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re Nation story, Wa guerrillas & dr (r)



Subject: Re: re Nation story, Wa guerrillas & drugs?

cd@xxxxxxx wrote:

This is a second posting? Can anyone, will anyone, make sense of this 
story, and what it means interms of us policy strategy? Does anyone know 
who may be experts in this area qualified to give responsible opinions? 
Please respond if interested or able to contribute to demystifying this 
information. dawn star 
> From: dawn star <cd@xxxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: re Nation story, Wa guerrillas & drugs?
> 
> Headline: THE NATION: WA GUERRILLAS SURPRISED BY US CHARGES
> Keywords: Wa, Burma, drugs, United Wa State Army (UWSA), International
> Narcotics Control Strategy Report,
> Date: April 9, 1996
> Source: BurmaNetNews,  Yindee Lertcharoenchok
> 
> Does someone have any info on why this story makes sense or doesnt make
> sense? Did Washington goof, or is this a deliberate attack, change of
> policy, attempt to push the drug problem away from washington, away from
> slorc, towards some kind of process in the making of normalisation
> between washington and slorc or what? And in that case, its alarming. It
> doesnt look good and i dont understand it? Urgent request for
> information.
> 
>  THE NATION: WA GUERRILLAS SURPRISED BY US CHARGES
> 
> > BURMA'S ethnic Wa guerrillas have expressed surprise that
> > Washington has, for the first time, named three of  their
> > leaders as among the "top [Burmese drug] traffickers" in its
> > 1995 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report.
> >
> > Senior officials of the United Wa State Army (UWSA) said
> > yesterday that they did not understand why acting leader Pao
> > Yu-chiang, senior commander Li Tzu-ju, and Southern Command
> > leader Wei Hsueh-kang, whom they claimed were innocent of
> > any trading in drugs, were included in the American report
> > which was released on March 1.
> >
> > They could not confirm whether the three top leaders, who
> > reside at the UWSA headquarters of Panghsang on the Sino-
> > Burmese border in the Shan Plateau, were aware or had been
> > informed about being accused  of being "top traffickers."
> >
> > "I don't quite understand why they [Washington] did so
> > [named the three Wa leaders] and how the names came about.
> > 'I feel very uncomfortable about this,' said a Wa official.
> >
> > In the report, the US State Department strongly criticized
> > Burma as still being the world's largest producer of opium  and heroin.
> >
> > It said the drug trade in Burma's northeastern Shan State
> > where the UWSA, the Chinese Kokang and opium warlord Khun Sa
> > have been competing against one another for the lion's share
> > of the opium and heroin market, continues virtually unchecked.
> >
> > The report blamed the Burmese junta for lacking the
> > "resources, the ability or the will to take serious action
> > against ethnic drug trafficking groups with whom they have
> > negotiated a number of ceasefire.
> >
> > 'Groups known to be involved in the heroin trade, such as
> > the UWSA and the Kokang militia, remain heavily armed and
> > enjoyed complete autonomy in their base areas,' it said.
> >
> > Although the ruling Burmese State Law and Order Restoration
> > Council (Slorc) "claims that these groups have committed
> > themselves to drug control as part of their ceasefire
> > agreements, the Burmese government has been either unwilling
> > or unable to get these groups to reduce heroin trafficking
> > and opium cultivation.'
> >
> > Apart from the three Wa leaders, the report also identified
> > U Sai Lin, aka Lin Ming-shing of the Eastern Shan State
> > Army; Yang Mao-liang, Peng Chia-sheng, and Liu Go-shi of the
> > Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (Kokang Chinese);
> > and U Mahtu Naw of the Kachin Defence Army as among other
> > top traffickers.
> >
> > It said Slorc's ceasefire agreements with "these drug
> > armies" has prevented the implementation of any meaningful
> > drug enforcement operations in areas which are under the
> > control of ethnic armies.
> >
> > "As a result, these regions have become drug trafficking
> > havens, where heroin is produced and trafficked without
> > risk.  Leaders of these drug armies have benefited immensely
> > from their good relationship with the Rangoon regime; their
> > businesses - legitimate and illegitimate - have prospered,'
> > it added.  The UWSA officials claimed that their leaders'
> > names must have been used by mistake as they "have never
> > been involved" in the drug trade. (TN)
> >