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The Junta scores



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The junta scores

The military junta in Myanmar is basking in the sunshine of a success
story that was, in some measure, made possible by the diplomatic
pressure it exerted on Bangkok during the latest crisis, says P.S.
SURYANARAYANA.

The Hindu Newspaper (India), January 30, 2000

THE FIGHT against anti-state terrorism is an issue that enables
Myanmar's military Government to make common "cause" with the larger
international community with a degree of "comfort level" despite the
periodic Western moves to isolate Yangon. Not surprisingly, Myanmar's
governing State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) has found itself on
the winning side during the latest seizure of a hospital complex in
Thailand by a band of rebels opposed to the Yangon junta itself and the
decisive counter-terrorist action that Bangkok took to bring the crisis
to a successful end.

Ironically, Thailand's Prime Minister, Mr. Chuan Leekpai, has come under
domestic political criticism over certain aspects of the commando
operation that ended the hospital seizure at Ratchaburi that lies not
far from the border with Myanmar. In contrast, the SPDC is basking in
the sunshine of a success story that was, in some measure, made possible
by the diplomatic pressure it exerted on Bangkok during the latest
crisis.

There is more to this contrast than meets the eye. The SPDC, on one
side, and successive Governments in Thailand, on the other, often tend
to view differently even the issues of common concern to them. This is
traceable to the traditional cultural-political rivalry between the
Thais and Myanmar's majority population of Burmese and to Bangkok's more
recent historical experiences of befriending the West, especially the
U.S., and China, on differing diplomatic wavelengths though.

Following the latest rescue of several hundred Thai hostages from what
turned out to be the loose clutches of 10 anti-SPDC militants, all
belonging to Myanmar despite the fact that some of them did not wish to
owe allegiance to that country, Yangon lost no time in commending the
action taken by the Chuan Government.

An act of anti-State terrorism was defeated, it was acknowledged, and in
this case the 10 gunmen in question had mounted a challenge primarily
against Thailand even while actually trying to gain a concession from
Bangkok in their fight with Yangon.

The Ratchaburi incident laid bare some aspects of a slack Thai security
preparedness as also the desperation of the anti-Yangon terrorists. On
January 24, 10 gunmen, all believed at that time to be members of the
so-called "God's Army" of anti-Myanmar Karen rebels, seized a large
hospital complex at Ratchaburi and took all the several hundred people
hostage. The gunmen, who were killed by an elite commando team of Thai
military and police personnel in a pre-dawn swoop on January 25, had
asked Bangkok to stop shelling the hilltop positions of the Karen rebels
inside neighbouring Myanmar. The genesis was that the Myanmarese troops
had launched a major offensive against those Karen posts about a week
prior to the latest hostage drama, Bangkok' military resorted to a
barrage of warning fired to prevent the Karens from using Thailand as a
base for tactical or actual retreat.

Quite apart from normative international law, Mr. Chuan's current
compulsions were determined by the need to befriend Yangon, a colleague
in the Association of South East Asian Nations, in the context of the
SPDC's ire over Thailand's act of organizing a "guided safe passage" for
the gunmen of the "Vigorous Burmese Students Warriors" as a reward for
releasing those they took hostage in a seizure of the Myanmarese Embassy
in Bangkok in last October.

Another key demand of the terrorists at Ratchaburi this time was that
the Karens fighters and civil war refugees should be allowed freed
access to Thailand for either medical treatment or indeed ordinary
livelihood. The implicit audacity of the desperadoes in making these
demands was seen by Bangkok as an affront to its state authority and the
hospitality which it had generally extended to the anti-Yangon rebels
over many years for "humanitarian" reasons.

For several years now, the Karen rebels have been waging a low-intensity
"insurgency" against the SPDC, after having lost their earlier momentum
in January 1995.

Unresolved by this week-end were suspicions that the latest hostage
drama might have been enacted entirely by the pro-democracy "Warriors"
who were given sanctuary by the "God's Army" in the wake of their
embassy seizure last October. If that be true, Thailand is willing, as
seen from the SPDC's perspective, to avoid actions that could amount to
Faustian deals with terrorism in the perceived cause of democracy which
is the long-term "goal" of the Yangon regime itself.



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<b><font size=+3>The junta scores</font></b>
<p><i><font size=+1>The military junta in Myanmar is basking in the sunshine
of a success story that was, in some measure, made possible by the diplomatic
pressure it exerted on Bangkok during the latest crisis, says P.S. SURYANARAYANA.</font></i>
<p>The Hindu Newspaper (India), January 30, 2000
<p>THE FIGHT against anti-state terrorism is an issue that enables Myanmar's
military Government to make common "cause" with the larger international
community with a degree of "comfort level" despite the periodic Western
moves to isolate Yangon. Not surprisingly, Myanmar's governing State Peace
and Development Council (SPDC) has found itself on the winning side during
the latest seizure of a hospital complex in Thailand by a band of rebels
opposed to the Yangon junta itself and the decisive counter-terrorist action
that Bangkok took to bring the crisis to a successful end.
<p>Ironically, Thailand's Prime Minister, Mr. Chuan Leekpai, has come under
domestic political criticism over certain aspects of the commando operation
that ended the hospital seizure at Ratchaburi that lies not far from the
border with Myanmar. In contrast, the SPDC is basking in the sunshine of
a success story that was, in some measure, made possible by the diplomatic
pressure it exerted on Bangkok during the latest crisis.
<p>There is more to this contrast than meets the eye. The SPDC, on one
side, and successive Governments in Thailand, on the other, often tend
to view differently even the issues of common concern to them. This is
traceable to the traditional cultural-political rivalry between the Thais
and Myanmar's majority population of Burmese and to Bangkok's more recent
historical experiences of befriending the West, especially the U.S., and
China, on differing diplomatic wavelengths though.
<p>Following the latest rescue of several hundred Thai hostages from what
turned out to be the loose clutches of 10 anti-SPDC militants, all belonging
to Myanmar despite the fact that some of them did not wish to owe allegiance
to that country, Yangon lost no time in commending the action taken by
the Chuan Government.
<p>An act of anti-State terrorism was defeated, it was acknowledged, and
in this case the 10 gunmen in question had mounted a challenge primarily
against Thailand even while actually trying to gain a concession from Bangkok
in their fight with Yangon.
<p>The Ratchaburi incident laid bare some aspects of a slack Thai security
preparedness as also the desperation of the anti-Yangon terrorists. On
January 24, 10 gunmen, all believed at that time to be members of the so-called
"God's Army" of anti-Myanmar Karen rebels, seized a large hospital complex
at Ratchaburi and took all the several hundred people hostage. The gunmen,
who were killed by an elite commando team of Thai military and police personnel
in a pre-dawn swoop on January 25, had asked Bangkok to stop shelling the
hilltop positions of the Karen rebels inside neighbouring Myanmar. The
genesis was that the Myanmarese troops had launched a major offensive against
those Karen posts about a week prior to the latest hostage drama, Bangkok'
military resorted to a barrage of warning fired to prevent the Karens from
using Thailand as a base for tactical or actual retreat.
<p>Quite apart from normative international law, Mr. Chuan's current compulsions
were determined by the need to befriend Yangon, a colleague in the Association
of South East Asian Nations, in the context of the SPDC's ire over Thailand's
act of organizing a "guided safe passage" for the gunmen of the "Vigorous
Burmese Students Warriors" as a reward for releasing those they took hostage
in a seizure of the Myanmarese Embassy in Bangkok in last October.
<p>Another key demand of the terrorists at Ratchaburi this time was that
the Karens fighters and civil war refugees should be allowed freed access
to Thailand for either medical treatment or indeed ordinary livelihood.
The implicit audacity of the desperadoes in making these demands was seen
by Bangkok as an affront to its state authority and the hospitality which
it had generally extended to the anti-Yangon rebels over many years for
"humanitarian" reasons.
<p>For several years now, the Karen rebels have been waging a low-intensity
"insurgency" against the SPDC, after having lost their earlier momentum
in January 1995.
<p>Unresolved by this week-end were suspicions that the latest hostage
drama might have been enacted entirely by the pro-democracy "Warriors"
who were given sanctuary by the "God's Army" in the wake of their embassy
seizure last October. If that be true, Thailand is willing, as seen from
the SPDC's perspective, to avoid actions that could amount to Faustian
deals with terrorism in the perceived cause of democracy which is the long-term
"goal" of the Yangon regime itself.
<p>&nbsp;</html>

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