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Burma's news -2- Bangkok Post 2-10-



Subject: Burma's news -2- Bangkok Post 2-10-99

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<font size=7><b>Exiled leader pleads against repatriation<br>
</font></b><font size=5><i>Torture, death await raiders if sent 
back<br>
</font></i><font size=3><b>Post Reporters<br>
</font><font size=5>T</font></b><font size=3>he leader of Burma's
parallel government yesterday appealed to the government not to
repatriate or deport the dissidents who seized hostages and occupied the
Burmese embassy.<br>
&quot;We plead with the Thai government to take action according to Thai
law except repatriating them.. repatriating them is simply letting them
be tortured and killed,&quot; said Sein Win, when contacted in
Washington.<br>
&quot;We hope the Thai government sees the situation in a wider political
context, not just as a question of people occupying the embassy,&quot;
said Dr Sein Win, head of the exiled National Coalition Government of the
Union of Burma.<br>
The storming of the Burmese embassy &quot;happened because the military
[junta in Rangoon] ignored the people's will&quot;, he said.<br>
The dissidents called on the ruling military junta to release political
prisoners, enter into a &quot;meaningful dialogue&quot; with the
pro-democracy opposition, and form a coalition government based on
results of the 1990 election.<br>
&quot;Young people are frustrated.. they have been waiting a long time
for the military [junta] to change the way to democracy. They are quite
angry,&quot; he said.<br>
Dr Sein Win was confident the hostage-taking would not hinder the cause
of the pro-democracy opposition working inside and outside Burma.<br>
He said repression is increasing in Burma with more arrests of
dissidents. He also said human rights violations in the Shan state are
&quot;happening every day on a large scale&quot;.<br>
&quot;The military say one thing and do something else.. we don't know
who is in charge,&quot; he said, referring to remarks made on Sept 24 in
New York by Burmese Foreign Minister Win Aung<br>
U Win Aung told the Asia Society his government was trying to stop the
fighting among warring factions.<br>
He also said the government was transitional, with democracy its goal.
<br>
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</font><font size=7><b>Ambassador says relations will stay intact<br>
</font></b><font size=5><i>Expert sees already bad ties worsening<br>
</font></i><font size=3><b>Post Reporters<br>
</font><font size=5>B</font></b><font size=3>urma's ambassador to
Thailand said the hostage-taking would not harm bilateral relations, but
an analyst disagreed.<br>
Ambassador Hla Maung, who escaped the hostage-taking because he was
outside the premises at the time of the raid with six other embassy
officials, said bilateral relations would remain good. &quot;The Thai
government is trying hard,&quot; he said. &quot;Our relations are still
good relations, no problem.&quot;But Chayachoke Chulasiriwongs, Burma
specialist at Chulalongkorn University, believes the incident will worsen
already bad relations.<br>
&quot;Relations were already bad. What happened yesterday will only make
matters worse,&quot; Mr Chayachoke said.<br>
The ambassador expressed confidence the 13 embassy officials held inside
would be safe because of the attention Thai authorities were giving the
matter.<br>
Foreign Ministry officials as well as the prime minister's secretary had
contacted him, and the permanent secretary for foreign affairs had
cancelled a trip to Europe in order to deal with the problem.<br>
&quot;I like this manner,&quot; he said. The ambassador said he tried to
reach a captive embassy official by calling his mobile telephone, but a
man who identified himself as Johnny answered.<br>
The ambassador urged him &quot;not to make trouble with our
staff&quot;.<br>
Mr Chayachoke faulted the Thai government, especially intelligence
agencies, for allowing the incident to happen.<br>
It will raise concern about the safety of other embassies in Thailand, Mr
Chayachoke added. <br>
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</font><font size=7><b>All in camp accounted for<br>
</font><font size=5>A</font></b><font size=3> list of Burmese students at
Ban Maneeloy holding centre in Ratchaburi has been checked and all are
accounted for, Interior Ministry sources said.<br>
The camp in Suan Phueng district holds 900 Burmese students, according to
records held by the ministry and the United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees.<br>
Investigators have not established if any Ban Maneeloy students were
involved but believe the raid was the work of a radical armed group at
the border.<br>
More than 100 Ban Maneeloy students rallied at the camp to call on the
dissidents to refrain from violence against people in the embassy.<br>
The camp was sealed to prevent students from leaving and to enable
officials to carry out a head count.<br>
Aung Soe, leader of the Ban Maneeloy students, who was taken to Bangkok
to help negotiate with the dissidents, told police he knew nothing of the
raid. He felt it might have been carried out by a 200-strong group that
broke from the mainstream body in recent months. <br>
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</font><font size=7><b>History repeats itself<br>
</font></b><font size=5><i>Hostage crisis echoes Israeli embassy
raid<br>
</i><b>T</font></b><font size=3>he Burmese embassy crisis is a flashback
to the 1972 hostage drama at the Israeli embassy engineered by the Black
September Ali Taha terrorist group.<br>
Four Palestinian guerrillas stormed the embassy in Soi Lang Suan, off
Ploenchit road, on Dec 28 and held six Israelis hostage including the
then-Israeli ambassador to Cambodia.<br>
The terrorists threatened to shoot the hostages and blow up the embassy
if their demand for the release of 36 Palestinians held in Israeli jails
went unheeded. Police and army soldiers cordoned off the embassy while
senior government officials led by Brig-Gen Chatichai Choonhavan, then
deputy foreign minister, and ACM Dawee Chullasapaya, then chief-of-staff
of the Supreme Command, tried to negotiate with the terrorists.<br>
Witnesses saw the four terrorists step out of a taxi and walk about in
front of the embassy for a while before dashing to the front door of the
building and smashing a glass panel to gain access to the compound at
11.30am.<br>
Brig-Gen Chatichai managed to establish dialogue with the terrorists but
was held back from entering the embassy building for fear he might end up
another hostage.<br>
Police set up their operation command centre in the deserted Mater Dei
Convent across from the embassy. They were later joined by a unit of
paratroopers and riot police.<br>
The Mater Dei centre soon became a meeting point of top officials. The
then Israeli ambassador, Rehavem Amir, travelled back and forth between
his residence and the command centre where he was frequently seen
conferring with the Egyptian ambassador and top Thai cabinet
members.<br>
After lengthy talks with the terrorists, ACM Dawee announced that they
were ready to free the hostages provided their safe passage from Thailand
was guaranteed. A breakthrough came when the terrorists agreed to
exchange the hostages with 10 Thai officials to guarantee their safe
getaway.<br>
The terrorists chose to go to Cairo. A number of airlines were approached
and Thai Airways International was eventually assigned to fly them to the
Egyptian capital.<br>
The 18-hour drama ended with all the hostages being released unharmed.
The terrorists were flown to Cairo along with the officials who
volunteered to be their new hostages including Brig-Gen Chatichai, ACM
Dawee and Egyptian Ambassador Moustafa el-Assawy.<br>
ACM Dawee later said in Cairo his appeals to the terrorists on behalf of
His Majesty the King had saved the Israeli hostages from almost certain
death.<br>
The embassy seizure coincided with one of Thailand's most auspicious days
when HRH Prince Vajiralongkorn was bestowed his title crown. The
terrorists later said their willingness to compromise with Thai
authorities stemmed purely from the fact they had chosen the wrong day to
strike.<br>
The terrorists added they hoped their release of the hostages would
demonstrate their goodwill towards Thai people.<br>
After the crisis was over, Thailand was showered with words of praise,
especially from the then-Israeli ambassador who lauded Thai authorities
for &quot;remaining so cool and well-organised during those difficult
hours&quot;.<br>
Golda Meir, then Israeli prime minister, said the Thai government's
action in securing the release of the hostages should serve as a model
for other governments faced with similar circumstances. <br>
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</font><font size=7><b>Attack on embassy is an outrage<br>
</font><font size=5>B</font></b><font size=3>y forcing their way into the
Burmese embassy with war weapons including assault rifles and hand
grenades, and by taking hostages, the dissident Burmese students have
stepped well over the line.<br>
They have used Thailand for hostile action against a foreign government
and their activities can not be condoned.<br>
The students may well understand that support for their cause is
widespread not only in Thailand but on the international scene, but they
should be aware that the sympathy is founded on an injustice the people
of Burma have suffered for decades.<br>
In taking matters into their own hands in violation of Thai and
international law, they are playing with fire and weakening their own
cause.<br>
Thailand can not tolerate the armed invasion of any diplomatic
mission.<br>
We have obligations to ensure not only the safety of representatives of
foreign governments but their ability to function without 
hindrance.<br>
Our relations with Burma are at best problematic, and the storming of the
embassy will merely serve to make those relations more difficult.<br>
The action at the embassy is also likely to prompt a reaction on the part
of authorities here that will work against the interests of Burmese
people taking shelter on Thai soil.<br>
The raid will certainly draw international attention to the cause of a
people who have struggled for more than four decades to choose their own
leaders, but the fact is the generals in Rangoon have shown themselves to
be unmovable objects. The events at the mission on Sathorn road are
unlikely to bring about the departure of the State Peace and Development
Council.<br>
So far, no one has been hurt.<br>
Shots have been fired and the action has caused alarm. Thai authorities
have been correct to state that force will not be used to end the
stand-off at the embassy.<br>
But it is important now that the students recognise that they are causing
greater problems to the authorities here than they are to their
adversaries in Rangoon.<br>
It is not too late to call the whole thing off, to understand that they
have, by their actions, drawn the attention of the world to the plight of
the Burmese people.<br>
Desperation and weapons make for a bad mixture and the longer the
stand-off continues, the greater the temptation to bow to emotion and
make a terrible mistake. This must not be allowed to happen.<br>
The cause of the Burmese democracy movement has won widespread support
because of the sacrifices that have been made by ordinary people and the
blood that they have shed. It is only natural that a sense of outrage
remains among people who were given the opportunity to chart their own
future only to have their hopes crushed by a regime that was merely
toying with their democratic aspirations.<br>
It is also natural that the Burmese people feel let down badly by
regional neighbours who chose to embrace their oppressive rulers as
members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.<br>
This newspaper stood firmly against the admission of the regime that
purports to represent the people of Burma and has since demanded that the
regional grouping act on its obligations to make Rangoon worthy of its
membership.<br>
The consequences of the injustices that continue to be inflicted upon the
people of Burma are today being felt in the heart of Bangkok.<br>
A problem caused by an oppressive regime is being visited upon a people
largely supportive of the people of Burma. <br>
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