[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index ][Thread Index ]

BKK Post (10-12-99)



<html>
<font size=5>Ambassador was the target, says Johnny<br>
<br>
</font><font size=4>Suu Kyi denounced by student raidor<br>
<br>
<br>
</font><font size=3>Hiding in a Burmese jungle base with authorities from
two countries hunting him, the leader of a small band of student rebels
who seized Rangoon?s embassy in Bangkok on Oct 1-2&nbsp; said the
ambassador was lucky to still be alive.<br>
The man known as Johnny, whose capture of the embassy was the boldest
move in years by Burma?s outmanoeuvred pro-democracy movement, said this
week at the remote hide-out he will keep fighting as long as he
lives,<br>
Johnny said his group, who call themselves the Vigorous Burmese Student
Warriors and are called terrorists by Burma?s military&nbsp; regime, had
been prepared to kill Ambassador Hla Maung </font><font size=1>
</font><font size=3>who by luck of timing had left the embassy just
before the seizure.<br>
The group was also prepared to kill four other Burmese citizens if they
had to, he added.<br>
?I have to say the ambassador is very lucky,? said Johnny, handing out
one of Hla Maung?s business cards. ?I saw his car leave the embassy about
five minutes before we entered, but it was too late to call off the
operation.?<br>
In a sign of the frustration dogging Burma?s opposition, Johnny denounced
Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the legal opposition and winner of the 1991
Nobel Peace Prize, for her nonviolent promotion of democracy.<br>
?1 don?t like Suu Kyi because I don?t think she really loves the
country,? Johnny said. ?She doesn?t have the courage to run the
country.?<br>
Suu Kyi?s marriage to the late Michael Aris, a British academic, showed
she preferred foreigners to her own people, he said, reflecting a view
held by the Rangoon regime.<br>
?I?ll be, against her if she?s in the government,? Johnny said.<br>
Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy criticised the embassy
raid, expressing sympathy for the aims but declaring her movement wanted
to<br>
?show that the human spirit can prevail over the might of arms?.<br>
Johnny and four other exiled students stormed the embassy on Sathorn
road, demanding a restoration of democracy in Burma and holding dozens of
diplomats and foreigners hostage at gunpoint for 26 hours until they were
given safe passage to the border.<br>
Thai police have since issued warrants for their arrest.<br>
The five have surfaced at the border base of a small Karen guerrilla band
known as God?s Army, led by twin 12-year-old boys. Johnny, whose real
name is Kyaw Ni, said the embassy takeover was meant to attract
attention&nbsp; so the world would put pressure on Burma?s military
regime.<br>
?I just wanted to show the Burmese what we can do,? Johnny said. ?And I
think we have achieved that.<br>
?We won?t be here too long,? he said. ?There?s still many more things to
do. But can?t say what they will be. It will be a fight to get rid of the
Burmese government.?<br>
<br>
--------------------------------------------------</font>
<BR>
</html>