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Myanmar troops may be preparing to



Subject: Myanmar troops may be preparing to cross Thai border

Myanmar troops may be preparing to cross Thai border
     Posted on 10/10/99, 09:44 AM CST. Email this story to a friend.

     Source: Nando.
     Posted by: ShweInc NEWs

     MAE HONG SON, Thailand (October 10, 1999 7:21 a.m. EDT
http://www.nandotimes.com) - Troops from Myanmar are pouring
     into border regions opposite Thailand's northern Mae Hong Son province
and may be preparing to attack refugee camps in
     Thailand, sources said Sunday. 

     Ethnic minority leaders and Thai intelligence sources said an attack
may be planned to retaliate for the seizure earlier this month
     of Yangon's embassy in Bangkok by pro-democracy student gunmen. 

     A senior Thai intelligence source told AFP he estimated that the
number of Yangon's troops in the area had increased in recent
     days from some 10,000 to between 20,000 and 30,000. 

     The Yangon junta closed the 1,440 miles border after five gunmen
stormed its Bangkok embassy Oct. 1, holding nearly 40 people
     hostage for 24-hours. 

     The gunmen, who initially called for the junta to hold talks with the
democratic opposition led by Aung San Suu Kyi, were later
     provided with an escape helicopter to the border by Thai authorities. 

     Myanmar officials while thanking Thailand for ending the hostage drama
peacefully have also accused Bangkok of being too
     soft on the gunmen, and pressured authorities here to get tough with
exiled dissidents. 

     They say the border camps harbor armed anti-junta forces and called
Saturday for Thailand to use an "iron first" to wipe out
     terrorism. 

     Meanwhile, the U.N. refugee agency Friday said it had completed the
movement of refugees from Huay Kalok camp in
     northwestern Tak province deeper inside Thailand to reduce the risk of
cross-border raids by junta-backed guerrilla forces. 

     Thailand hosts some 100,000 Myanmar refugees, mainly of Karen and
Karenni ethnic origins, who have fled suppression of
     ethnic insurgencies in military-run Myanmar. 

     Last year, several Karen refugees were killed and thousands were made
homeless when guerrilla forces backed by the junta
     raided camps on Thai territory. 

     After the storming of the embassy, Thailand said it would increase
security at diplomatic missions and crack down on several
     thousand exiled Myanmar students believed living here. 

     Bangkok and Yangon have been engaged in an escalating war of words
over the crisis, with senior Thai ministers arguing that
     the hostage-taking reinforced the need for democratic change inside
military-ruled Myanmar. 

     But Yangon has angrily denied any responsibility.