been killed by the United Wa State Army (UWSA), one of Burma's armed
ethnic groups operating along the Thai-Burmese border, a Foreign Ministry
spokesman said.

Thailand has asked Burma to provide it with any intelligence concerning the
deaths of the villagers, whose bodies were found two weeks ago scattered
along the border in Chaing Mai's Fang district, spokesman Don Pramudwinai
said.

A formal request was made yesterday when Minister/Counsellor U Nyan Lynn
from the Burmese Embassy in Bangkok met Foreign Ministry Deputy Director
General Kitti Wasinond to discuss the case.

Burmese officials said they would forward the request to Rangoon. Without
naming names, they said they believed the killing had been carried out by
one of the country's armed ethnic groups operating along the border, Don
said.

However, it is widely believed by Thai authorities that the killing was
carried out by troops from the UWSA, one of the world's largest armed
narcotic trafficking groups which operates out of the infamous Golden
Triangle.

Authorities investigating the killing said it may have been linked to the
UWSA's narcotics activities in Thailand.

The UWSA came into existence about a decade ago, shortly after the fall of
the Communist Party of Burma. A ceasefire agreement between Rangoon and the
20,000-strong UWSA was signed shortly afterwards. The group has since
expanded its military and heroin operations from the Chinese-Burmese border
to an area near the Thai border.

Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai had said that Thailand's northern region
bordering Burma's Shan State where the killing took place is vulnerable to a
number of illegal activities. The premier said both countries needed to work
together to clear the drug-infested border.

A number of government agencies in Thailand, including the army, the
interior ministry and the police, are expected to meet soon to discuss the
closing of some temporary checkpoints along the border for security reasons.


BY RITA PATIYASEVI

The Nation