Burma Rebel Group Gives Up Struggle

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The Nation
Tuesday May 10, 1994
 
 
BURMA REBEL GROUP GIVES UP STRUGGLE
 
Associated Press
 
Rangoon -- The Karenni National Peoples Liberation Front, an ethnic 
minority group, gave up their fight against the government in a formal 
ceremony yesterday.
 
The front had about 1,800 fighters operating in Kayah State, which 
borders Thailand in the east. The news agency said more than 300 
rebel officers attended the ceremony in Loikaw, the state capital 350 km 
north-east of Rangoon, where top officers of the ruling junta received 
them.
 
The report said the front's leader, Tun Kyaw, shook hands with 
government military commanders, then sat down with junta officer Lt 
Gen Khin Nyunt to plan how the two sides would jointly develop the 
area.
 
The front is the 11th rebel group to give up fighting, allowing the junta 
to solidify its control of the country. The junta came to power after 
crushing pro-democracy demonstrations in 1988.
 
One of the most powerful groups, the Kachins, made peace with the 
government in February. Two smaller ethnic minority rebel groups, the 
Mons and another Karenni group, are engaged in peace talks with the 
government. That leaves the Karens the only powerful group still in 
the jungles, and even they have indicated willingness to talk.
 
Most of the rebel groups battled for greater autonomy for their areas, 
and many had been fighting since Burma achieved independence from 
Britain in 1948.
 
Meanwhile, another Associated Press report added that Burma has 
accepted an invitation to attend the ASEAN foreign ministers' meeting 
for the first time.
 
The invitation letter was handed over in April by Thai Foreign Minister 
Prasong Soonsiri, chairman of the ASEAN standing committee. 
Burmese Foreign Minister Ohn Gyaw is expected to attend the ASEAN 
meeting, to be held in July in Bangkok. Thailand, Indonesia, the 
Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore make up the Association 
of Southeast Asian Nations.
 
At the annual foreign ministers' meeting, they discuss coordination of 
their foreign and economic policies and hold talks with the United 
States, Japan and other allies. This year, there will also be 
unprecedented formal talks on regional security problems.
 
The West isolates Burma because of the junta's human rights 
violations, but ASEAN says the only hope of improving the situation 
is by contact.