Myanmar gives Thailand OK to kill e

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Japan Economic Newswire

APRIL 9, 1998, THURSDAY

Myanmar gives Thailand OK to kill ethnic Karen troops

BANGKOK, April 9 Kyodo


   Myanmar's junta has told Thailand that the Democratic Karen Buddhist 
Army (DKBA) is an illegal organization, and it has given Thailand a green 
light to arrest and execute DKBA soldiers who launch raids on Thai soil, 
the Thai Foreign Ministry said Thursday.

   The ministry, in a statement, quoted the junta as saying it does not 
control the Karen rebels, who have launched a series of cross-border 
attacks on refugee camps controlled by a rival Karen group.  

   Thai Deputy Foreign Minister Sukhumbhand Paripatra was reportedly told 
by the junta during a visit to Myanmar that the DKBA is an 'illegal 
organization' because it has never laid down its arms.

   'If DKBA forces were to stage any further incursions into Thai 
territories, the Thai authorities should arrest and execute them,' the 
statement quoted junta officials as saying.

   The Myanmar junta has denied that it has been guiding the DKBA in 
attacking refugee camps in Thailand populated by supporters of the rival 
Karen National Union (KNU), from which the DKBA broke away in December 
1994.

   But according to the Myanmar Foreign Ministry, the junta acknowledged 
that it has been in contact with the group 'through intermediaries.'

   The DKBA has launched repeated attacks against refugee camps in Thailand 
in an attempt to force Karen refugees back to Myanmar and to kill KNU 
soldiers believed to be seeking shelter in the camps.

   Thailand has made it clear that it will strongly retaliate against any
further intrusions.