AFP : SPDC says embassy gunmen stil

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Subject: AFP : SPDC says embassy gunmen still in Thailand and dangerous

 Myanmar says embassy gunmen still in Thailand and dangerous
   
   BANGKOK, Nov 12 (AFP) - Myanmar's ruling military Friday said five 
pro-democracy gunmen who stormed its embassy in Bangkok last month were 
"definitely" not on its side of the border with Thailand.
   Myanmar is piling pressure on its neighbour to arrest the group which it 
says are terrorists.
   "The five gunmen are definitely not inside Myanmar," a statement sent to 
AFP by the junta's spokesman said.
   Thailand has said it will arrest the men if they are caught here, but says 
it is unaware of their whereabouts.
   Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai said last week the five wanted to surrender 
but were still outside Thailand.
   Myanmar was livid when Thailand provided the gunmen with a helicopter to 
escape to the border in a deal which ended the 24 hour siege, and the junta 
promptly closed the frontier, saying it would not reopen until Thai 
authorities arrested the men.
   A senior member of group, calling itself the Vigorous Burmese Student 
Warriors (VBSW), told AFP last month the gunmen were moving between villages 
on the Myanmar side of the mutual border.
   Meanwhile, a statement from the VBSW late Thursday vowed to press on with 
their militant fight against the junta in Yangon.
   The gunmen denied they were about to surrender.
   "We, the Vigorous Burmese Student Warriors, who claimed responsibility for 
the 24-hour embassy hostage drama, do not have a plan to surrender to the
Thai 
government," they said in a statement.
   "We decided to fight against the military dictatorship and to continue our 
revolution until we are dead.
   "We are ready to die in action," the hand-written statement said.
   The gunmen took the embassy on October 1, holding 38 people hostage for 
more than 24 hours and initially demanding the ruling military in Myanmar
open 
talks with the democratic opposition led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.
   The junta Friday said the group's statement revealed its "violent nature."
   "This is a similar statement given in the past by extreme radicals and 
terrorists elsewhere in the world."


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