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BURMA RELATED NEWS - OCT - 26, 2000. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HEADLINE
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Reuters - Thai senator says wants to
legalise amphetamines
AFP - Myanmar launches enquiry into killing of
Indian troops
AP - Myanmar Propaganda: 68 Karen Guerillas Have
Surrendered
Kyodo News - Renewed fighting in Myanmar drives
Thais from homes
WIRE:10/27/2000 07:03:00 ET Thai senator says wants to legalise amphetamines BANGKOK, Oct 27 (Reuters) - A
Thai senator suggested on Friday that amphetamines be legalised to bring the
country"s drugs problem under control, the state-owned Thai News Agency
reported.
"The government should set up drug stores nationwide to sell the drug at
one baht (2.33 U.S. cents) a tablet to control the supply and demand of the
drug," Senator Kavi Supathira was quoted as telling Interior Ministry officials.
Kavi is a member of the Senate"s government affairs committee.
He said the move would undermine the United Wa State Army, an ethnic army
in Myanmar blamed for producing most of the amphetamines consumed in Thailand.
"The Wa would be severely hurt by this measure," he said. Amphetamine pills are
widely available in Thailand despite efforts to crack down on the drug.
Friday, October 27 10:03 PM SGT
Myanmar launches enquiry into killing of Indian troops NEW DELHI, Oct 27 (AFP) -
Myanmar is to launch an investigation into the killing of five Indian soldiers
by its troops along their joint border, Indian foreign ministry spokesman R.S
Jassal said Friday.
"The Myanmar government has informed us that they will conduct an enquiry
into the unfortunate incident. We have asked them to keep us informed at every
stage," Jassal said.
Myanmar soldiers killed five members of the Assam rifles when they attacked
a border post in Mon district of Nagaland state in northeast India late
Wednesday night.
Lukhei Sema, the police chief of Nagaland, told AFP it was "a case of
mistaken identity" as the Myanmar soldiers mistook the Indian troops for
militants belonging to the banned National Socialist Council of Nagaland
(NSCN).
The NSCN are a group of Indian guerrillas fighting for an independent
tribal homeland. They have bases in the Chin and Kachin districts of northwest
Myanmar, bordering Nagaland.
The NSCN also told the media that its militants were the intended target of
the ambush.
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 inside Myanmar territory.
According to defense officials, Myanmar has made an unconditional apology
for Wednesday's incident.
Friday, October 27 5:54 PM SGT
Myanmar Govt: 68 Karen Guerillas Have Surrendered BANGKOK (AP)--Sixty-eight
ethnic Karen guerrillas fighting for more autonomy in Myanmar have surrendered
in the past two months, Myanmar's government said Friday.
Exchanging "arms for peace," the rebels surrendered in four different groups between Sept. 1 and Oct. 20 to government forces in Tenasserim Division, southeastern Myanmar, a Myanmar government statement said. Mahn Sha, general-secretary of the Karen National Union, the rebel's
political wing, denied the claim, saying the government was exaggerating.
Guerrillas may have surrendered one or two at a time in recent months, but
there was no mass defection, he told the Associated Press at the Thai-Myanmar
border.
According to independent estimates, the KNU has about 3,000-4,000
guerrillas still fighting the government. It used to have more than 20,000,
controlling large enclaves in eastern Myanmar near the frontier with Thailand.
The KNU has been fighting the central government of Myanmar, also known as
Burma, for five decades. It has been reduced to wildcat guerrilla tactics after
losing its last timber and gem-rich territory to government forces in
1997.
BANGKOK, Oct. 27 Kyodo News
Renewed fighting in Myanmar drives Thais from homes About 1,000 Thai villagers living in the border area near Myanmar fled
their homes Friday as a battle raged nearby between Myanmar government troops
and the ethnic minority Karen guerrillas, a report from the border said.
The report from the border town of Mae Sot said villagers of Ban Mae Goan
Gane in Mae Sot district of Tak Province rushed to air raid shelters as they
were awakened by mortars and rockets from Myanmar's Pha Lu military camp near
the Moei River border.
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