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BURMA RELATED NEWS - OCT - 26, 2000. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HEADLINE
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AFP - Myanmar troops kill five Indian soldiers at
border ambush
AP - Myanmar Troops Kill Five
Soldiers
AP - Myanmar Opposition Faces Eviction
AP - Myanmar Troops Kill Thai Soldier
AP - Myanmar Opposition Party May Be Kicked Out Of Its
Office
Thursday, October 26 3:02 PM SGT
Myanmar troops kill five Indian soldiers at border ambush GUWAHATI, India Oct 26 (AFP) - Myanmar soldiers killed five Indian
paramilitary troopers and wounded six in an ambush along their joint border late
Wednesday night, police said on Thursday.
A large Myanmar army contingent attacked a border post
belonging to the Assam Rifles paramilitary agency in Mon district of adjoining
Nagaland state, an official said.
"It appears to be a case of mistaken identity as the
Myanmarese army thought our soldiers to be outlawed militants and started
firing," Lukhei Sema, the police chief of Nagaland, told AFP by telephone from
state capital Kohima.
The Myanmar troops were "probably" on the lookout for
militants of the banned National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN) along the
border when they came upon the Indian outpost, Sema said.
In New Delhi, defence ministry officials were not immediately
available for comment, but sources said the government would be in touch soon
with Myanmar for more details of the incident.
The NSCN are a group of Indian guerrillas fighting for an
independent tribal homeland. Their bases are located in regions between Chin and
Kachin districts in northwest Myanmar, bordering India's Nagaland
state.
A NSCN spokesman said its militants were the intended target
of the ambush.
"The military junta was planning to attack our headquarters
and they mistook the Assam Rifles soldiers to be our cadres and so killed them",
the spokesman told AFP by telephone.
Myanmar authorities have launched a crackdown against the
Indian guerrillas. In February, at least 40 Myanmar soldiers were killed by the
NSCN in a fierce gunbattle within Myanmar's territory.
For years, the NSCN have been using Myanmar as a base to carry
out their offensive against Indian troops in Nagaland.
Thursday October 26 6:36 AM
ET
Myanmar Troops Kill Five Soldiers By WASBIR HUSSAIN, Associated Press Writer GAUHATI, India (AP) - Myanmar troops opened fire on an Indian
border post in the remote northeast, killing at least five Indian paramilitary
soldiers and wounding six others, police said Thursday.
Indian soldiers fired back in the Wednesday night clash at a
border post in the Mon district of Nagaland state, but it was not known if there
were any casualties on the Myanmar side.
Lokheei Sema, the Nagaland state police chief, said five
soldiers from the Assam Rifles, a paramilitary force, were killed in the attack
by Myanmar troops.
Militants of the banned National Socialist Council of Nagaland
have been fighting to create an independent tribal homeland in the region. The
NSCN has bases near the border inside Myanmar, and Myanmar authorities have
ordered a crackdown on the guerrillas, resulting in several clashes over the
past year.
``It might be a case of mistaken identity where the Myanmar
army thought our soldiers to be the outlawed militants and began firing
indiscriminately, leading to casualties,'' Sema said by telephone from Kohima,
the Nagaland state capital.
In February, at least 30 Myanmar soldiers were killed by the
NSCN in a gunbattle inside Myanmar. More than 15,000 tribal Nagas are also
settled in parts of the Sagaing district in northern Myanmar.
The NSCN has used Myanmar as a base to carry out attacks
against Indian troops.
Wednesday October 25 3:23 PM ET
Myanmar Opposition Faces Eviction YANGON, Myanmar (AP) - The
opposition party of Aung San Suu Kyi faces eviction from its headquarters and
has asked for permission to stay until its leaders are released from house
arrest.
An eviction notice served last month said the National League for Democracy
had to be out of its offices in a two-story building in downtown Yangon after
Wednesday, a party spokesman said Wednesday. He spoke on condition of
anonymity.
The owners, two elderly women, served the notice shortly after the military
government unleashed a new round of restrictions on Suu Kyi, the 1991 Nobel
Peace laureate who has campaigned for democracy in Myanmar, which also is known
as Myanmar.
After blocking Suu Kyi from traveling outside the capital twice since
August, the government put her and other party leaders under virtual house
arrest last month.
With hundreds of members detained or coerced into resigning, the NLD barely
functions outside Yangon. While access to the headquarters is often blocked,
authorities have usually allowed party meetings to go ahead.
It was not known if the landladies responded to the NLD request. The office
was to be closed Thursday for a public holiday, and party members expected to
learn Friday whether the premises will be shut.
The NLD has occupied the building since 1989, a year after it was founded.
The party won general elections in 1990 but Myanmar's military refused to cede
power. The junta says the time is not right for an elected government to run the
country.
The party has asked the owners not to enforce the eviction until Suu Kyi
and other leaders are freed, the spokesman said. He said there was no one with
authority to deal with eviction.
The NLD has said the property owners were briefly detained after the party
marked the 10th anniversary of its victory at the polls last May. They were
apparently held responsible for causing a public disturbance when the NLD used
loudspeakers.
Myanmar's military rulers accuse the NLD of working with foreign
governments to destabilize the country. In a clear reference to Western
governments who back Suu Kyi, a top general in the junta urged the United
Nations (news - web sites) to protect member nations from foreign
interference.
Lt. Gen. Khin Nyunt said sovereignty is the ``firm foundation upon which
the edifice of the United Nations has been built,'' according to a Myanmar
government statement received Wednesday in Bangkok, Thailand.
``As sovereign states, members would not like to have others interfering in
their internal affairs nor do we as members interfere in the internal affairs of
other states,'' he was quoted as saying.
The junta has faced growing international criticism, especially from the
United States and Europe, for imposing severe restrictions on the NLD.
Thursday, October 26 2:03 AM SGT
Myanmar Troops Kill Thai Soldier MAE SOT, Thailand (AP) - Thai
and Myanmar troops clashed Wednesday in a border firefight that left one Thai
soldier dead and two wounded, the Thai military said.
A Thai patrol exchanged fire with about 50 Myanmar troops who crossed into
Thai territory at Mae Jan, about 200 miles northwest of Bangkok, the Thai
military reported. A Thai patrol usually has 10 to 15 soldiers.
It was not immediately clear if there were casualties among the Myanmar
troops. Myanmar officials could not be reached for comment late Wednesday.
Myanmar troops are deployed near the Thai border to fight anti-government
Karen National Union insurgents. Skirmishes occasionally occur between Myanmar
and Thai troops patrolling the frontier. Myanmar is also known as Burma.
Thursday, October 26 3:47 AM SGT
Myanmar Opposition Party May Be Kicked Out Of Its Office YANGON (AP)--The Myanmar
opposition party of Aung San Suu Kyi faces eviction from its headquarters and
has asked for permission to stay until its leaders are released from house
arrest.
An eviction notice served last month said the National League for Democracy
had to be out of its offices in a two-story building in downtown Yangon after
Wednesday, a party spokesman said Wednesday. He spoke on condition of anonymity.
The owners, two elderly women, served the notice shortly after the military
government unleashed a new round of restrictions on Suu Kyi, the 1991 Nobel
Peace laureate who has campaigned for democracy in Myanmar, which also is known
as Burma.
After blocking Suu Kyi from traveling outside the capital twice since
August, the government put her and other party leaders under virtual house
arrest last month.
With hundreds of members detained or coerced into resigning, the NLD barely
functions outside Yangon. While access to the headquarters is often blocked,
authorities have usually allowed party meetings to go ahead.
It wasn't known if the landladies responded to the NLD request. The office
was to be closed Thursday for a public holiday, and party members expected to
learn Friday whether the premises will be shut.
The NLD has occupied the building since 1989, a year after it was founded.
The party won general elections in 1990 but Myanmar's military refused to cede
power. The junta says the time isn't right for an elected government to run the
country.
The party has asked the owners not to enforce the eviction until Suu Kyi
and other leaders are freed, the spokesman said. He said there was no one with
authority to deal with eviction.
The NLD has said the property owners were briefly detained after the party
marked the 10th anniversary of its victory at the polls last May. They were
apparently held responsible for causing a public disturbance when the NLD used
loudspeakers.
Myanmar's military rulers accuse the NLD of working with foreign
governments to destabilize the country. In a clear reference to Western
governments which back Suu Kyi, a top general in the junta urged the U.N. to
protect member nations from foreign interference.
Lt. Gen. Khin Nyunt said sovereignty is the "firm foundation upon which the
edifice of the United Nations has been built," according to a Myanmar government
statement received Wednesday in Bangkok.
"As sovereign states, members would not like to have others interfering in
their internal affairs nor do we as members interfere in the internal affairs of
other states," he was quoted as saying.
The junta has faced growing international criticism, especially from the
U.S. and Europe, for imposing severe restrictions on the NLD. |