The BurmaNet News: November 17, 199

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Subject: The BurmaNet News: November 17, 1999

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The BurmaNet News: November 17, 1999
Issue #1403

HEADLINES:
==========
AFP: MOTIVES SHROUDED IN DOUBT WITH WORLD BANK OFFER
BBC/DVB: MILITARY OFFENSIVE TO FLUSH OUT GUNMEN
THE NATION: KNU OFFERS SAFE ABODE
SUNDAY TIMES: SAVING RACHEL
BKK POST: SURIN ACCEPTS INVITATION TO BURMA
AFP: AUSTRALIAN FM CALLS FOR CHANGE IN MYANMAR
REUTERS: DISSIDENTS RIOT AT THAI HOLDING CENTRE
*****************************************************

AFP:: MYANMAR MOTIVES SHROUDED IN DOUBT WITH WORLD BANK OFFER
16 November, 1999 by Stephen Collinson

AFP, Bangkok, 16 November 1999 Myanmar's motives in inviting a World Bank
team to discuss its limping economy were shrouded in doubt Tuesday, as
analysts debated if the move was merely a ploy to ease foreign pressure on
the junta.

While genuine dialogue with the World Bank would indicate a new spirit of
openness, its validity would hinge on the generals' willingness to act on
World Bank recommendations, observers said.

The invitation was made public after a highly critical World Bank report
leaked to a newspaper warned that Myanmar's economy was on the verge of
collapse, submerged in debt, choked by inflation and starved of foreign
investment.

Extracts reported by the International Herald Tribune said the military must
promote political reform to stave off a systemic banking crisis.

Myanmar expert Mohan Malik of Australia's School of International Defence
Studies gave a measured reaction to the junta's invitation, warning it had a
history of adopting apparently conciliatory stances while retreating behind
entrenched positions.

"From time to time, the regime gives out encouraging signs, but it is often
a device to ease Western pressure and then they carry on doing what they
have been doing," he said.

Only genuine action could demonstrate the junta's sincerity," he said.

"Political reform -- that is the bottom line, if they do not do it then
everything else is secondary."

Potential points of contention between Myanmar and the World Bank appear on
to centre on the causes of the economic malaise.

Myanmar ministers, who could not be reached Tuesday, say their problems lie
in an investment drought and Western trade restrictions imposed to punish
alleged human rights abuses.

The World Bank report puts the blame squarely on the military dominated
state apparatus and tightly controlled economy.

Myanmar analyst Sunai Pasak, from Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University sees
little hope the junta will admit mistakes.

"There will be no genuine response from the Burmese junta -- there will be
just a ploy to engage with the World Bank," he said.

They might introduce some kind of 'structure of reform' but it is very
problematic how far they would go."

Sunai said Myanmar had failed in an attempt to emulate China, one of the few
states with close links to Yangon, by giving economic development priority
over political reform.

"It does not have the fundamentals to use as a stimulus for economic growth
as China did," he said.

World Bank sources have told AFP that any new initiative in Myanmar would
first aim to build confidence similar to the bank's efforts in North Korea.
There is little prospect of substantial aid being granted early in the
process.

Observers in Yangon detect no sign the junta is ready to embrace a purported
aid for reform payoff mooted by diplomats as a "carrot and stick" drive for
reform last year.

"I think there is a sense in which none of the leaders here think they have
done a bad job with the economy," said one political observer.

Ministers told AFP recently that Myanmar looked towards the outside world
for help but was prepared to go it alone and hinted it could endure a
subsistence level of existence.

Copies of the scathing World Bank report were delivered secretly to Yangon's
top generals and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi by a World Bank envoy
accompanying a special representative of United Nations chief Kofi Annan
last month.

The study was based on an examination of Myanmar's economy that had
reportedly received "unusual cooperation" from the junta.

A Myanmar spokesman told AFP Monday the government had "invited the World
Bank representatives for further discussions."

"For the time being there is no comment to give on the World Bank's
findings," he added.

*****************************************************

BBC/DVB: MILITARY OFFENSIVE TO FLUSH OUT GUNMEN BEGINS
17 November, 1999 by Htet Aung Kyaw

BBC Summary of World Broadcasts

Source: Democratic Voice of Burma, Oslo, in Burmese 1245 gmt 15 Nov 99

Text of report by Burmese opposition radio on 15th November

Dear listeners. The SPDC [State Peace and Development Council] forces have
begun an offensive in the Kamawplaw region which is under the control of the
KNU [Karen National Union] 4th Brigade in southern Burma's Karen State where
the five students who seized the Bangkok Burmese embassy are supposedly
hiding. DVB correspondent Htet Aung Kyaw filed this report.

[Htet Aung Kyaw] After the five students who seized the Bangkok Burmese
embassy refused to surrender to the Thai authorities, the SPDC forces
yesterday launched a fierce offensive in the area where the students are
supposedly hiding. The Kamawplaw offensive was conducted by Tactical
Operations Command Nos 331 and 332 under the 33rd LID [Light Infantry
Division] and includes nine columns from LIB [Light Infantry Battalion] Nos
116, 119, and 102.

When DVB contacted the KNU 4th Brigade, a KNU major, on condition of
anonymity, confirmed the offensive. He said three
battles took place yesterday and the SPDC suffered at least one dead and
five wounded. He went on to say that the battles took place in the region
between Aungthawara, the headquarters of the 33rd LIB, and Kamawplaw area
and the battles could get fierce.

According to DVB sources, the SPDC forces under 33rd LID and 9th Battalion
are clearing the KNU 4th Brigade region and many villagers were massacred in
the Myitmoeletkha area. Villagers who fled the fighting were captured by the
SPDC forces before they reach the Burma-Thai border. More than 100 villagers
who managed to escape to the Maepyarkhee border area were refused entry into
Htan Hin refugee camp by the Thai authorities.

The Thai side is exerting great pressure for the surrender of the five
students and the day before yesterday they have arrested and jailed over 200
villagers from Tagonlun village, who are sympathizers of God's Army.
Furthermore, some observers pointed out that since the Thai authorities have
blocked the border area where the students are hiding, it seems they are
supporting the SPDC offensive.

According to sources close to the students, the talks [between the students
and Thai authorities] broke down because the Thai authorities rejected the
proposal by the students, who wanted the trial to take place in a third
country.

So far, there has been no response from the Thai authorities regarding the
SPDC offensive. According to border sources, since the Border Patrol Police
9th Battalion has not yet been stationed along the border, it is believed
that the SPDC forces might cross the border and enter Thailand.

*****************************************************

THE NATION: KNU OFFERS SAFE ABODE
16 November, 1999

TAK -- Burma's largest armed ethnic rebel group, the Karen National Union,
said yesterday it was willing to offer accommodation for all Burmese
nationals being deported by Thai officials in a crackdown on illegal foreign
workers.

Gen Bo Mya, leader of the KNU, said that all Burmese nationals, regardless
of ethnicity, will be welcome in the rebel's territory.

Bo Mya was leading a group of journalists to an area opposite Tak province
in Burma's Karen State to show off areas the group has set up to facilitate
all the returnees.

The general said he was concerned that government troops would punish the
returnees because many of them are ethnic Karens and have relatives fighting
in the KNU army He also voiced concern that some of the returnees could be
Burmese government agents.

Bo Mya insisted that the area where the returnees will be residing, opposite
Tak province, is safe as KNU troops and landmines have been positioned to
secure the area. However, he did not rule out the possibility of attacks by
government troops.

Meanwhile, a KNU field commander Maj Ner Dah has condemned the rival
Democratic Karen Buddhist Army, a pro-Rangoon splinter group, for exploiting
their own people by demanding payments from Burmese workers upon their
landing on Burmese shores off the Moei River, which serves as the natural
boundary between the two countries.

KNU is the largest Burmese ethnic army fighting for independence from the
military government of Rangoon.

Three years ago before the economic crisis, Thailand played hosts to about
one million foreign workers.

*****************************************************

SUNDAY TIMES: SAVING RACHEL
November, 1999 by Edward Goldwyn

Edward Goldwyn tells how he and his wife launched a charm offensive that
helped persuade the Burmese to free their dissident daughter Rachel

My daughter Rachel said she was going on holiday to Germany, but my wife
Charmian (always known as Chum) had a sneaky suspicion that she might be in
Burma. On Monday, September 6, she phoned and said: "Hello Mum, how are you?
I'm in Germany." The following day we learnt that she had been arrested in
Rangoon for chaining herself to a railing in a busy street and singing a
pro-democracy song.

That day I had been to hospital: I don't hear in one ear, which could have
been due to a growth - but just that day we discovered that it was okay. We
came home walking on air and found a message on the answering machine from
the Foreign Office, saying please call them. Our first thought was that
Rachel must have had a serious accident in Germany. When they told us that
she had been arrested in Burma, Chum burst into tears. Knowing that James
Mawdsley, the pro-democracy campaigner, had been sent to prison there for l7
years, we felt desperate.

As a family we have always cared about democracy and inequality in a
middle-class way. Chum and I were both on the Aldermaston marches and Chum
took Rachel to Greenham Common. As a television documentary-maker, I have
made many programmes about the Third World and the family have often come
with me.

In 1997 Rachel set off on a sightseeing trip around the world, backpacking
with Bob, a college friend. In Thailand, near the Burmese border, they were
overheard speaking English by a Canadian who provided English lessons in
refugee camps. They went to the camp and stayed as teachers for nine months.

Rachel became very involved with the refugees - the civilian victims of the
bloody fighting between the Burmese and Karenni armies just over the border.
She was surrounded by landmine victims who had lost limbs, orphans, widows
and girls who had been raped. She naturally formed a picture of the Burmese
military authorities as evil.

When she came back to London she was rather at a loss. She went to talk to
the many different factions of the Burmese dissidents over here and tried to
organise a weekend workshop, but nobody turned up.

We knew that Rachel was committed to getting the Burmese a better deal, but
we didn't think she would go as far as she did. For five days after we'd
heard she was arrested, nobody knew where she was. Chum and I would find
ourselves awake in the middle of the night thinking: "What's happening to
our little girl now?"

In fact, she had decided to use a hunger strike to force the Burmese to
allow her access to the British consul. Desperately worried, Chum spoke to
James Mawdsley's mother, who said: "Chin up. The first time James was caught
he was deported straight away. Rachel will be out immediately."

Amid all the confusion, we contacted an old friend, Stephen Jakobi, who runs
a charity called Fair Trials Abroad. He said: "You need to decide your
strategy and then tell the Foreign Office how they fit in with it. Then
issue a press release."

By then I had notes on 53 good arguments on why Rachel should be released. I
ranted on while Stephen listened. Then he said, "I know now." With one
finger, he typed: "This is a case of misplaced idealism." That single
sentence focused all our energy. At 4pm on September 7, the phone rang and
we heard from the British consul that Rachel had been sentenced to seven
years in jail. We cried. Chum rang our older daughter Naomi. She cried.
Whoever I rang cried.

I spent the next 48 hours on the phone, chasing the day as it went around
the world. In the afternoons, I talked to American experts on Burma, at
night I contacted Australian and Singapore academics and businessmen with
Burmese connections. After dawn, the Europeans. A common consensus emerged:
first, we had to go in person and appeal as a family for their
understanding.

Second, don't think of the military as a gang of drug-running gangsters.
They see themselves as hardworking, religious, intensely patriotic men
"doing our best for the good of the people of our country".

We had not been granted Burmese visas and finally wrote to the Burmese
ambassador, explaining that Rachel was idealistic, describing her time in
the refugee camp and apologising for the embarrassment she had caused. He
explained that the camps were bases for the insurgent armies and she would
have been presumed to be a mercenary.

The ambassador conceded there might have been a mistake and got us visas. He
said he would arrange a minor diplomatic reception for us. When we looked
surprised, he replied: "You have done nothing wrong. We respect aged
parents."

The day before we flew to Rangoon, Chum went shopping to buy Rachel bras
without underwires (she wasn't allowed them in prison). What else could we
buy her? Tins and jars and an Alpen sort of thing from the supermarket. The
next day we stepped off a plane into the tropical heat and were taken to a
simple, clean hotel. That night we went to meet the British consul at his
home, a beautiful old colonial house with dark wood, high ceilings and white
upholstered furniture.

We told him our philosophy was to meet the government ministers alone as two
parents, not with representatives of the British government making official
demands. Alone with the military leaders, we could talk about our family and
ask them about theirs. It was an advantage that we were ignorant of
diplomatic protocol. As long as we were polite, we could raise anything and
even go down on our knees.

The British ambassador said: "I think one of us should go along just to get
you started." Chum looked at me and shook her head. "No, thank you," I said.
"We'll go alone, as contrite parents asking the generals for their sympathy.
We'll keep in touch and if it goes wrong, ask for your help." The next
morning we were driven through streets full of charcoal smoke and vegetables
and overloaded buses honking their way along roads. We turned into a gate
and drove past rows of soldiers with AK-47s held across their chests. The
guards saluted us. Everyone stood up as we were taken through offices into a
huge meeting room.

When the minister for home affairs arrived, Chum and I said we were sorry
for Rachel's actions and described the Rachel we love. After an hour the
minister, Colonel Tin Hlaing, said through the interpreter: "Don't worry.
Things will be fine but it will take time. Meanwhile, you should see the
country." We asked to see Rachel. He said: "We respect you for coming here.
You may see her as often as you wish."

We had been told to expect only one visit a month. Straight away we set off
on the long, slow drive to the jail though traffic and crowded markets. Chum
and I held hands in the back of the ministry car, feeling absolutely
terrified. Rachel had been inside for three weeks; it was two months since
we had seen her. The car stopped and we were surrounded by military
intelligence photographers.

We were shown into a meeting room where the prison doctor, the prison
governor and a military intelligence officer sat on armchairs covered in
pink lace. The doctor told us Rachel was fine. After tea and biscuits we
walked a few yards into a vast room, which was empty except for a small
square table at the far end. Rachel was sitting at the table, upright and
dressed in white, with her back to us. It was overwhelmingly theatrical. We
weren't sure how to behave. We walked forward, saying: "Rachel, Rachel." She
turned with a radiant smile and we ran towards each other and the three of
us hugged.

We sat down. Rachel looked ethereal but all right, considering her three
weeks in solitary confinement. She soon took charge of this novel meeting
and introduced us to her wardens. A full posse of officials and prison staff
watched all our visits. At the end of the visit, I apologised for the
disturbance and said we would come every other day from then on. They
thanked me. We asked if we could bring Rachel food and books. Every letter
and book was translated and vetted. Rachel gave us lists of books she wanted
for the Far East development studies course she was meant to start in London
in October.

We left her in that awful place with very heavy feelings. She was under
24-hour surveillance even when she was on the lavatory, and the light was
always on. We brought her the blackout eyemasks we were given on the plane.
Towards the end, she had pen and paper, which helped her become very
structured. She didn't have a watch but she knew by the shadows in her cell
what time of the day it was. She'd exercise and read and study. On every
visit we'd take her food from a street market near our hotel.

Chum and I had to convince the authorities that we truly were an idealistic
family with a similarly inclined daughter. We knew the stakes were the
highest we had ever had in our lives. We had been told by our experts that
everyone we met would write a report that would influence when Rachel was
freed.

We asked to visit things that would give us an understanding of Burma. We
were treated like VIPs and accompanied by our senior case officer, Major Myo
Khaing, to see the national museum, temples, pagodas, the new airport and
container port, housing projects and stores.

It was very tiring, but if you make the effort, anything can become
interesting. We asked to visit our professional counterparts. We went to
television studios for me and on long hospital ward rounds for Chum.

After six weeks in his company, we became very close to Myo. We argued with
him often about torture and freedom of speech, but reached understanding
when we talked about our families. He believed a country is more important
than an individual. The military has ruled Burma for so long that he could
make no distinction between these two questions: "Is the seven-year sentence
for Rachel right because it is good for the country?" and "Is the seven-year
sentence justice for Rachel?" As the days went by, Rachel became stronger
and more centred, more practical and down-to-earth.

Asking for this garlic, or that book, she was Rachel again. Even the guards
used to enjoy our visits because we would tell jokes.

Eventually the military believed we were genuine. On the night of Sunday,
October 31, a man from military intelligence said Rachel would be freed the
next morning. We could pick her up then and take her away. We went, she
signed the standard forms promising good behaviour, and that was that.
Which, of all the actions we'd initiated, had turned the key? Maybe it had
nothing to do with anything we'd done. We'll never know.

I'd have done anything to get Rachel out of prison. Chum, however, needed to
believe and understand the Burmese, a huge difference. I don't know if the
stories of genocide in 1988 are true; I was happy to leave it labelled
"unknowable at this time" if it would help get Rachel out. So what did we
come home to? A press that within 10 minutes had decided that Rachel was not
a heroine but someone who had given in.

Within minutes the Burmese community here were writing press releases saying
how traitorous she was. Rachel had achieved more publicity for their cause
than they had in decades. Is this the way to treat a brave girl who bore
witness to the world, at huge danger to herself? In her words, "I stood up
for people who had no voice."

*****************************************************

THE BANGKOK POST: SURIN ACCEPTS INVITATION TO BURMA
16 November, 1999

VISIT LIKELY BEFORE NOV 25 ASEAN MEET

The foreign minister has accepted an invitation to visit Burma and will
likely go there before Asean heads of government meet in Manila later this
month.

Surin Pitsuwan told reporters after an hour-long meeting with Burmese
ambassador Hla Maung, he hopes the trip will lead to an easing of the
situation on the Thai-Burmese border.

Burma closed its land and sea borders after Burmese dissidents stormed the
Burmese embassy and held hostages there on Oct 1. Thailand began deporting
illegal Burmese workers as planned early this month despite the border
closure.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Don Pramudwinai said Mr Surin will meet his
Burmese counterpart, Win Aung, during the day-long visit. But was not yet
clear if he also would meet more senior members of the junta.

Mr Surin said Thai and Burmese authorities had been in consultation since
early October and that Burma first extended the invitation for him pay a
visit two weeks ago.

Earlier yesterday, Mr Surin said he would not travel to Burma for talks
unless there was a clear agenda.

The Burmese government, he said, must be "prepared and willing" to solve
on-going bilateral problems.

Over the weekend, the foreign minister stressed diplomacy must be conducted
through proper channels and not through personal connections.

The ministry spokesman said Thailand regarded the invitation as a "good
sign" of better relations between the two countries.

Mr Surin's visit to Burma is expected to take place before Nov 25, when he
is due to attend a ministerial conference in Manila in preparation for the
summit of Asean heads of government there on Nov 28.

>From today till Nov 18, Mr Surin is co-chairing Thai-Australian ministerial
talks in Nakhon Si Thammarat.

During Nov 18-19, Mr Surin will play host to Cambodia's foreign minister Hor
Namhong.

*****************************************************

AFP: AUSTRALIAN FM CALLS FOR CHANGE IN MYANMAR
16 November, 1999

BANGKOK, Nov 16 (AFP) - Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer called
for political reform in Myanmar Tuesday, as he arrived in Thailand ahead of
two days of talks on economics and regional security.

"Australia's perspective is that we want to see political liberalisation in
Burma (Myanmar) and a lot of the long-standing constitutional questions
there resolved," he said.

Downer's strategy on military-ruled Myanmar has come under attack in recent
months after it emerged Australia had started tentative talks with the junta
aimed at establishing a human rights commission.

Pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi was angered that people imagined they
could work with the junta to improve human rights.

"It's a bit like asking the fox to look after the chicken," she told AFP.

Downer has defended the plan as a means of engaging the junta, which is
accused of perpetrating forced labour, rape and torture, on human rights
violations.

On Wednesday, Downer is due to join his Thai counterpart Surin Pitsuwan and
Deputy Prime Minister Supachai Panitchapkdi at the city of Nakhon Si
Thammarat in southern Thailand.

The talks take place a week ahead of the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations informal summit in Manila which is likely to see discussion of the
Myanmar issue and the fate of East Timor which voted for independence from
Indonesian on August 30.

Downer praised Thailand, the current head of ASEAN's policy making regional
forum, for its efforts to enhance the organisation's role.

"Dr Surin is determined to ensure the ASEAN regional forum continues to
progress and that it evolve to more than just a talking shop," he said.

He also hailed Thailand's role as second in command of the Australian-led
multi-national peaceforce for East Timor (Interfet)

"Thailand has also demonstrated its enthusiasm to support regional security
by participating in the international force in East Timor," he said.

Australian Ambassador William Fisher Tuesday said the forum would solidify
already close ties between Thailand and Australia.

"There is a very strong partnership between Australia and Thailand across so
many areas in trade and foreign policy and the MEC is an important forum to
advance our cooperation," he said.

Australian trade minister, Mark Vaile, will also attend the meeting, along
with senior foreign, commerce and agriculture officials as well as business
delegations from both countries.

"They are focusing on the big bilateral picture between Thailand and
Australia -- economics, social issues, everything," said an embassy
spokesman.

*****************************************************

REUTERS: MYANMAR DISSIDENTS RIOT AT THAI HOLDING CENTER
17 November, 1999

BANGKOK, Nov 17 (Reuters) - About 100 Myanmar dissidents have clashed with
guards at a holding centre in western Thailand, leaving at least two people
injured, police said on Wednesday.

The dissidents started the hour-long riot on Tuesday night after guards at
the Maneeloy camp in Ratchaburi province refused to let them out to get a
colleague who had been arrested over the weekend for stealing.

One Myanmar dissident suffered a gunshot wound and was hospitalised, as was
a Thai security guard who was beaten up by the mob, a police spokesman told
Reuters.

``Investigators will be dispatched to the camp on Wednesday to find the
wrongdoers and they will be punished in accordance with Thai law,'' the
spokesman said.

About 1,000 dissidents, who fled violence and political suppression in
Myanmar in 1988, have been held in the Maneeloy centre since 1993 under an
arrangement with the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Frustrated by tight regulations governing their movements out of the centre,
they have been restless in past weeks.

Last month, a group of dissidents held five UNHCR employees hostage for
several hours after they were denied their monthly living allowance of $20 a
month for violating camp rules. The issue was later resolved.

The dissidents have also come under pressure since five armed Myanmar
dissidents raided the Myanmar embassy in Bangkok on October 1 and held 89
people hostage for about 25 hours.

The embassy attackers later released their hostages and flew to freedom in
the jungles around the Myanmar border near Ratchaburi. But the incident
embarrassed Thai authorities who have since taken a harder stance on the
dissidents.

The latest incidents have prompted the Thai government to impose tougher
measures on their movements and work with the UNHCR to speed up their
resettlement in third countries.

Thailand has set November 21 as the deadline for nearly 2,000 Myanmar
dissidents living illegally in Bangkok to register with the authorities and
be sent to the Maneeloy centre pending resettlement abroad.

More than 200 of them have registered.

--------------------

[BurmaNet Editor's Note: BurmaNet received the following report about the
above-mentioned incident from a reliable source who wishes to remain
anonymous.]

SECOND SHOOTING AT MANEELOI CAMP: STUDENTS CALL FOR URGENT TALKS

Bangkok, Wed: - Following 2 separate shooting incidents within 48 hours,
students at the Maneeloi Safe Area Camp have called for an urgent, high
level dialogue to resolve the long-running problems experienced at the camp
since its establishment in 1993.

Late this afternoon, guards at the Maneeloi camp shot at a group of inmates
when they ran to the aid of a student being beaten by other guards. Mr. New
Aung, in his late 20s, was shot in the left leg and is currently
hospitalized at Ratchburi Hospital. In the first incident, a student accused
of attempted theft was shot in the leg by a local duck-owner early Sunday.

The students have asked for a meeting with the Governor of Ratchburi for a
start.

A student leader who requested anonymity said: "Both the students and the
camp administration have been experiencing serious problems in the camp.
This has been going on and on without any real improvement. We believe that
it will not change unless there is a genuine dialogue between the
authorities and the camp inmates.

"We would like senior officials of the MOI [Ministry of Interior] and other
authorities responsible to have a dialogue with us, so that we can honestly
and openly discuss the problems and solve them. I think the MOI has no idea
what is really happening in this place. The situation is just getting worse
and the people in the camp are getting more frustrated. Many people,
especially the inmates with children are also getting more afraid,
especially now that the guards are shooting at us. This is a serious
problem."

According to sources in the camp, an inmate was shot in the leg over the
weekend by a local who accused him of trying to steal his duck. The accused
was given medical treatment and is being detained at Pak Thor police
station. Most of the camp inmates are of the view that this is a private
matter to be settled according to Thai law.

This afternoon, a small group of about 10 inmates protested against the
shooting but the protest petered out when other inmates did not join in. At
about 5.30 p.m. this evening, a guard at the camp's main entrance beat a
student with his gun. When about 20 students standing in another section ran
to the scene to investigate, guards near the camp administration shot at
them, injuring Nwe Aung. Guards at the main entrance also fired their guns,
but aimed their shots into the air.

*****************************************************







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