[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index ][Thread Index ]

Thai Govt sends signal to Karen reb



Subject: Thai Govt sends signal to Karen rebels: Go and Fight!!!

IS THIS A WAY OF TELLING THEM AS DID THE WARRIORS TO GO BACK TO THE
JUNGLE AND FIGHT THEIR WAY TO RANGOON? SEEMS THATS WHAT IT IS SAYING.
AND ISNT THAT BETTER THEN WASTING AWAY IN A REFUGEE CAMP? WHERE YOU ARE
NOT EVEN GIVEN THE STATUS OF REFUGEES ? 

ds
> 
> Soured Thai-Myanmar ties indirectly aid Karen rebels
> 
> c Kyodo News Service
> 
> MAE SOT, Thailand, Nov. 18 (Kyodo) - By: Supalak Ganjanakhundee Recently
> strained relations between Thailand and Myanmar are providing a welcome
> respite from attacks by Myanmar's military on Karen rebels dug in near the
> Thai border, a Karen leader said Thursday.
> 
> ''If the two countries have good ties, Thailand will do Myanmar a favor by
> blocking our movements, trying to force us to defect to the junta,'' Bo Mya,
> leader of Karen National Union (KNU), said in an interview with Kyodo News.
> 
> But because relations between Thailand and Myanmar have plummeted since five
> gunmen, believed to be Myanmar students exiled in Thailand, stormed the
> Myanmar Embassy in Bangkok and held hostages for 25 hours on Oct. 1 and 2,
> Bangkok has applied no pressure on the KNU to surrender to Myanmar's
> military government, Bo Mya said.
> 
> Myanmar has sealed all border checkpoints with Thailand and terminated Thai
> fishery concessions in Myanmar sea areas to force Thailand to arrest the
> hostage-takers, but even though Thai police arrested two students recently,
> they were not key players in the embassy incident and bilateral relations
> are still poor.
> 
> Surin Pitsuwan, Thai foreign minister, is expected to visit Yangon soon in a
> bid to restore ties, but it is unclear if he can be successful.
> 
> Bo Mya, interviewed at a hideout in Myanmar's Karen State, said, ''The junta
> actually wants to resume the border connection with Thailand because
> ordinary people are suffering from a shortage of food and consumer goods.
> But the big problem now is how the junta generals can save face.''
> 
> Additionally, he said, the border closure has had no direct adverse impact
> on the KNU because the KNU does not rely on border trade. He suggested, in
> fact, junta attention is now so focused on keeping the border sealed that it
> has no time to combat the rebels.
> 
> But Thai military source said Bo Mya and the KNU could be in trouble during
> the dry season between now and April because the junta and its minority
> allies in the region are planning a major offensive against the KNU.
> 
> Bo Mya said he too has learned of the plan for an offensive, but brushed it
> off as simply ''the annual task'' of the Myanmar military.
> 
> ''We have fought with (Yangon) since 1949 and we are still alive. No matter
> how big the attack is, we have to fight,'' the 73-year-old KNU leader said.
> 
> He also noted the KNU has changed its strategy from direct confrontation to
> guerrilla warfare since losing its stronghold at Manerplaw near the Thai
> border in a battle with the Myanmar armed forces and the Yangon-backed
> Democratic Karen Buddhist Army in 1994.
> 
> ''We have divided into various small mobile units now to make it difficult
> for Myanmar troops to attack,'' Bo Mya said.
> 
> The Karen leader claimed that with the tactical change, the KNU killed about
> 100 Myanmar soldiers during the past three months.
> 
> The KNU was set up in 1947 by Saw Ba U Gyi to protect Karen interests in the
> border region and went underground in 1949, a year after Myanmar gained
> independence from Britain.
> 
> Bo Mya said the KNU now has about 20,000 troops deployed in seven brigades
> in Karen State, but the Thai military source estimated its strength barely
> reaches 4,500.
> 
> The KNU, determined to win an independent Karen state, has failed in several
> attempts to establish a cease-fire with the junta and previous military rulers.
> 
> The last breakdown was in 1995, but Bo Mya said he still hopes for an
> accommodation with the junta.
> 
> ''I am old, they are tired. Both sides cannot prolong armed fighting
> forever. There are many means to reach the goal (of peace),'' he said,
> without saying how he expects to reach the goal.
> 
> AP-NY-11-17-99 2351EST