NEWS - 6 June: The Day that Toppled

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Subject: NEWS - 6 June: The Day that Toppled Khun Sa

Shan Herald Agency for News - June 6, 1999

Editorial:

6 June: The Day that Toppled Khun Sa

The world may remember the sixth day of June "forever" as D-day, the day
that Allied Forces invaded France to end Hitler's Third Reich in 1944.
However, many Shans are going to remember it as the day that marked the
beginning of the end for Khun Sa.

The New Year of 1995 found Khun Sa riding high as the leader of the
biggest
rebel army in the whole of Burma. Only a few areas in the Shan State
remained which was not operated by his forces. His dramatic attack of
Tachilek, a bustling border town opposite Chiangrai of Thailand,
shattered
the junta troops' morale and immensely boosted that of the opposition in
general. Despite his world image as a druglord, he seemed set to become
a
national leader and savior.

However, behind the curtains, things were working rapidly for his
downfall.
His handpicked commanders, unfortunately of Chinese descent mostly, were
so
unruly that both the fighters and people were getting impatient. Hopes
of
Khun Sa succeeding the late Gornzoeng as the "heart and soul" of Shan
resistance were wearing thin. They were only waiting for an excuse to
blow
their tops. And Khun Sa unintentionally supplied them with all that they
needed.

The first excuse was the summary execution in late 1994 of Lt. Ternyai,
a
well-known fighting officer of Maj. Gunyawd's 16th Brigade by Ltc.
Yape-moeng, a Chinese commander of the 8th Brigade, for his criticism of
the
latter's excesses. Homoeng's overruling in favor of Yape-moeng left
Gunyawd
and other fighter bitter and savage.

The next was the mysterious death on 7 January 1995 of Sao Sai Lek,
leader
of the Shan State Army who had just joined Khun Sa in Homoeng on 5
December
1994. Although authorities tried to explain that the popular Shan leader
died of blood poison, many believed that the poison was furnished and
administered by Khun Sa's doctors who were caring him.

The outcome was the defection of Maj. Ngo-harn, Sailek's longtime
follower,
to the SSA's ceasefire faction. The affair, as could be expected, did
not
help much with the growing lack of faith in Khun Sa's leadership.

As if this were not enough, Homoeng then delivered a coup de grace.
Gunyawd,
who was something of a politician-diplomat, was directed to sign a pact
with

some of the commanders from the ceasefire group, and after it was done,
a
contradictory order was given to ambush their unsuspecting allies. To
which
Gunyawd refused and demanded an explanation. A secret order in Chinese
was
then reportedly given to arrest and execute him. Fortunately, the secret
leaked out giving enough time for Gunyawd to defend himself and resist
Homoeng.

News of Gunyawd's mutiny at once spread like wildfire throughout the MTA
and
the people. The flock to his camp was almost a stampede which left Khun
Sa
thoroughly routed.

Having lost the moral support of the Shan people, Khun Sa, who could not
escape to any other country without facing arrest and trial, had only
one
choice: to come to terms with the junta. Hence, his surrender on 7
January
1996, a year after Sai Lek's death and six months after Gunyawd's
revolt.

Taking stock, nobody will know for sure whether Khun Sa might have won
freedom for the Shan people were it not for the mutiny. But today's
leaders
say with confidence that, with Khun Sa's departure from the scene, the
Shan
people have a better chance of realizing their dream. SHAN wishes them
all
the best there is.