2/10/99AAP:DESPERATE BURMESE GROUP

[uneoo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

THAI-EMBASSY ASIA: FREED THAI SAYS BURMESE EMBASSY ATTACKERS HOLD 20 
DATE: 16:12 01-Oct-99 
 ASIA: Freed Thai says Burmese embassy attackers hold 20 THAI EMBASSY
LEAD

 BANGKOK, Oct 1 Reuters - A Thai policeman released by gunmen from a
siege at Burma's embassy in Bangkok  today said about 20 people were
being held by the attackers, who said they were student dissident
exiles.

 "They say they have eight AK-47 rifles and 20 hand grenades. They say
they are holding 20 people. But have not   said what their demands are,"
the policeman, who was part of the embassy security detail, told
reporters.

 He said the attackers told him about 12 of them had stormed the
embassy: "They let me out because they don't  want to have trouble with
the Thai authorities," he said.

 A diplomat at the embassy told Reuters at least three armed men broke
into the embassy compound and were  holding diplomats and family members
in an embassy building.

 Witnesses said several gunshots could be heard from the compound as
Thai anti-terrorist units took positions at  the scene. It was unclear
if anyone was wounded.

 Many student dissidents fled Burma to Thailand after the military in
their country killed thousands to crush a  pro-democracy uprising in
1988. Some of the students teamed up with ethnic guerrilla groups based
on the  Burmese border which have fought for decades against the Rangoon
government.

 REUTERS ts 

THAI-EMBASSY ASIA: SHOTS FIRED AS GUNMEN STORM BURMESE EMBASSY 
DATE: 18:31 01-Oct-99 
 ASIA: Shots fired as gunmen storm Burmese embassy THAI EMBASSY
NIGHTLEAD

 By Sutin Wannabovorn

 BANGKOK, Oct 1 Reuters - A dozen armed men stormed the Burmese embassy
compound in the Thai capital  today and took at least 20 diplomats and
family members hostage, police and a diplomat at the embassy said.

 Several bursts of automatic gunfire were heard from within the compound
but it was unclear if anyone had been  wounded.

 To a burst of about 10 shots, the attackers removed the Burmese flag
from the compound flagpole and ran up  another carrying the symbol of
Burmar's struggle for democracy -- a fighting peacock.

 A Thai policeman released from the siege said the attackers told him
they were student dissident exiles, who use  the fighting peacock as a
symbol of their struggle against military rule in neighbouring Burma.

 "They say they have eight AK-47 rifles and 20 handgrenades. They say
they are holding 20 people. But have not  said what their demands are,"
the policeman, who was part of the embassy security detail, told
reporters.

 About 300 heavily armed police including members of an elite
anti-terrorist squad rushed to the embassy in central  Bangkok but were
ordered to hold their fire to allow for negotiations.

 Police established an operations centre in a next door building and
Interior Minister Sanan Kachornprasart arrived  to direct operations.

 About a dozen police sharpshooters were perched on top of a tall
building neighbouring the embassy. Nearby  roads were cordoned off by
police.

 Bangkok police chief Major-General Jongrak Juchanon said he had ordered
his men to hold their fire to allow talks  to end the siege. "We are
trying to contact them to find out what they want and negotiate with
them," he said.

 A Danish man, who declined to give his name, told reporters his
Malaysian wife, who was with him near the  embassy when the gunmen
charged in, was dragged into the compound.

 He was being interviewed by police who also detained a man outside the
embassy, handcuffed him and  questioned him. No details were available.

 Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai said he was following the situation
closely. "We are still assessing the situation. I  was informed that the
group has not made any demands yet."

 The vice president of the main group of Burmese students in exile said
his group had no connection with the  attack.

 "We don't know exactly who they are," Moe Thee Zun, of the All Burma
Students' Democratic Front, told Reuters.  "We are not involved in this,
we don't want to support terrorist actions... we don't want to make any
political  activity inside Thailand."

 Many student dissidents fled Burma to Thailand after the military in
their country killed thousands to crush a  pro-democracy uprising in
1988.

 The military has since kept a tight reign on dissent and ignored the
result of the country's last election in 1990  when the opposition
National League for Democracy, led by Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu
Kyi, won by a  landslide.

 The policeman freed from the embassy said the attackers had told him
about 12 of them had stormed the  compound: "They let me out because
they don't want to have trouble with the Thai authorities," he said.

 A distressed attache, Hla Hla Kyi, told Reuters earlier by telephone
from a building inside the compound that the  attackers were keeping
embassy staff in another building.

 "They are keeping the staff members in the office," she said. "So far I
am okay. But we've had no contact with the  people in the office --
they've cut the phones."

 Police in the area outside the embassy compound used loudhailers to try
to make contact with the intruders.

 A Burmese government spokesman from Rangoon told Reuters that the
Burmese ambassador to Thailand, Hla Maung, was not in the embassy when
the gunmen stormed it at 10:50 am.

 "We don't know yet which organisation or group they are representing.
We have talked to the Thai authorities  and they are taking action," he
said.

 The attack on the embassy coincided with a visit to Bangkok by US
Defence Secretary William Cohen who later flew on to Singapore on the
next leg of a tour of Southeast Asia which has focused on the crisis in
East Timor.

 REUTERS ts 

 
THAI-EMBASSY-DEMANDS ASIA: GUNMEN IN BURMESE EMBASSY LIST DEMANDS 
DATE: 19:05 01-Oct-99 
 ASIA: Gunmen in Burmese embassy list demands THAI EMBASSY DEMANDS

 BANGKOK, Oct 1 Reuters - Gunmen holed up in the Burmese embassy in
Bangkok today demanded Rangoon's  military government free all political
prisoners, enter into a dialogue with the opposition and convene a
democratic  parliament.

 In a faxed statement to Asiaworks Television Ltd in Bangkok, the group
warned that if the Burmese military  government did not accede to the
demands it would be fully responsible "for all consequences of this
action".

 The group, calling itself the "Vigorous Burmese Students Warriors",said
so far it had not killed anyone and would  like to talk to the Thai
authorities.

 "We are ready to die in action unless we ... get our demands," it said
in the fax to the television production  company. "Right now we didn't
kill anyone and we didn't oppress anyone," it added, "also we need food
for the  hostages".

 The statement said the group was not connected with Burmese dissident
student organisations, the country's  opposition or international
support groups. "This action is our own movement and our own ideas," it
said.

 The statement expressed support for a committee established last year
by Burma's main opposition party the  National League for Democracy
(NLD) to represent a parliament elected in 1990 but never allowed to
convene by  the military.

 The NLD, led by 1991 Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, won the
country's last election by a landslide but  the ruling military ignored
the result. The NLD advocates non-violent political change in Burma.

 REUTERS ts 

 THAI-EMBASSY ASIA: ARMED GROUP STORMS BURMESE EMBASSY IN BANGKOK 
DATE: 22:26 01-Oct-99 
 ASIA: Armed group storms Burmese embassy in Bangkok THAI EMBASSY SECOND
NIGHTLEAD

 By Dan Eaton

 BANGKOK, Oct 1 AFP - Twelve armed men stormed the Burmese embassy in
Bangkok today, taking at least 30  hostages, including a number of
foreigners, and demanding Burma's military rulers open talks with Aung
San Suu  Kyi's opposition.

 Police said the men, armed with AK-47 assault rifles and grenades,
attacked the high-walled embassy just before  noon (3pm AEST).

 Shots rang out inside the building but all the hostages were believed
to be safe.

 Negotiators were talking to the group, which identified itself as the
"Vigorous Burmese Student Warriors", police  said.

 Dozens of police wearing flack jackets cordoned off Sathorn Road,
surrounding the embassy in Bangkok's  diplomatic sector, and sniffer
dogs were searching the area, an AFP reporter on the scene said.

 Snipers took up positions on surrounding rooftops.

 Thai officials named 13 diplomats believed to be inside the embassy but
said Ambassador Hla Muang and six  other envoys were not there when it
was stormed.

 Three hostages were released during the afternoon, a Thai security
guard, an elderly gardener and a police guard.  Witnesses said they
looked shaken but unhurt as they walked free.

 In a statement obtained by AFP the group called for the Burmese junta
to begin talks with the opposition National  League for Democracy (NLD)
and release all political prisoners.

 Faxed from inside the embassy, the statement said the hostages were
unharmed but the attackers were willing to  "die in action" unless their
demands were met.

 "Eleven years after (the) nationwide democracy uprising Burma remains
under the oppressive military regime and  the people are denied
democracy and human rights," the statement said.

 Hostages inside the embassy told friends by telephone they feared for
their safety.

 "One man with a gun is below our flat and I am stuck inside," a friend
quoted the wife of a diplomat as saying.

 "I am worried about my husband, I heard some shots before, but I only
know what I can see on television," she  said.

 The junta in Burma is condemned internationally for alleged widespread
human rights abuses including the  systematic rape and torture of ethnic
minorities, the use of slave labour and political imprisonment.

 It is also vilified for ignoring the results of a 1990 election won in
a landslide by the NLD under Nobel laureate  Aung San Suu Kyi.

 Thai Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai said the group had demanded to see an
exiled student leader being held at the  interior ministry's detention
centre.

 Two student leaders were later brought from detention to talk through a
loudspeaker to those inside the  compound, but were quickly removed to
safety after three more shots rang out from the compound.

 The attackers tore down the Burmese flag, replacing it with the red and
gold fighting peacock banner of the  student pro-democracy movement.

 A spokesman for Burma's military government said the ambassador was
working to secure the release of the  hostages.

 "He is working together with the Thai authorities," he said in a
statement received here.

 AFP cjh

THAI-EMBASSY ASIA: GUNMEN SEIZE BURMESE EMBASSY; AUSTRALIAN AMONG
HOSTAGES 
DATE: 00:44 02-Oct-99 
 ASIA: Gunmen seize Burmese embassy; Australian among hostages THAI
EMBASSY THIRD NIGHTLEAD

 By Sutin Wannabovorn

 BANGKOK, Oct 1 Reuters - A dozen heavily armed men stormed the Burmese
embassy in Bangkok today and  took at least 30 people hostage, including
an Australian, before demanding to be flown to the Thai-Burma border.

 The men, armed with grenades and assault rifles, responded to initial
attempts to start talks with shots into the air.

 They fired several times during the day but all the hostages, who were
held in the ambassador's office, were  unharmed, said a man who
identified himself as a Canadian hostage when contacted inside the
embassy.

 A faxed statement from a group claiming responsibility for the attack
demanded that Burma's military government  free political prisoners,
start a dialogue with the opposition and convene a democratic
parliament.

 The group, calling itself the "Vigorous Burmese Students Warriors",
said so far it had not killed anyone and would  like to talk to the Thai
authorities. But it warned in the fax: "We are ready to die in action
unless we get our  demands."

 The foreigners included an Australian, three Frenchmen, three
Canadians, one German, an American and several  Malaysians, Singaporeans
and Thais, said the man who identified himself as Antoine Marcotte, 31,
from Montreal.  He spoke by phone to a producer from local production
house, Asiaworks Television Ltd.

 A Thai government official said a Japanese was among the hostages, who
included 13 Burmese nationals,  including the first and second secretary
at the mission.

 "Everybody was a bit scared when some shots were fired earlier,"
Marcotte said in the taped interview in the  afternoon. Moments later
three more shots rang out on the tape.

 Police delivered food for those in the embassy.

 "We delivered the food at the gate, they came to take the food," said
the government official. "After this we will  discuss the release or
exchange of hostages. We will ask them to release the women first but if
they want someone  to exchange we will talk about that."

 One of the gunmen in the embassy said they were holding 30 hostages and
were seeking a helicopter to fly to the  Thai-Burma border. The man, who
identified himself only as "Johnny", told a Thai radio station that his
group,  which numbered about 12, did not intend to harm any of the
hostages.

 "All the hostages are safe," he said in halting Thai. "We don't intend
to harm anyone. I would like to ask for a  helicopter that can carry 20
people and that can fly to the border."

 The gunmen earlier freed a Thai policeman who was part of the embassy
security detail and two more Thais  managed to escape the compound
later. The policeman told reporters the attackers said they had eight
AK-47  rifles and 20 grenades.

 About 300 heavily armed police, including members of an elite
anti-terrorist squad, were rushed to the embassy  and nearby roads were
cordoned off. Sharpshooters were atop a tall building next to the
embassy but were  ordered to hold fire to allow for negotiations.

 Police brought in a Burmese dissident from a holding centre south of
Bangkok who stood on a firetruck and used  a loudhailer to call to the
gunmen in the Burmese language to start talks. The response from within
the embassy  was three more gunshots.

 Deputy national police chief Lieutenant-General Wannarat Kocharak
remained hopeful of a peaceful conclusion.

 "From initial contacts I am optimistic," he said. "They said they are
not going to harm the hostages and if they  decide to release the
hostages they would release the women first."

 Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai visited the command centre at the scene
having earlier told reporters the  government would do its best to
ensure the siege ended without violence.

 "The priority now is to get the hostages out. We are not sure how long
the situation will last, but we will try to let  those students meet
with anyone they want," he said.

 "This is a problem between the students and their government and has
nothing to do with the relationship  between Thailand and Myanmar
(Burma)."

 A Thai police guard at the embassy at the time of the late-morning
attack said he saw several men walk into the  compound from a minibus.
One of them was carrying a guitar case.

 When he asked the man what he was carrying, he shouted "guns!" and ran
into the main embassy building in the  compound. They then shut the
doors at entrance to the building and the siege began, he said. The
guard then ran  out of the compound.

 A Danish man, who declined to give his name, told reporters his
Malaysian wife, who was with him near the  embassy when the gunmen
charged in, was dragged into the compound.

 Later, under cover of about 10 shots, the attackers pulled down the
Burmese flag from the embassy flagpole and  ran up one carrying the
symbol of the country's democracy struggle -- a fighting peacock.

 The statement from the group claiming responsibility said it was not
connected with Burmese dissident student  organisations, the country's
opposition or international support groups. "This action is our own
movement and  our own ideas," it said.

 However, it expressed support for a committee established last year by
Burma's main opposition party, the  National League for Democracy (NLD),
to represent a parliament elected in 1990 but never allowed to convene
by  the military.

 The NLD, led by 1991 Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, won Burma's
last election by a landslide but the  military ignored the result. The
NLD advocates non-violent change.

 Many student dissidents fled to Thailand after the military killed
thousands in crushing a pro-democracy uprising  in 1988.

 REUTERS ao


THAI-EMBASSY-THREAT ASIA: BURMESE GUNMEN THREATEN TO KILL HOSTAGES - BBC 
DATE: 03:40 02-Oct-99 
 ASIA: Burmese gunmen threaten to kill hostages - BBC THAI EMBASSY
THREAT URGENT 

 BANGKOK, Oct 1 Reuters - Gunmen holding at least 30 hostages, including
an Australian, in the Burmese  embassy in Bangkok have threatened to
shoot one hostage every half hour, starting tomorrow, if their demand
for  an escape helicopter is not met, the British Broadcasting
Corporation reported.

 The BBC quoted a man, who gave his name only as Johnny and who was
identified as the leader of the gunmen,  as saying in a telephone
interview that they would start shooting the Burmese hostages at the
embassy at 8am  (1100 AEST) tomorrow.

 Earlier the group, calling itself the "Vigorous Burmese Students
Warriors", issued a faxed statement demanding  that Burma's military
government free political prisoners, start a dialogue with the
opposition and convene a  democratic parliament.

 The BBC quoted the source, who spoke in the Burmese language, as saying
the gunmen would cut down trees  and the flagpole in the embassy
compound to make way for a helicopter which they have demanded to fly
them to  the Thai-Burma border. Earlier, a Thai radio station quoted
Thai police sources as saying a helicopter could not  land in the
embassy grounds as they were too small.

 The BBC quoted Johnny as saying "30 plus" hostages were being held in
the embassy including nine foreigners.  He said that if the helicopter
were provided, the gunmen would take with them five Burmese embassy
staff.

 He said he did not want to harm any hostages, and that there was no
immediate threat to the international  hostages. But he warned that if
the Thai authorities started to shoot, he did not know what would
happen, the  BBC said.

 REUTERS ao


THAI-EMBASSY-THREAT ASIA: GUNMEN THREATEN TO SHOOT HOSTAGES IN BURMESE
EMBASSY 
DATE: 04:17 02-Oct-99 
 ASIA: Gunmen threaten to shoot hostages in Burmese embassy THAI EMBASSY
THREAT LEAD

 BANGKOK, Oct 2 AFP - Gunmen who stormed the Burmese embassy here and
took more than 30 hostages,  including an Australian, have threatened to
begin killing the hostages if their demand for a helicopter to take
them  to the border between the two countries is not met by 8am (1100
AEST) today.

 "If our demand is not met we will have to kill (them)," a member of the
armed group identifying himself as  "Johnny" told AFP by telephone from
inside the embassy compound.

 "These people they are as good as dead."

 The man, believed to be the leader of the group, said he had 12 heavily
armed men, and that more than 30 hostages  were being held.

 Thai authorities said the armed group, believed to be dissident Burmese
students, cut off negotiations early today  with officials seeking to
free about 38 hostages, including a number of foreigners.

 "The terrorists have cut off communication lines with negotiators,"
Bangkok police chief Lieutenant General  Wanarat Kotchrag told reporters
camped outside the embassy.

 "Their demand is for a helicopter to take them to the border, and we
will resume discussions in the morning."

 But a top military commander said it would be virtually impossible to
meet the students' demand for a helicopter to  take them and a number of
hostages to the Thai-Burma border as one could not land inside the
central Bangkok  embassy compound.

 General Chettha Thanajaro, security adviser to the Thai government,
said Burma had authorised authorities here  to take any action they
deemed necessary to end the crisis.

 "The Myanmar (Burmese) government notified us that they approve any
necessary action taken by Thailand," he  said.

 Thai officials have named 13 diplomats believed to be inside the
embassy but said ambassador Hla Muang and six  other envoys were not
there when it was stormed.

 Several foreigners including nationals from Germany, France, Canada and
Britain are thought to be among the  hostages, officials said.

 It was believed there were also a number of Malaysians, Singaporeans,
an Indian and one Japanese being held in  the compound. Some 15-20 Thais
were also inside the building, according to police.

 In a statement obtained by AFP earlier, the group called for the
Burmese junta to begin talks with the opposition  National League for
Democracy (NLD) and release all political prisoners.

 Faxed from inside the embassy, the statement said the hostages were
unharmed but the attackers were willing to  "die in action".

 "Eleven years after (the) nationwide democracy uprising, Burma remains
under the oppressive military regime and  the people are denied
democracy and human rights," the statement said.

 AFP ao

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