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Wired News May 6 & 7, 1995



Attn: Burma Newsreaders
Re: Wired News May 6 & 7, 1995
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Burmese Rebels Say They Will Cease Thai Raids

   (recasts with rebels saying will stop raids into Thailand) 

    By Sutin Wannabovorn 

    MAE TA WAW, Thailand, May 7 (Reuter) - Burmese-backed guerrillas who have
been attacking Karen refugee camps in Thailand said on Sunday they were not
ready for war with Thailand and would cease their cross-border raids. 

    A commander of the rebel faction which broke away from Burma's
anti-Rangoon Karen guerrilla army and joined Burmese government forces in
December, said their religious leader, a Buddhist monk, had ordered them to
cease their attacks. 

    ``U Thuzana has ordered us to cease all operations for the time being and
wait to see the Thai reaction on the refugee issue,'' Said Major Toe Hlaing,
a local commander of the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA). 

    ``Our leader said we are not ready to declare war with Thailand but we
can defend ourselves if necessary,'' He said, speaking to Reuters across a
border river by two-way radio. 

    Toe Hlaing admitted his group was responsible for raiding several refugee
camps in Thailand last week and burning down hundreds of bamboo-and-thatch
refugee dwellings. 

    The raids angered Thailand and prompted an official complaint to Burma's
ruling military body. Thailand also moved in more than 1,000 reinforcements
and a formidable array of military hardware to reinforce the frontier. 

    Thai army helicopter gunships, firing machine guns and rockets, on
Saturday attacked a group of DKBA guerrillas dug in on a northwestern Thai
border mountain. 

    Thai helicopters attacked a DKBA camp in Burma on Friday, firing salvoes
of rockets into the rebel position at the confluence of the Salween and Moei
rivers. 

    Despite the clashes between Thai forces and the Burmese-backed
guerrillas, Thailand's constructive engagement with Burma's military governmen
t will not be derailed nor will Burma's chances of joining southeast Asia's
economic community be jeaopordised, Thai leaders said at the weekend. 

    ``There are no problems at all between our countries,'' Thai Interior Mini
ster Sanan Kachornprasart told reporters on Sunday during an inspection tour
of the troubled frontier. 

    ``The national policy on Burma will continue and nothing will change
it,'' Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai told reporters earlier. 

    Chuan said the border problems would not affect the Thai position on
drawing Burma closer to the six-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN). ``We have to be firm and not panic over one trivial issue,'' He
said. 

    The DKBA was formed in December by hundreds of Karen guerrillas who
mutinied against their leaders in the Christian-led anti-Rangoon Karen
National Union (KNU) and joined Burmese government forces. 

    The DKBA say their raids on the refugee camps in Thailand were aimed at
forcing the 70,000 Karen refugees in Thailand, many of whom are KNU
supporters, back to their zone of control in Burma. 

 REUTER


Transmitted: 95-05-07 07:27:17 EDT
*************

Harassed Karen Refugees Start to Head Back to Burma

      By Sutin Wannabovorn 

    MAE TA WAW, Thailand, May 6 (Reuter) - Hundreds of Karen refugees from
Burma, at the centre of an escalating confrontation between Thai forces and a
renegade Burmese guerrilla faction, are returning to Burma convinced it is
the only place they will find tranquillity. 

    Since the Burmese-government-backed guerrillas stepped up cross-border
attacks on the refugees last week the flow of people going back to Burma has
surged from a few dozen to more than 250 a day, Thai authorities said on
Saturday. 

    ``The number of returnees has risen dramatically,'' a Thai border police
officer monitoring groups of people crossing a border river told Reuters. 

    One diplomat said on Saturday the raiders from Burma appeared to be
achieving what they intended. The attacks were making life for the refugees
in Thailand so precarious they saw returning to Burma as the only way to find
some security. 

    According to Thai statistics, by Friday afternoon 262 Karen refugees had
returned so far that day at the Mae Ta Waw checkpoint. 

    ``There is no place for us to stay here so we have go back to the Burmese
side of the border,'' said Mya Zo, 46, who was going back with six members of
the family. 

    Members of the renegade Burmese rebel group, the Democratic Karen
Buddhist Army (DKBA), crossed into Thailand and burned hundreds of
bamboo-and-thatch houses in several refugee camps last week. 

    The DKBA say they want all 70,000 Karen refugees in camps in Thailand,
most of whom fled military offensives and human-rights abuses in Burma, to
return and live under their control. 

    Outraged by the cross-border raids that have left several Thais as well
as refugees dead, Thailand has sent more than 1,000 reinforcements and a
formidable array of military hardware to reinforce the frontier. 

    Thai forces launched a cross-border attack on the guerrillas on Friday, hi
tting one jungle camp with salvos of missiles from helicopter gunships, a
Thai army spokesman said. 

    Four Thai helicopter gunships were involved in the attack on the DKBA
camp on the west bank of the Salween river opposite the Thai village of Mae
Sam Laep, the Thai army source said. There was no word on casualties, he
said. 

    Despite the Thai show of force, it seems many of the Karen refugees are
convinced that if they remain in camps on the Thai side of the border they
will continue to be vulnerable to attacks by the DKBA. 

    One DKBA supporter, who described himself as a liason officer for the
faction, said Rangoon forces supported last week's raids into Thailand. 

    ``Burmese troops fired artillery from a hilltop artillery base to support
the DKBA attack but only a handful of Burmese soldiers were among the people
who entered the camp,'' The DKBA supporter told Reuters. 

    He said more than 20,000 Karen refugees had returned since January.
According to Thai local government figures, only 5,572 have so far gone back.


    The DKBA was formed in December by several hundred Buddhist members of
the anti-Rangoon Karen National Union (KNU) who mutinied against the KNU's
predominantly Christian leadership, claiming unfair treatment. 

 REUTER


Transmitted: 95-05-06 13:57:13 EDT
***************

Thais Say Border Raids Won't Change Burma Policy

      BANGKOK, May 7 (Reuter) - Clashes between Thai forces and Burmese-backed
 guerrillas will not derail constructive engagement with Burma's military
rulers nor jeapordise Burma's chances of joining southeast Asia's economic
community, Thai leaders said at the weekend. 

    ``There are no problems at all between our countries,'' Thai Interior
Minister Sanan Kachornprasart told reporters on Sunday during an inspection
tour of the Thai-Burmese frontier. 

    ``The national policy on Burma will continue and nothing will change
it,'' Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai told reporters earlier. 

    Thai army helicopter gunships, firing machine guns and rockets, on
Saturday attacked a group of the Burmese-backed guerrillas dug in on a
northwestern Thai border mountain. 

    The guerrillas are members of a faction which broke away from Burma's
Christian-led anti-Rangoon Karen guerrilla army and joined Burmese government
forces in December. 

    Hundreds of members of the faction, the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army
(DKBA), crossed into Thailand last week and burned hundreds of
bamboo-and-thatch houses in several refugee camps in an attempt to force the
refugees back to Burma. 

    Thailand, holding Burma responsible for the raids, sent an official
complaint to Burma's ruling military body and moved in more than 1,000
reinforcements and a formidable array of military hardware to reinforce the
frontier. 

    Despite the tension, Thailand says its policy of construcitve engagement
with Burma will not be undermined. 

    ``We should separate international affairs from one particular issue,''
Chuan said. 

    Chuan said the border problems would also not affect the Thai position on
drawing Burma closer to the six-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN). 

    Thailand is one of the largest foreign investors in Burma and last year
invited Burma to attend a Bangkok meeting of ASEAN foreign ministers, the
first time Burma joined an ASEAN meeting. It is expected to attend a July
gathering in Brunei. 

    ASEAN groups the dynamic economies of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the
Philippines, Singapore and Thailand, and will later this year admit Vietnam.
The association hopes to include Burma, Cambodia and Laos eventually. 

 REUTER


Transmitted: 95-05-07 05:23:22 EDT
*********************

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