Myanmar embassy gunmen leave trail

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Subject: Myanmar embassy gunmen leave trail of mystery

Thailand-Myanmar,sched
   Myanmar embassy gunmen leave trail of mystery
   by Dan Eaton
   ATTENTION - ANALYSIS ///

   BANGKOK, Oct 3 (AFP) - Gunmen who stormed the Myanmar embassy in Bangkok
demanding the junta hold talks with Aung San Suu Kyi's democratic opposition
have left a trail of mystery paradoxes after fleeing to the border.
   Who the gunmen were, and if their action signals a resort to violence by
Myanmar students in their quest for democracy after years of political
stalemate, remains uncertain.
   The only person who really seemed sure of the armed group's identity was
Thai Interior Minister Sanan Kachonprasart.
   "They are not terrorists, they are students who fight for democracy," he
told reporters after Thai authorities provided them with a helicopter to the
border.
   "They can go anywhere they want," he said, as long as they did not stay
in
Thailand.
   The five armed men calling themselves the "Vigorous Burmese Student
Warriors" held almost 40 people hostage, including diplomats and foreigners,
for more than 24 hours after storming the Myanmar embassy here Friday.
   They demanded the Myanmar junta free all political prisoners and open
talks
with the National League for Democracy (NLD), which overwhelmingly won the
1990 elections ignored by the military.
   Meanwhile, the NLD in Yangon, and exiled student groups and activist NGOs
here, sympathised with their objectives but quickly denounced any
involvement
and the use of armed force.
   "We categorically condemn the seizure of the embassy and the taking of
hostages," the NLD said.
   It said the embassy crisis was the result of "many acts of injustice and
cruelty repeatedly perpetrated by the military regime".
   The gunmen expressed deep frustration at the political stalemate in
Myanmar, hinting they were a student splinter group.
   Yet, at first glance, they do not appear to represent a new generation of
activists within pro-democracy ranks.
   According to reports quoting police and NGOs here the leader of the
group,
identified as San Naing, alias "Johnny," had a long record of terrorist
activities committed in the name of democracy.
   Under another name he hijacked a domestic Myanmar airliner in 1989 and
diverted it to Thailand. He was sentenced to six years in jail here, but
released under a royal pardon after serving only three.
   Having been refused asylum in Australia, he later spent more time in
prison
on explosives charges.
   The attack on Yangon's embassy put the Thai government in a predicament.
Officials here were not in a position to negotiate demands for a change in
Myanmar's military government.
   And Sanan's statement leaves a question mark over the future of
Thailand's
relations with its neighbour and fellow Association of Southeast Asian
Nations
(ASEAN) member.
   ASEAN has has a policy of not commenting on, or interfering in, the
internal affairs of member nations.
   Then there are the ironies: Thailand's government earns praise from its
usual critics, activist NGOs, and the US is found in a rare moment of
solidarity with the Myanmar junta.
   "Although the incident is over, it is also very important to make these
criminals realise that no matter under what pretext or disguise it might
have
been staged, the peace-loving people of the world community will not
tolerate
the criminal and terrorist activities they have committed," an official
junta
statement said.
   The United States used similar words to condemn the attack.
   "We strongly condemn this terrorist attack on a diplomatic establishment
and the taking of hostages, regardless of the perpetrators' motives or
demands," State Department spokesman James Rubin told reporters in
Washington.
   "There is simply no justification for terrorism under any circumstances."
   Yet the embassy attackers appear for the moment to have pulled off a
remarkable coup, returning Myanmar's political stalemate to the
international
limelight, and getting away with it.
   Human rights groups and dissidents released a statement warning Myanmar's
ASEAN partners that the hostage crisis should be considered a "wake up
call."
   "The event is a grim reminder that there are consequences for failing to
achieve peaceful positive changes in Burma," said the statement, signed by
nine organisations.
   "The best way to prevent such unfortunate events from recurring in
ASEAN's
front yard is to engage in a peaceful, political process at an early stage."
   de/agr/nj