Bomb kills KNU defector’s son-in-law

The son-in-law of a Karen National Union commander who defected to the Burmese government side was killed by a bomb yesterday in what is thought to have been a targeted assassination.
General Saw Htay Maung was commander of KNU brigade 7 before his defection in early 2007, when he founded a splinter group called the KNU Peace Council.
His son-in-law, major Saw Leh Mu, was at the communications office of the KNU Peace Council headquarters in Kawko village, Kawkareit township, yesterday when the bomb exploded.
An unidentified Democratic Karen Buddhist Army officer said that Saw Leh Mu was killed instantly by the blast.
“The bomb exploded at around 12.40am near where he and his grandmother were sleeping,” the officer said.
“We don’t know how powerful the explosion was, but someone who saw the bomb scene said that his body was blown into small pieces.”
The officer said the attack was thought to have been an assassination, but it was not yet clear who was responsible.
Security has been tightened within Saw Htay Maung’s group since the incident.
A close relative of Saw Leh Mu confirmed his death.
“I can confirm that Saw Leh Mu has been killed, but we don’t know yet how it happened,” he said, adding that no other people were injured in the explosion.
Saw Htay Maung’s group also said they assumed that Saw Leh Mu was deliberately assassinated, but they could not yet say who was behind the attack.
Some local people have suggested that the attack could have been carried out by business rivals.
Unknown groups have previously attempted to assassinate Saw Leh Mu on several occasions.

Saw Kanyaw
DVB
31-1-08
Image: Ler Moo after a previous attempt on his life – KNLAPC (KHCPS archive)

KNU Breakaway Group’s Son-in-law Assassinated

The son-in-law of the head of an ethnic Karen breakaway group has been assassinated in a bomb attack, according to sources on the Thai-Burmese border.
The sources said that Colonel Ler Moo (in sunglasses), son-in-law of Maj-Gen Htain Maung, head of the KNU/KNLA Peace Council, which broke away from the Karen National Union (KNU), was killed while sleeping at a communications office near the group’s headquarters.
Ler Moo survived an assassination attempt in early April 2007, while crossing by boat from Burma to Thailand’s Tak Province.  He was injured and recovered after hospital treatment.
Sources believe Ler Moo was killed because of his timber business dealings. He once controlled illegal logging in the KNU Brigade 7 areas, in Pa-an Township of Karen State, with the influential support of his father-in-law.
Htain Maung was formerly head of the KNU Brigade 7, with the rank of Brig-Gen. He was dismissed in February 2007 after meeting with the governing State Peace and Development Council in defiance of the KNU.
Htain Maung then formed a breakaway group, the KNU/KNLA Peace Council, which—together with another splinter group, the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA)—came under frequent attack by the KNU Brigade 7.
In August 2007, a commander of the 18th Battalion of the Karen National Liberation Army, the armed wing of the KNU, was shot dead when returning from a meeting with Burmese government officials.
DKBA sources said the commander, Lt-Col Kyi Linn, was shot while crossing the Haungthayaw River in Kawkareik Township, Karen State, by boat, after meeting government officials and other Karen ceasefire groups, including the DKBA. There has been no official confirmation of the incident by the KNU.
Like Col Ler Moo, Kyi Linn was also involved in the logging industry, in the KNU Brigade 7 areas of Kawkareik Township, and sources said his death was also probably connected with his business dealings.

Shah Paung
Irrawaddy
January 31, 2008

Army Offensive in Eastern Burma Creates Growing Humanitarian Crisis

Reports from Karen State in eastern Burma say that the army's annual dry season offensive against the Karen National Union is under way. The KNU has been fighting for freedom from the military government for almost 60 years. In the past two years, rights groups say the Burmese army has intensified a scorched earth campaign in Karen State, resulting in a growing humanitarian crisis. Rory Byrne and Wido Schlichting report from the Thai-Burma border.
The war between the Burmese army and the Karen ethnic minority in Burma is thought to be the world's longest running civil war. War broke out shortly after independence from Britain in 1949 when the Karen were denied autonomy from the government in Rangoon, dominated by ethnic Burmese. 
Burma's military government justifies its harsh rule in part by saying it is necessary to keep different ethnic groups from trying to split the country. Over the years, more than 17 ethnic groups have fought the government, although in the past decade several signed peace agreements. But in Karen State the fighting continues and villagers are caught in the middle.
Human rights groups say the Burmese army uses scorched-earth tactics to deny Karen guerrillas a support base. Villagers are killed or forced to flee, livestock are shot, homes are burned and landmines are laid to prevent people from returning. 
Aid groups say that about 370 villagers have been killed since late 2006. About 30,000 have been displaced.
Debbie Stothard is the coordinator for the Alternative ASEAN Network on Burma. She told us, "In the past two and a half years we have seen no let up in the attack – it's no longer a seasonal offensive, it's an on-going intense offensive and that has meant that people – many, many communities – have not been able to grow rice for two years. Twenty-five thousand people are facing imminent starvation."
Human rights groups say that the army often uses captured civilians as forced labor. The Karen say they want peace but, without a peace agreement, they will keep fighting.
Johnny is the commander of the KNU's seventh brigade based on the Thai-Burma border.  "Even though we are less in number, what we need is sacrifice, perseverance and unity, so then one day we will certainly obtain our victory and surely achieve our goal," he says.
Sann Aung is a cabinet minister with Burma's government-in-exile, based in Bangkok. He tells VOA, "They would like to negotiate a ceasefire. They have had many talks with the military regime, but the military regime demands their total surrender. That is not acceptable to the KNU [Karen National Union]. That is the situation."
Aid groups expect that in the coming months, thousands more Karen will be forced to flee and more lives will be lost.

By Rory Byrne and Wido Schlichting, VOA
Thai-Burma border
28 January 2008

 

It's a long way from Myanmar for Karen refugees

After three months in Ireland, Sa Nga and his family are struggling to master the English language but say their new home offers many more opportunities than a refugee camp in Thailand.
The former driver, his wife, six children and father-in-law are among the first ethnic Karen refugees from Myanmar accepted for resettlement by Ireland. They are starting new lives in the scenic north-west after last year leaving the confines of Ban Don Yang camp in the tropical forests of Thailand.
The minority Karen have suffered persecution for decades and nearly 140,000 are living in closed Thai refugee camps after fleeing across the border. The Thai government, which does not let them leave the camps, now accepts that the Karens are unlikely to be able to go back to Myanmar any time soon and has accepted resettlement as a solution for some of them.
UNHCR has since early 2005 helped resettle more than 20,000 Myanmar refugees in Thailand – including Karens and other minority groups – in countries such as the United States, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, Finland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden and Norway – and Ireland.
The first 52 Karens resettled in Ireland, including Sa Nga and his family, arrived last September and were put through an eight-week orientation programme in the north-west town of Ballyhaunis in County Mayo. They were then moved to new homes nearby. A second group of 45 arrived in Ballyhaunis in December.
UNHCR Representative in Ireland Manuel Jordao recently visited Ballyhaunis and nearby Castlebar to see how the Karen families were coping with new services, schools, doctors, even things as basic as household appliances.
"Ireland has made a big effort to ensure its resettled refugees receive the best start with support and orientation, basic facts about the country, language tuition and advice on how to use services. These stepping stones will help resettled families use their own talents to make a life for themselves here," Jordao said.
"We feel we are being looked after well in Ireland and we are very grateful for that," Sa Nga told the UNHCR visitor, speaking through an interpreter at the family's new home in Castlebar.
Lack of English is the biggest hurdle that he and the others face, but they realize that they must master the language if they are to become independent. "It's very important for us to learn English," said Sa Nga's wife, Wau Dey, adding that if a family member became ill they would need to communicate with a doctor.
The Karens also understand that English will help them make the most of the opportunities in Ireland. "Irish people have many more opportunities compared to what we had in the camps," said the head of one family.
This is a sentiment echoed by others questioned by UNHCR. Life in the nine crowded government-run camps along Thailand's border with Myanmar is hard. The refugees live in cramped bamboo shelters, dependent on UNHCR and non-governmental organizations for protection, food, schooling and health care. The Thai government does not allow them outside for work or higher education.
The UN refugee agency hopes Ireland will accept more people for resettlement in the future. Ireland increased its annual resettlement quota from 40 to 200 in 2006, but there has been no increase since.
"UNHCR always needs more resettlement places, so I am always going to be asking for an increase in the Irish quota," Jordao said, while adding that "it also only makes sense to ask for an increase if the Irish authorities tell me it would be manageable for them."
In 2008, UNHCR expects to refer some 60,000 people for resettlement in about 20 countries that accept vulnerable refugees who cannot go back home or integrate in host countries. Refugees from Iraq, Myanmar and Bhutan are likely to figure prominently.
As one of the countries with a resettlement programme, Ireland "stands out as a shining example of how smaller nations can share the global responsibility to protect vulnerable refugees," said Jordao.

By Steven O'Brien
In Dubin, Ireland
UNHCR
28-1-08

Landmine explosion kills three DKBA soldiers

Three Democratic Karen Buddhist Army personnel were killed and eight others injured in a mine explosion near the border town of Myawaddy in Karen state, according to the Karen National Union.
Major Saw Hla Ngwe, secretary of the KNU information committee, said the explosion took place near Balehdo village, south of Myawaddy, at around 12.20pm when a vehicle from DKBA battalion 333 drove over a mine laid by KNU troops while it was mobilising troops with another DKBA vehicle and a government military truck.
"Two died on the spot and nine others, including a platoon leader, were injured and sent to Myawaddy hospital where one died from his wounds," said Saw Hla Ngwe.
"They are from the DKBA triple 3 battalion led by battalion commander Pha-be."
Saw Hla Ngwe added that the attack, carried out by the KNU brigade 6 special regiment, was the first attack launched by the group in 2008.
"This attack is to prevent [SPDC and DKBA troops] from mounting offensives and taking control of our territories. This is a defensive measure we take to keep our enemy from dominating our area," he said.
An officer from the DKBA battalion 907's central war office said only two died while nine others were injured by the KNU mine.

Saw Kanyaw
DVB
25-01-08
Image: DKBA 907 mine sweeping - Agencies (KHCPS Archive)

Saw Ba U Gyi’s Grand-daughter shot dead

Daw Ni Lar, the grand-daughter of KNU founder Saw Ba U Gyi was shot dead along with her husband on the 13th January 2008 according to a statement issued by the KNU/KNLAPC. The couple had been staying in a village called Mi Pha Nya, in the KNU’s 6th Brigade area, when they were both shot at close range at around midnight. According to the statement the couple had been involved in mediating ceasefire negotiations between 18th Battalion Commander Kyi Lin and the Burma Army. Kyi Linn’s body was discovered in the Haungthayaw River in Kawkareik Township of Karen State on the 20th August with a bullet wound to the head – SPDC sources claimed at the time that he had been assassinated ‘under a CIA plot’. The KNU/KNLAPC statement claims that the couple were murdered by five KNLA soldiers.

KHCPS
21-01-08

Explosion on Myanmar bus kills conductor: official

A bus conductor in Myanmar was killed Wednesday by an explosion in his vehicle, a government official said. It followed three bombings in public places since late last week.

The official said the explosion occurred when the bus was in Pyinbonegyi, 105 kilometers (65 miles) north of Yangon, the country's biggest city. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release information to the media.

He said the blast took place when the bus was stopped to allow passengers to eat at a roadside shop, and the conductor remained on board. The bus was traveling to Yangon from Kyaukyi, a town about 168 kilometers (105 miles) to the north.

Three bombings in different parts of Myanmar since Friday have killed two people and wounded five. No one has claimed responsibility.

The ruling junta blamed the recent bombings on an unspecified foreign organization and called on the public to report any sightings of terrorists, a state-run newspaper said Monday.

"Information has been received that a foreign organization has sent terrorist saboteurs with explosives across the border to perpetrate destructive acts inside the country," the Myanma Ahlin newspaper said.

State media linked at least one of the bombings to ethnic Karen rebels, and the bus that was hit by an explosion Wednesday originated in an ethnic Karen area.

The junta routinely blames acts of violence on foreigners, including street rallies last year led by Buddhist monks that the government suppressed with a violent crackdown. After troops fired on peaceful protesters in September, the junta accused Western powers and the foreign media of fomenting the protests.

The first of the recent explosions occurred Friday morning at the railway station serving the country's new administrative capital of Naypyitaw, killing a 40-year-old ethnic Karen woman whom the government later said was the bomber.

The second blast occurred Friday night at a circus in the northern town of Pyu, injuring four civilians and killing a man said to be a Karen rebel who allegedly planted the explosive.

The third blast on Sunday near a public toilet at the ticketing office of Yangon's main railway station injured a 73-year-old woman.

The Karen National Union has been fighting for half a century for greater autonomy from Myanmar's military government. It is the only major ethnic rebel group that has not agreed to a cease-fire with the junta. But they and other government opponents deny carrying out attacks targeting civilians.

Terrorism is rare but not unknown in Myanmar, which has been under military rule almost continuously since 1962.

The deadliest such attack in recent years took place on May 7, 2005, when three bombs went off almost simultaneously at two upscale supermarkets and a convention center in Yangon, killing about two dozen people and injuring more than 160 others. The perpetrators remain unknown.

AP
16-01-07

Increased security in Bago raises local suspicions

In the aftermath of the bomb explosion in Bago division on 11 January, local residents have expressed their suspicions about heightened security measures put in place before the attack.
Residents of Bago township said that the security presence there had increased since the explosion.
“There’s very heavy security in town, with soldiers and policemen everywhere,” one resident said, adding that the soldiers were wearing red scarves.
In Dike Oo (Daik U) township, Bago division, locals said that soldiers replaced local people on night guard duties along the railway shortly before the attack.
Dike Oo is closer than Bago township to the site of the explosion, which killed one man and left three women and a child injured.
Local authorities in the township have been forcing residents to take up night guard duties along the railway every night for the past seven years, manning the security huts located at every furlong along the track.
But soldiers took over the night watch the day before the explosion, one Dike Oo resident said.
“Soldiers were sent to replace the locals on night guard duties on the tenth, then the bomb exploded on the eleventh,” the resident said.
“We’re not sure whether it’s a coincidence or not.”
U Aye Myint, a lawyer and leader of legal aid group Guiding Star, was also suspicious about the government’s apparent prior knowledge of the attacks.
“It’s like a seasonal activity by the government; every year at around this time we hear rumours about bombings,” U Aye Myint said.
“It seems like military intelligence always gets advance information on the planning of bomb attacks which always seems to turn out to be true – but if they have this information, why are they not able to prevent the attacks?”

Yee May Aung
DVB
15-01-07

Burma bomb blasts aims to bring back unity among the military: Analyst

The recent bomb blasts in Burma including former capital Rangoon could be the junta's plot in an effort to re-unite its military, which reportedly suffers a rift during the crackdown on protestors in September, analysts said.
Since last Friday, three bombs have reportedly exploded in various places of Burma including its commercial hub Rangoon and its new administrative head, Pyinmana, killing at least two and injuring five people, the government-owned New Light of Myanmar said.
The government's quick reaction in pointing fingers at the Karen National Union (KNU) an ethnic Karen armed rebel groups based along the eastern borders, could be another way of finding 'common enemy' to re-unite the military after it has reported a rift on the brutal treatment of protesting monks in September, Htay Aung, a Thailand based Burmese analyst.
"It is like a tradition in the army to find a common enemy for unity as there are disagreements among themselves. Earlier they [the junta] would declare the Burma Communist Party [BCP] as common enemy and later the west. Now it looks like they are targeting the KNU in order to divert the attention," Htay Aung said.
On Friday a small bomb exploded at the toilet of Pyinmana railway station, near the junta's new jungle capital Nay Pyi Taw, killing one woman. In the evening of the same evening, another bomb exploded at a filed in Phyu town of Pegu division, killing one person and injuring three women and a child, the New Light of Myanmar said.
Further on Sunday, a bomb exploded near the Rangoon railway station injuring a woman, the paper. The paper accused all the three incidents to be instigated by the KNU members and warned the people to be aware and to inform of any suspects.
However, the KNU denied any involvement in al the three incidents and rejected all allegations as false and bias.
Pado Manh Shar, general secretary of the KNU said, "Our policy is not to harm innocent people. And since we did not give any orders to carry out such activities, we strongly reject all this allegations."
Win Min, another Burmese analyst in Thailand said, while the culprit behind the bomb explosion cannot be confirm, the junta might be quick in blaming the KNU in an effort to provoke a sense of patriotism among the army and bring back unity.
"If the military feels that there is an enemy, it is easier to unite. So, it might be possible that the junta wants to put this sense by declaring the KNU as a common enemy for the military," Win Min added.Wai Moe

Maung Dee
Mizzima
14-01-07
Image: Ma Nwe Nwe Win, one of the injured in Pyu - NLM

KNU and Regime Trade Charges Over Bomb Attacks

The Burmese regime and the Karen National Union (KNU) have traded accusations of responsibility for three bomb attacks over the past three days.
Two people died and several were injured in the attacks in Rangoon, Naypyidaw and Pyu in Pegu Division.
In separate reports on the attacks, the regime’s mouthpiece, The New Light of Myanmar, blamed “terrorist saboteurs” from abroad and a KNU “insurgent.” It said the accused “insurgent” had died while planting the Pyu bomb.
KNU spokesman David Taw denied the organization had anything to do with the attacks. Only military personnel with experience of explosives could plant such devices, he told The Irrawaddy.
“When something [like this] happens in Burma, they [the junta] accuse dissident groups, such as the KNU, the SSA [Shan State Army-South], the KNPP [Karenni National Progressive Party], based on the Thai-Burmese border,” Taw said.
The junta had been unable to track down those responsible for previous bomb attacks, he said—“then we are easily accused.”
The first bomb exploded last Friday at the main railway station of Naypyidaw, the Burmese capital. One woman died in the blast.
A second bomb exploded on Friday at a football ground in Pyu Township, near the site of a circus.
The third bomb exploded near the ticket office of Rangoon’s main railway station on Sunday. The New Light of Myanmar reported that a 73-year-old woman was injured by the blast, although an eyewitness said at least two people had been hurt.
The New Light Myanmar said: “Terrorist saboteurs have been sent into the nation across the border together with explosives to perpetrate destructive acts under the scheme of a group from abroad.” It did not name the accused group.
In its report on the Pyu bomb, The New Light of Myanmar said: “A KNU insurgent, [aged] about 25, was killed when the bomb he was planting to detonate exploded prematurely. People nearby seized a US-made 0.22 revolver in a holster [and] 20 rounds of ammunition.”
The New Light of Myanmar claimed the dead man was a member of the KNA’s Third Brigade.
The KNU has been fighting for half a century for autonomy for Karen State. It is the only major ethnic rebel group not to have agreed to a ceasefire with the junta.
In May, 2005, a series of bombs exploded in two supermarkets and a convention center in Rangoon, with an official toll of 19 dead and 162 injured. It’s thought that the real toll is higher.
Information Minister Brig-Gen Kyaw Hsan claimed at a Rangoon press conference: that it was “crystal clear” that the perpetrators and the bombs “originated from training conducted with foreign experts at a place in a neighboring country by a world-famous organization of a certain superpower nation.” The “certain superpower nation” was understood to be the US and the “world famous organization” consequently the CIA.
Analysts said the attacks could only have been carried out by well-trained operatives. Some believed that since the ouster of military intelligence chief Gen Khin Nyunt in October 2004, enemies of the junta had been planning to take advantage of internal conflicts and possible security lapses.

 

Wai Moe
Irrawaddy
14-01-07

Bomb attacks hit Burmese cities

A woman has been injured in a bomb blast in Burma's commercial capital, Rangoon, officials say - the third bombing incident in three days.

The latest explosion occurred at a public toilet in a Rangoon railway station [on Sunday], witnesses said.

On Friday, a woman was killed by a blast in a railway station toilet in Nay Pyi Taw, the new capital.

And another man died, and four people were injured, when a bomb exploded in Pyu, north of Rangoon.

The government has blamed both incidents on the Karen National Union (KNU), a group fighting for greater autonomy for the ethnic Karen people.

The state-run newspaper, the New Light of Myanmar, said in both cases it was the bomber who was killed in the process of handling the bomb.

There was no claim of responsibility from the KNU or any other group.

 

BBC
14-01-07
Image: Rangoon Train Station - Loren E. Johnson

Burma's long-neck women struggle to break out of Thailand's 'human zoo'

ZEMBER was a poster child for long-neck tourism. At 12, her neck coiled with brass rings, she sat on display at a Bangkok tourism fair, helping to create the buzz which would draw gawkers from around the globe.
Now 23, her neck is bare, the rings stripped off in anger after provincial authorities in Mae Hong Son, in northern Thailand, refused to let her emigrate to New Zealand, concerned about the negative impact on tourism of an exodus of long-neck women.
"When I was young, I wanted to wear the rings and keep my own tradition. In one way, I feel sad (that I've taken them off) but now I go to the city, no one cares, no one stares," she said. "The people who control us say if the people see us in the town, they won't pay to see us (in the village)." Riding motorbikes, a common, inexpensive form of transport, is also frowned upon because the Thais who control the long-neck villages say: "It's not part of your culture".
Zember, also called Mu Lon, has not rejected her culture, but she now sees her rings as a weapon of exploitation by powerful local Thai authorities. Long-neck tourism is big business in Mae Hong Son, but little of the money returns to the Kayans — the operations have always been run by Thais.
"It is the No. 1 attraction in this area. It's why tourists come here," said Wanchai Thiansiri, a Chiang Mai-based tour guide. "They may go to see caves as well, but the long-necks are the attraction."
About 100 Kayans (also known by the Burmese name Padaung), fled across the Burma border to Thailand from Kayah state in the late 1980s when civil war between Karenni separatists and the Burmese army became too intense.
"When we first came, we didn't know anything. In Burma, we had to work really hard and when we moved here (we worked hard) too. We don't know they are getting money from the tourists, we (couldn't) speak English or Thai," said Zember, who was five when her family fled.
She sits on the balcony of their flimsy wooden hut in Nai Soi village, one of three villages where tourists pay 250 baht ($A9.50) to take photos, talk to the women or just stare. Women who wear the rings are paid 1500 baht a month to run souvenir stalls and men receive a rice allowance of 260 baht a month. They make a little more from the traditional scarves they weave and sell. In one village, Hway Su Thao, the women have had their wages docked for riding motorbikes, talking to foreigners outside the village or attending educational courses that keep them away from the village during the day.

 

The Age
11-01-07
Image: Zember (left) shares lunch with other long-neck women at Hway Pu Keng village on the Thai-Burmese border. The 23-year-old thought the Thais would let her emigrate to New Zealand if she took off her rings - Jack Picone

KNU insurgent killed while preparing to plant bomb in Pyu Township - Hardcore insurgent captured Four innocent people wounded

A bomb exploded yesterday in the football ground in Nyaungbintha Village, Pyu Township, Bago Division, killing one who was making preparations to plant the bomb, and wounding four innocent people.

At about 7:30 pm yesterday, a KNU insurgent, about 25, was killed when the bomb he was planting to detonate exploded prematurely near U Maung Maung circus show being staged in the football ground to mark the Independence Day. People nearby seized a US-made 0.22 revolver in a holster, 20 rounds of ammunition, and a bomb made of two explosive blocks from the body.

As soon as the bomb exploded, a suspect among the crowd tried to run away, so the people captured him.

The explosion wounded Ma San Yu Maw, 30, of Nyaung-bintha Village, Maung Min Htaik Tha, 4, and Ma Nwe Nwe Win, 26, of Yay Oh Zin Village, and Ma Tin Yu Maw, 22, of Kyeemanoe village.
The man who tried to run away was Saw Ra Makee, 28, of Tatkon Village, Kyaukkyi Township. According to his confession, the man who was killed in the incident was Saw Di Thaw Mu with the rank of corporal in charge of collecting extortion money of battalion (8), brigade (3) of KNU; that in January 2006 when Saw Di Thaw Mu visited the village to collect extortion money, he made friends with him; that at 6 am on 11 January, the two left Kyeebin Village and arrived at Nyaungbintha Village through Kanyutkwin at about 5 pm; that then they got to the football ground of Nyaungbintha Village where Independence Day commemorative ceremony was being held, and they had crisps at the food stalls; that at about 6 pm, Saw Di Thaw Mu with the bag he had brought went to a well near the food stalls taking the shelter of the darkness, he prepared the bomb and then the bomb prematurely exploded. He said that he was afraid and tried to run away and was captured by the people.

A major group from abroad that is desirous of practising hegemony over Myanmar provided terrorist insurgent saboteurs with cash and related equipment with the intention of harming the public, causing panic among the people and undermining peace and stability.

Likewise, a bomb exploded in a public toilet in the compound of the staff quarters near Nay Pyi Taw Pyinmana Railway Station at 4.30 am yesterday. Further investigation revealed that traces of explosives were found on the clothes in the luggage of Naw Gay Lar who was killed in the blast. And it is learnt that the women was killed by the blast like the incident in Nyaungbintha Village while she was preparing to detonate the bomb.

In today's incident also, Saw Di Thaw Mu was at the village to harm the people enjoying the show and he lost his life while he was preparing to detonate the bomb. It can be assessed that the same major organization masterminded those atrocities, for explosives used in both incidents are the US-made powerful explosives and they are identical.

It is learnt that the entire people loathed such atrocities that harm the innocent people.

The authorities are striving to expose the insurgent destructionists and explosives and have urged the people to practise a constant vigilance against the saboteurs and to come forward with information.

New Light of Myanmar
13-01-07
Image: Saw Ra Makee - NLM

Russian and Chinese experts visit Tenasserim division

Recent visits by Chinese and Russian agricultural experts to the coastal areas of Tenasserim division have been met with suspicion by the Karen National Union.
A commander from the Karen National Liberation Army, the armed wing of the KNU, said that one Russian and two South African nationals had arrived at Maw Taung camp on the Thai-Burma border on 6 January, while three Chinese experts arrived at I-wine village in Tavoy township the following day.
They were accompanied by heavy government security and staff from Burmese tycoon Tayza's Htoo Trading Company and the Yuzana Business Group owned by U Htay Myint.
The experts had reportedly come to the area to inspect palm oil plantations, but U Htay Aung, a military analyst on the Thai-Burma border, did not believe people from these countries would have the necessary expertise.
"Russians are not experts in palm oil plantations,” U Htay Aung said.
“The plantations could get experts from Malaysia instead who are well-respected in this kind of agricultural production.”
U Htay Aung said that the visit could be linked to military cooperation between these countries and Burma.
“The government has been relocating villagers in Maw Taung region for some time now and we have heard they are going to build a regional defence center in this location," U Htay Aung said.
"The junta bought a couple of Mig-29 fighter jets from Russia in 2002 as well as rocket missiles and radar equipments," he said.
"We have confirmed information about the government installing this equipment in defence centres built on off-shore islands in Tenasserim division."

Htet Aung Kyaw
DVB
10-1-07

Karens around the World Celebrate New Year, Contemplate Freedom

Today is the first day of Karen year 2747, a historical recognition of the first Karen migration to the Kawthoolei State of eastern Burma. As they celebrate New Year in communities across the world, expatriate Karens would do well to keep their home-based brethren in mind; those who live in fear daily from the threat of the Burmese forces in Karen State, say several Karen organization leaders.
Joint-secretary 2 of the Karen Youth Organization, Eh Htoo, told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday that Karen New Year celebrations were muted across Karen State and, in some parts, many ethnic Karen people were unwilling or too afraid to commemorate the date.  
An estimated 200,000 Karen people are listed as being Internally Displaced Persons in Karen State, eastern Burma, and have little reason for celebrating. Another 130,000 Karen and Karenni people are living as refugees in camps along the Thai-Burmese border, according to the figures of the Thailand Burma Border Consortium.
Instead of singing Happy New Year songs, the Karen IDPs have to keep quiet and be ready in case they have to run and hide, said Hla Henry, secretary of the relief team, Committee for Internally Displaced Karen People.
“IDPs are still living in fear. Fighting occurs almost everyday and they have to run and hide in the jungle,” said Hla Henry, who is also a member of the central executive committee of the KNU. “Nothing changes for them. They constantly face threats and great difficulty.”
He added that numbers of IDPs are increasing in Karen State and that waves of Karen refugees continue to flood into Thailand.
The exodus of Karen from their homeland began soon after the Karen Nation Union took up arms against the Burmese government in 1948. The KNU resorted to armed conflict based on the four guiding principles of Saw Ba U Gyi, the founding father of the Karen revolution:
There shall be no surrender;
The recognition of the Karen State must be complete;
We shall retain our arms; and
We shall decide our own political destiny.
However, due to a lack of unity, the KNU has continually had to contend with severe challenges during its 60-year armed struggle. Indeed some Karen leaders reneged on the first guiding principle and surrendered to the Burmese military government, said Mahn Sha, general secretary of the KNU.
Mahn Sha admitted that the KNU has suffered setbacks and has been systematically weakened and divided by the Burmese regime.    
In 1995, the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army—the largest Karen breakaway group—split from the KNU. Since then, instability has reigned. The DKBA launched an armed operation in KNU-controlled areas, driving out villagers, many of whom are now IDPs and refugees. The KNU headquarters of Manerplaw fell that same year after a joint-attack by DKBA soldiers and the Burmese army. 
In December 2003, the KNU and the Burmese junta agreed a ceasefire that became known as the “Gentlemen’s Agreement,” reached at a meeting between a Karen delegation led by the late KNU leader, Gen Bo Mya, and deposed Burmese Prime Minster Gen Khin Nyunt.
However, following Khin Nyunt’s downfall in October 2004 and the defection to the Burmese army of the former head of KNU Brigade 7, Brig-Gen Htain Maung, in early 2007, the KNU broke off all communications with the junta.
Some 300 members of the so-called “KNU/KNLA Peace Council”—a breakaway group led by Brig-Gen Htain Maung—split from the KNU and defected to the regime in February, 2007.
Nevertheless, Mahn Sha remains optimistic in his hopes for change in 2008.
He said that the KNU were resolved to fighting back against the military regime, which is currently planning to launch a renewed operation in Karen State. He added that the KNU would also try to encourage Karen people to be more unified and politically active this year.
“The KNU will also cooperate with opposition groups inside and outside the country in matters relating to change in Burma and increasing the progress of the democracy movement,” said Mahn Sha.
He added: “Working toward our own political destiny, a federal union, democracy and human rights is something we must do by ourselves. We can only rely on ourselves, not on others.”  
Educated Karens should also cooperate in fighting for the freedom of all their people, according to Eh Htoo. 
“Some Karen people ask—when will we get freedom?” Eh Htoo said. “But those who raise the question should first ask themselves—how much have I done for the freedom of my people?”

 

Saw Yan Naing
Irrawaddy
8-1-08
Image: 2747 Celebration at KNLA H.Q., Karen State - Paul Keenan

2747—Will It Be a Happy New Year for the Karen? [Commentary]

Karen people around the world will celebrate the Karen New Year on Tuesday with festivities, traditional songs, dancing in colorful Karen costumes and, of course, the sounding of the horn and drum that marks the first day of the month of Pyathoe.
For Karens worldwide—from Malaysia to Minnesota—the year 2747 will begin tomorrow, the year that historically recognizes the first Karen migration to the Kawthoolei State of eastern Burma.  
Will the year 2747 bring peace and prosperity to the Karen people? For most, the simple dream of going home would be fortune enough. Others might entertain a New Year’s wish that Karen people will finally stop killing each other this year.
However, if the previous years’ conflict and the current situation are anything to go by, the collective hopes and aspirations of the Karen people will surely be no more than a pipe dream.
While many along the Thai-Burmese border will celebrate New Year once again in refugee camps, two communities inside Karen State are planning major festivals, both in Kawkareik Township —one in Kawkareik town, the other in the village of Toh Kaw Koe.
The choice of Toh Kaw Koe as a venue for New Year celebrations is a controversial one, not least because it is the site where Ba U Gyi, the Karen resistance hero, was martyred by Burmese troops on August 12, 1950; but also due to the fact that Toh Kaw Koe is the headquarters of the latest Karen splinter group, the so-called “KNU/KNLA Peace Council” led by Maj-Gen Htain Maung, a former Brig-Gen of the 7 Brigade of the Karen National Union.
Mahn Bala Sein, from the Burmese Migrant Workers’ Education Committee, who regularly organizes Karen New Year’s celebrations in his community, said, “It is not appropriate to celebrate Karen New Year or any important event in an historical area led by breakaway groups.”
The Toh Kaw Koe event is due to host members of the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army, including Battalion 999, known as the special forces of the DKBA, a group that usually celebrates Karen New Year at its headquarters based in Shwe Kokko Village, near Myawaddy.
The chairman of the KNU, Ba Thin Sein, also took an optimistic line.
In a statement released for Karen New Year 2747, he said, “All Karens have the responsibility of coming together in patience and understanding.”
 
He also called on the Karen people to unify and “escape from the enemy’s trap.” He added that they should not be discouraged that the revolution was taking such a long time. As an armed group, the KNU has been fighting the Burmese army for more than 50 years.
“We must get away from the things that divide our people,” Ba Thin Sein concluded. “Unity is the thing that will lead us to freedom and liberation.”
However, tensions are still running high after troops from the Karen National Liberation Army—the military wing of the KNU—attacked a bus in December 2007 carrying DKBA soldiers, killing eight people and injuring six.
The sabotage of the bus followed a dry season offensive in which the DKBA reportedly attacked Karen civilians in 6th Brigade, apparently at the behest of the Burmese military authorities and their continued policy of using the DKBA to undertake offensives against civilians in Karen State and Pegu Division.
The two attacks intensified relations between the two Karen camps and appeared to underline that the DKBA was bound by the military regime to resist the KNU, which was once its mother organization.
Mahn Kyaw Win, a researcher of Karen history, conceded: “I don’t know how to write Karen history when I look at the recent actions [between the DKBA and KNU], but I have to tell the truth.”
On this the eve of their 2747th New Year, the Karen people must start working toward that unity; otherwise the freedom and peace they are wishing for will remain as far away as the stars.

Shah Paung
Irrawaddy
7-1-08
Image: 2747 Celebration at KNLA H.Q., Karen State - Paul Keenan

Junta Refuses to Reregister Three Ethnic Cultural Groups

The Burmese military government has refused to renew the registration of three ethnic cultural groups, effectively closing them down.
Ethnic cultural groups have to renew their registration annually with the Ministry of Home Affairs, but three organizations representing Mon, Karen and Shan communities say the authorities have refused to accept their applications, giving no reason for the action.
Nai ong Ma-Nge, a spokesman of the New Mon State Party, told The Irrawaddy on Friday: “They [the military regime] didn’t announce officially the closure of our cultural organizations, but they stopped the renewal of registrations. So it means they closed the organizations down.”
Kyaw Win, a committee member of the Karen Literature and Culture Committee, told The Irrawaddy the authorities had also refused to reregister his organization. The Shan Literature and Culture Committee reported that it, too, had had its application blocked.
“We will not allow this action, and we will try to get pour registration back,” Kyaw Win said, “Our culture will live as long as there are Karen people.”
Nai ong Ma-Nge said the authorities had recently changed the name of the Mon Culture Museum in Moulmein, capital of Mon State, to the Archaeology and Culture Museum, dropping the word “Mon.”
The so-called Brahminy Duck, a traditional Mon symbol, had also been removed from a large symbolic alms bowl that stands at an entrance to Moulmein, Nai ong Ma-Nge said.
The Mon people felt injured by the authorities’ action, he said. “They should not restrain and destroy our culture while restoring national reconciliation and building ethnic unity.”

Shah Paung
Irrawaddy
4-1-08