Reuters-SPDC's propagandism

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Myanmar says ethnic fighters kill peace mediators
04:44 a.m. Aug 15, 1999 Eastern
YANGON, Aug 15 (Reuters) - Ethnic fighters in northern Myanmar tortured and
killed two peace mediators they had invited for talks late last month, the
Myanmar government said.

Daw Phraemoe and Hla Din, who had been instrumental in negotiating the
defection of 100 members of the Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP)
last month, were killed by other members of the group on July 31, the
statement seen on Sunday said.

``They were deceitfully invited by some members of the remaining KNPP armed
terrorists for peace talks but were both tortured and killed when they
arrived at the invited venue,'' it said.

The government, which is seeking ceasefires with all Myanmar's armed ethnic
groups, said the killings were ``shocking and disheartening'' to those who
wanted peace.

The KNPP has been fighting the central government for greater autonomy since
August 1948, seven months after Myanmar earned independence from Britain.

The Karenni tribe, numbering around 300,000, is the smallest of Myanmar's
ethnic minorities. Thousands have fled the Mynamar military to refuge in
camps in Thailand.

In 1995, Yangon said nearly 8,000 members of the KNPP surrendered to the
government, but ceasefire talks have failed in the past two years, with the
KNPP leadership accusing the government of increasing its military presence
in Karenni territory not reducing it.

The KNPP has forged an alliance with few remaining ethnic groups still
fighting the Myanmar government, including the Karen National Union
guerrillas.