Myanmar guerrilla leader Bo Mya forced out
Bo Mya, leader of the National Karen Union (KNU), was forced out
of the chairmanship of the guerrilla group he had led since 1976, a
KNU source said Thursday.
Pado Ba Thin, himself to be replaced by Pado Mhan Shar as the
secretary general of the KNU, will be Bo Mya's successor, according
to the source. Bo Mya will become a vice chairman of the group.
Thursday, 27 January, 2000, 11:09 GMT
Karen rebels choose new leader
![Thai-Burma border]()
The KNU once controlled large parts of the Thai-Burma border
The leader of one of the world's oldest rebel armies, the Burmese Karen National Union (KNU), has been replaced in a move that could pave the way for the reopening of peace talks with Rangoon. General Bo Mya, 73, is succeeded as KNU president by the group's general-secretary Ba Thin, following a meeting of the governing executive.
The group says the move marks a change in strategy in its struggle for independence.
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We cannot give up or surrender![]()
Ba Thin
The KNU has been fighting for autonomy from Burma since shortly after the country won independence from Britain in 1948.
It hopes the replacement of Bo Mya will lead to more compromise and a deal with the Rangoon government.
Stumbling block to peace
General Bo Mya was voted out at a three-week KNU congress that is held every four years along the Thai-Burma border.
He joined the KNU in 1949 and has been its general secretary for over 20 years.
![The bodies of the God's Army guerrillas]()
Ten God's Army Karen rebels died in Thailand
Analysts say he was considered a stumbling block to peace talks with Burma's military junta.
His son, Tu Lu, told Reuters newsagency that Bo Mya would now serve as vice president, controlling the military wing.
The leadership change comes at a time of crisis for the Karen resistence, following a disastrous raid this week on a Thai hospital in Ratchaburi, in which 10 rebels belonging to a Karen splinter group were killed.
The KNU denies any involvement with the God's Army, which was responsible for the attack, and has denounced the seizure as terrorism.
It says the leadership change "has nothing to do with Ratchaburi".
Five decades of fighting
The KNU claims to have 12,000 troops posted along the length of the 2,000km Thai-Burmese border, although independent estimates place the figure at between 3,000 and 4,000.
It once controlled large tracts of territory along the border, but has now been reduced to guerrilla tactics after losing its last timber and gem-rich enclaves to Burmese government forces in 1997.
The group suffered major defections during the 90's, including the formation of the God's Army group in 1997.
Ba Thin says there will be no change in policy from the KNU however:
"The problem of ethnic people in Burma is a political problem so we have to get an acceptable political solution", he said.
"We cannot give up or surrender".
The group has declined to comment on whether it plans to pursue peace talks with the military rulers.
South China Morning Post Thursday, January 27, 2000
THAI SIEGE Troops' border action spurred Karen attack WILLIAM BARNES The Thai security forces that so proudly and decisively ended the siege may also have triggered the crisis. Several sources said the Thai army had recently appeared to let Burmese troops move across Thai territory to attack the self-styled God's Army in their border enclave.
As a result, the hard-pressed breakaway group of perhaps 150 Karen Christian fighters decided to lay mines on a key "backdoor" pathway into their stronghold.
The seeds of an unfolding crisis continued to be sewn a week ago when four Thai soldiers - allegedly chasing God's Army people inside Burmese territory, according to one source - trod on some of the landmines and were blown up.
In retaliation, the army started shelling the nearest Karen community, inflicting casualties on soldiers and civilians.
In desperation, 10 of the Karen burst across the border and tried to put pressure on the Thais by taking hostages. It may have been just a whim that led them to target the hospital.
The God's Army - no more than a few score fighters and perhaps a few hundred families - live in a tough world.
They were trying to hold off an army notorious among human rights observers for killing, raping and pillaging in vulnerable Karen villages.
Unfortunately for the God's Army, the 9th Infantry Division opposite them is notorious for its rough handling of refugees and dissidents and its close relations with its Burmese army counterparts across the border.
Several pro-democracy activists in Thailand said this engagement with the regime's dark side was both morally and politically wrong.
"It would not be good for Thailand to dance to the song of Rangoon," said Somchai Homlaor, the secretary-general of the Asia Forum on Human Rights.
"If we don't stay neutral in this conflict then the violence is likely to spread to Thailand."
This may already be happening.
Unconfirmed reports from the border claim that God's Army - under the mystical leadership of 12-year-old twin brothers - have sworn revenge for the killings.