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BURMA RELATED NEWS - MAY 24-25,
2002.
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HEADLINES
----------------------------------------------------------------- Reuters - Myanmar trial witness accuses
ex-dictator's relatives
Reuters - Thailand puts off Golden Triangle
drugs showdown
AP - Suu Kyi Stresses Need For Early Myanmar
Junta Talks
Tehran Times - Problem Over Myanmar Border
Closure Resolved: Thailand
AP - Myanmar opposition leader Suu Kyi says
party activities still restricted
Bkk Post - Military checkpoint attacked
Xinhuanet - Chinese Defense Minister Meets
Myanmar Guests
Xinhuanet - Thailand Accused of Supporting
Myanmar's Rebels
Kyodo News - Killer of Mitsubishi office manager
sentenced to death
TI - Suu Kyi calls for freeing all political
prisoners
The Nation - Govt pins border hopes on soaps
Bkk Post - Rangoon paper heaps blame on
Thai army
----------------------------------------------------------------- Saturday May 25, 9:30 AM
Myanmar trial witness accuses ex-dictator's relatives By Aung Hla Tun YANGON (Reuters) - The first
prosecution witness took the stand on Friday at the treason trial of relatives
of former Myanmar military dictator Ne Win, saying the elderly strongman's
son-in-law and grandsons had been plotting to mount a coup.
Major Thet Myo Aung, commander of the army security unit responsible for
guarding the elderly Ne Win, told the trial in the compound of Yangon's Insein
Prison that the family had tried to win him over with cash and gifts ahead of
the alleged coup.
Ne Win's son-in-law and three grandsons were arrested in a Yangon
restaurant in March and charged with planning a coup in league with a group of
military officers and an expert in black magic hired to provide astrological
advice.
Diplomats say the arrests were a clear sign that Ne Win no longer exerted
any influence over the military regime he helped install. Many are doubtful that
a coup was planned, saying the accusations were probably the pretext for a purge
by the junta.
The arrests were made weeks before the military released opposition leader
Aung San Suu Kyi from 19 months of house arrest, raising hopes that the country
can move towards democracy.
The defendants in the treason trial face the death penalty if found guilty.
Ne Win himself has not been charged but is under house arrest at his
family's compound on the shores of Yangon's Inya Lake.
The four accused appeared in court dressed in white shirts and traditional
Myanmar sarong-style longyis. They were handcuffed, and sometimes whispered to
each other.
Thet Myo Aung said Kyaw Ne Win, one of Ne Win's grandsons, had told him
that a coup would be staged on March 27, and had asked him for help. The
prosecution witness said he had also been given cash and gifts.
"He gave me a watch, a gold ring and a golf set in 2001, and starting two
years ago, 50,000 kyat (about $60) a month in cash," said Thet Myo Aung, who was
initially accused of being a conspirator but was pardoned in return for giving
evidence.
Ne Win seized power in 1962, heralding the start of four decades of
military rule in the country, then known as Burma.
Establishing himself at the head of a military dictatorship, Ne Win
embarked on what he called "The Burmese Way to Socialism", running the country
according to a mixture of communist central planning and Buddhist mysticism.
Under his rule, Burma went from being one of the richest countries in Asia
to one of the poorest and most isolated.
Simmering resentment against the military regime exploded in mass protests
in 1988. The demonstrations were bloodily suppressed by the military, but Ne Win
stepped down, handing over power to a new generation of generals.
----------------------------------------------------------------- Friday May 24, 12:49 PM
Thailand puts off Golden Triangle drugs showdown By Andrew Marshall BANGKOK (Reuters) - Efforts to
neutralise the Golden Triangle's most notorious drug baron seemed to have
unravelled by Friday as Thai troops pulled back from the fringes of his remote
fiefdom after angry protests from Myanmar's ruling junta.
Thailand has been abuzz for weeks with talk that the army was poised for an
attack on shadowy druglord Wei Hsueh-Kang, who heads one faction of a Myanmar
ethnic army blamed for producing much of the heroin that reaches the West and
most of the methamphetamine pills that have been flooding Thailand.
The United States has offered a $2 million reward for information leading
to Wei's capture, and Thailand has sentenced him to death in absentia for
smuggling heroin.
Clashes erupted this week between troops loyal to Wei from the United Wa
State Army (UWSA) and soldiers from the Shan State Army, a rival ethnic militia
hostile to the Myanmar government.
Thai troops fired artillery at Wa positions across the border, saying they
were retaliating after stray shells landed on Thai soil. Myanmar's government,
accusing Thailand of supporting the Shan rebels, closed its border crossings and
warned the Thai army not to encroach on its territory.
On Wednesday, Thailand said it was withdrawing thousands of troops from the
border region to defuse tension. The troops were ostensibly there for military
exercises, but army sources said they were being readied for a strike against
Wei.
SLAP IN THE FACE
Thai newspapers said on Friday that the military was furious about the
order to withdraw. One general was quoted as saying it was a "slap in the face
for the army".
Military and political sources say tensions have simmered for months
between the government of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra -- which favours a
conciliatory approach towards Myanmar -- and more belligerent Thai army
commanders on the border.
The Wa army, which signed a peace deal with the Myanmar junta in 1989 and
rules its territory in the remote Shan Hills with almost complete autonomy, is
blamed by Thailand and the West for producing most of the drugs from the Golden
Triangle.
But Myanmar says the Wa are eradicating drugs and that the Shan rebels are
to blame for narcotics trafficking in the region.
Analysts say while Myanmar's junta is desperate to improve its image and
get damaging sanctions lifted, its economy depends on drug money and it does not
want to risk upsetting the Wa, widely thought to be the world's largest drug
army with more than 20,000 troops and a sophisticated arsenal.
The Thai government says that during a visit last month by General Maung
Aye, the second most senior member of the Myanmar junta, he promised to shut
down businesses owned by Wei. Thai military sources say Maung Aye also gave the
green light to Thailand to mount an attack on Wei and his forces.
But Myanmar later denied any such deal and the pledge to close Wei's
businesses was dismissed by many analysts. A Bangkok Post editorial described it
as "a farce and an insult", saying Yangon had no intention of cracking down on
drugs.
Thai police have been targeting Wei for months, seizing assets owned by the
drug baron and his associates in Thailand. But analysts say that without
cooperation from Myanmar, little can be done to put an end to his activities.
Analysts say that in common with many of the region's drug barons now being
hunted by Washington, Wei began his drug career with U.S. backing. The Central
Intelligence Agency is widely believed to have backed heroin production in the
Golden Triangle to finance anti-communist rebels after their defeat in
China.
----------------------------------------------------------------- Friday May 24, 9:28 AM
Suu Kyi Stresses Need For Early Myanmar Junta Talks BANGKOK (AP)--Myanmar
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi says talks with military leaders about a
transition to democracy should begin soon or hopes for any immediate changes
will fade.
Suu Kyi told The Associated Press Thursday that there was no start date for
negotiating with the generals who robbed her of power after her party won
landmark democratic elections 12 years ago.
The military placed her under house arrest in September 2000 before
releasing her May 6 after 19 months. Previously, she was under house arrest from
1989 to 1995, during which she won the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize.
"I do not know, quite frankly (when talks will take place), but I certainly
do not think that it should take months because that would be unfortunate," she
said. "It might have the effect of making some people skeptical about the
process."
She added, "If it were entirely up to us it would happen as soon as
possible."
The U.S. and the European Union discourage trade and investment with
Myanmar to protest military suppression of democracy.
Suu Kyi said her National League for Democracy party, or NLD, will not
change its policies regarding international trade sanctions until "we have
started discussing these with the authorities over the negotiating table."
The NLD still is formulating its position for the talks, although one prime
concern is obtaining the release of political prisoners, she said.
About 290 political prisoners, mostly from the NLD, have been released
since reconciliation talks began in October 2000, but human rights groups say
about 1,500 more remain in jail.
After her release, Suu Kyi said both sides agreed that the
"confidence-building stage" was over and looked forward to "a more significant
phase in our dealings."
Suu Kyi said she bears no animosity toward the ruling generals but said
they have to recognize that democracy is crucial to the country's economic
growth.
"They would have to accept that a genuine free market economy requires a
democratic framework," she said.
Suu Kyi also addressed the perennial problem of ethnic tensions, which
surfaced earlier this week when rebels fighting near the Thai-Myanmar border
sparked artillery fire between the two countries armies.
The countries have been at odds for centuries and frequently accuse each
another of supporting guerrillas along the border. The guerrillas aren't
directly aligned with Suu Kyi's movement.
The activities of Myanmar's anti-government rebels not only have irritated
bilateral relations, they also pose a challenge for any future government trying
to hold the country together.
Suu Kyi said she credits the government for its many cease-fire agreements
with insurgent groups, saying they are "a move in the right direction but they
are not the same as a political settlement."
"Within a democratic framework, different ethnic nationalities can sort out
their problems by talking with each other rather than by taking up arms," Suu
Kyi said. "I'm very confident that in a genuine democratic system there will no
longer be any ethnic insurgencies."
The opposition leader has tested her new freedom by twice traveling to NLD
branch offices in this nation formerly called Burma. She said she would focus on
rebuilding her party domestically before traveling overseas.
Earlier Thursday, elder democracy campaigners honored her in the capital,
Yangon. She urged veteran politicians to nurture a new generation while warning
that democracy alone "cannot solve all the country's woes, and more difficulties
lie ahead."
She also told ethnic leaders of political parties that their participation
in the democracy movement was essential if the country was to achieve stability
and prosperity.
----------------------------------------------------------------- Tehran Times - May 25, 2002
Problem Over Myanmar Border Closure Resolved: Thailand BANGKOK -- Myanmar closed its borders with Thailand probably to pursue
anti-rebel operations and any dispute between the two countries should soon be
over, Thai leaders said Friday.
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra expressed optimism that the three border
checkpoints, which Myanmar shut unexpectedly on Tuesday, would be reopened once
the problem -- which he did not specify -- wa
"The problem should be settled in a few days," he told reporters at
Parliament, AFP reported.
"I know what the problem is, and I have already fixed it. I have done my
job to the utmost, but I regret that the goodwill we have developed in the past
has been eroded," he said.
Thailand's Deputy Defense Minister, General Yuthasak Sasiprapa, indicated
an offensive was being conducted by Myanmar's military rulers against rebel
groups operating in the border region.
"When the operations end, they will reopen the checkpoints," he said.
Myanmar suddenly sealed the border crossings at Myawaddy-mae Sot,
Tachilek-mae Sai and Kawthaung-ranong without informing Thailand, in the wake of
intensified tensions between the neighboring nations.
Both sides swapped protest notes Monday after Thai troops and the United Wa
State army, a Yangon-aligned ethnic militia, traded fire across the border in
Thailand's northern province of Chiang Mai.
The militia is accused of controlling much of the heroin- and
amphetamine-trafficking that is rife along the Thai-Myanmar border.
On Tuesday, Myanmar's Junta accused the Thai army of launching artillery
attacks against several of its military bases in the same area, in coordination
with the rebel Shan State army.
But Yuthasak again insisted that Thai troops had never provided military
support to any minority rebel groups.
"They should provide evidence and witnesses before alleging Thai troops
have supported any minority group. I would like to reaffirm that they (Thai
troops) haven't," he said.
Yuthasak also said that a huge military exercise along the Myanmar border
would end later Friday according to schedule, denying it was being cut short to
placate the Yangon Junta.
"The prime minister did not order the troops' withdrawal. The exercises had
finished, so the troops must leave," he said.
----------------------------------------------------------------- Tehran Times - May 25, 2002
Problem Over Myanmar Border Closure Resolved: Thailand BANGKOK -- Myanmar closed its borders with Thailand probably to pursue
anti-rebel operations and any dispute between the two countries should soon be
over, Thai leaders said Friday.
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra expressed optimism that the three border
checkpoints, which Myanmar shut unexpectedly on Tuesday, would be reopened once
the problem -- which he did not specify -- wa
"The problem should be settled in a few days," he told reporters at
Parliament, AFP reported.
"I know what the problem is, and I have already fixed it. I have done my
job to the utmost, but I regret that the goodwill we have developed in the past
has been eroded," he said.
Thailand's Deputy Defense Minister, General Yuthasak Sasiprapa, indicated
an offensive was being conducted by Myanmar's military rulers against rebel
groups operating in the border region.
"When the operations end, they will reopen the checkpoints," he said.
Myanmar suddenly sealed the border crossings at Myawaddy-mae Sot,
Tachilek-mae Sai and Kawthaung-ranong without informing Thailand, in the wake of
intensified tensions between the neighboring nations.
Both sides swapped protest notes Monday after Thai troops and the United Wa
State army, a Yangon-aligned ethnic militia, traded fire across the border in
Thailand's northern province of Chiang Mai.
The militia is accused of controlling much of the heroin- and
amphetamine-trafficking that is rife along the Thai-Myanmar border.
On Tuesday, Myanmar's Junta accused the Thai army of launching artillery
attacks against several of its military bases in the same area, in coordination
with the rebel Shan State army.
But Yuthasak again insisted that Thai troops had never provided military
support to any minority rebel groups.
"They should provide evidence and witnesses before alleging Thai troops
have supported any minority group. I would like to reaffirm that they (Thai
troops) haven't," he said.
Yuthasak also said that a huge military exercise along the Myanmar border
would end later Friday according to schedule, denying it was being cut short to
placate the Yangon Junta.
"The prime minister did not order the troops' withdrawal. The exercises had
finished, so the troops must leave," he said.
----------------------------------------------------------------- Myanmar opposition leader Suu Kyi
says party activities still restricted
Fri May 24, 5:10 AM ET YANGON, Myanmar (AP) - Myanmar
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who when freed from house arrest earlier
this month said that her release was "unconditional," cautioned followers Friday
there were still some restrictions on her party's activities.
The Nobel Peace Prize laureate did not elaborate, but her remarks
underlined how far her pro-democracy movement remains from achieving political
reconciliation with the country's ruling military junta.
"Now, we still have some restrictions on our activities," she said in a
speech to members of her National League for Democracy in Yangon's Kamayut
township. "But since we can carry on with our activities to some extent, we'll
have to do our utmost."
It was the second time in two days that Suu Kyi has struck a note of
caution. She warned in a speech to veteran politicians Thursday that achieving
democracy in Myanmar ? formerly known as Burma ? would not be an easy task and
"cannot solve all the country's woes and more difficulties lie ahead."
She advocated more negotiations between pro-democratic forces and the
country's ruling junta, officially known as State Peace and Development
Council.
The junta began closed-door talks with Suu Kyi in late 2000 in an effort to
break a decade-old political deadlock. Her party handily won a general election
in 1990 but the military refused to let it take power, harassing and jailing
party members instead.
The talks ? so far characterized as a confidence-building measures ? have
brought few concrete results aside from the slow but steady release of political
prisoners and Suu Kyi's own release from 19 months of house arrest on May
6.
In her speech Friday in Kamayut, Suu Kyi mentioned the issue of political
prisoners, saying that 30 political prisoners from the township remain in
custody and two died in prison. Human rights organizations estimate that there
are 1,500 political prisoners in Myanmar's jails.
Suu Kyi, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 for her efforts to bring
democracy to Myanmar, pledged to work for the unconditional release of all
political prisoners and urged party members to continue their political
activities.
Hundreds of well-wishers had greeted Suu Kyi as she arrived by car at the
run-down NLD office at Kamayut, about 8 kilometers (5 miles) from downtown
Yangon. It was her third visit to a branch office in the Yangon area since being
freed.
Kamayut township, near the main campus of Yangon University, is known as a
hot spot for political demonstrations and many residents of the neighborhood are
often supportive of student protests.
----------------------------------------------------------------- Bangkok Post - Saturday 25 May 2002
Military checkpoint attacked Raiders retreat into Burma after clash Supamart Kasem Army soldiers clashed with unidentified troops from Burma who attacked a
military checkpoint in Phop Phra district in the early hours of yesterday. No
casualties were reported.
The intruders crossed into Thai territory at Ban Morker Thai and attacked a
border checkpoint of the 113th Infantry Battalion with grenades and small arms
at 3.15am yesterday.
Thai soldiers returned fire and a 15-minute gunfight ensued before the
intruders retreated into Burma.
After the clash, Col Saksilp Klansanoh, commander of the 13th Infantry
Regiment Task Force, inspected the scene of fighting and sent patrol teams to
check out the intruders' escape route.
Two spent rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) shells were found on a village
road while a lot of spent cartridges from AK47 and M16 assault rifles were found
scattered on a hill, about 50-70m behind the attacked checkpoint.
Col Saksilp said the attack could be the work of an armed group affected by
army crackdowns on drugs, log poaching, and human and furniture smuggling in the
area.
Military teams and volunteers from Ban Morker Thai were trying to track
down the intruders who numbered between 5-7 men, he said.
According to Col Saksilp, who also chairs the local Thai-Burmese border
committee, his Burmese counterpart Maj Thet Lwin has not yet responded why Burma
decided to close its border with Thailand since Wednesday.
However, Col Saksilp remained optimistic about the future prospect of
Thai-Burmese relations, saying he expected talks between the governments of the
two countries to mend ties very soon.
On Wednesday night, the Thai military fired four warning 81mm mortar shots
after two 60mm mortar rounds were fired at a Thai border patrol team from the
pro-Rangoon Democratic Karen Buddhist Army's Ye Gyaw camp, located opposite Mae
Ramat district.
Meanwhile, a Thai couple captured by DKBA guerrillas on Monday were
released and returned to their village in Mae Sot district yesterday.
District chief Samart Loifa said Chan Chantib, 48, and his wife No, 46,
were seized by DKBA guerrillas from the 907th Battalion while they were crossing
the border from Ban Mae Kone Kane to Burma's Min Lat Pan village to trade.
Their capture followed the Karen National Union's attacks on Min Lat Pan
and Palu villages in Burma on May 15. The couple were detained on suspicion they
were spies and were injured while in detention, he said.
----------------------------------------------------------------- Chinese Defense Minister Meets
Myanmar Guests
Xinhuanet 2002-05-24 19:57:01 BEIJING, May 24 (Xinhuanet) --
Chinese State Councilor and Defense Minister Chi Haotian reaffirmed here Friday
that China always held to its cooperation with Myanmar and its armed forces.
Chi, also vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission, said in a
meeting with Kyi Min, commander-in-chief of the Myanmar Navy, and his party that
the Chinese people and armed forces were willing to promote bilateral
cooperative relations in a bid to carry on the friendship permanently, he said.
Chi praised the one-China policy persistently pursued by the Myanmar
government.
Kyi Min said with a long history of bilateral friendship, the cooperative
relations between the two countries have been developing healthily in recent
years.
He expressed his confidence that the visit would push forward the existing
cooperation between the two armed forces.
----------------------------------------------------------------- Thailand Accused of Supporting
Myanmar's Rebels
Xinhuanet 2002-05-25 14:13:41 BANGKOK, May 25 (Xinhuanet) --
Thai embassy in Rangoon received an official protest of Myanmar government over
allegation that Thai Army has been providing support to ethnic minority groups
along the border between the two countries, a source from Thai Foreign Ministry
said Saturday.
In the protest note, the Myanmar government accused the Thai troops of
firing artillery shells across border on May 20 to support the ethnic Shan group
to attack the Myanmar military outposts on the border, the source said.
The Thai Army also was accused of supplying weapons to another
anti-government group Karen Nation Union.
The Myanmar side claimed that those actions of Thai Army were carried out
with knowledge of Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and Defence Minister
Chavalit Yongchaiyudh.
The Myanmar government closed four major checkpoints along the Thai-Myanmar
border on Wednesday.
----------------------------------------------------------------- Killer of Mitsubishi office
manager sentenced to death
YANGON, May 24 Kyodo - A court
in Myanmar has sentenced to death a man convicted of killing the Yangon office
manager of Mitsubishi Corp. and his local female companion earlier this month,
official sources said Friday.
----------------------------------------------------------------- The Times of India
Suu Kyi calls for freeing all
political prisoners
AFP [ SATURDAY, MAY 25, 2002 7:00:42 AM ] YANGON: Freed pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi called for the release of all political prisoners in Myanmar during a visit to the township of Kamayut Friday. "Our primary objective at this point is to obtain the release of all
political prisoners not only of our party but also of others who are still in
jail," she told a 500-strong crowd outside the National League for Democracy
(NLD) headquarters in Kamayut, eight kilometres (five miles) northwest of
central Yangon.
Around 1,500 political prisoners are held in Myanmar jails, of which 800
are NLD members. Of those 800, 17 were elected as members of parliament in the
1990 elections that have never been recognised by the country's ruling military
regime.
"I acknowledge the fact that the Kamayut township especially has always
been in the forefront of our political activities, and this is attested by the
fact that 30 of our members from this township -- 20 of them who are youths --
are still in prison," she told a captivated audience.
The trip to Kamayut was her third such visit to a township on the outskirts
of Yangon since she was released on May 6 from 19 months of house arrest.
A cheering crowd greeted the Nobel peace laureate as she arrived by car at
the small NLD office, with many youths sporting the wide-rimmed, pointy bamboo
hats that the party popularised during the 1990 elections.
Her discussion in the office with NLD members about party business was
broadcast by a public address system to the crowd outside, after which Aung San
Suu Kyi stood on a small dais and spoke through a microphone to the
throng.
She reminded the crowd that "politics is everyone's concern".
"That is why I would request you not to neglect it, and I on my part pledge
that we will never neglect you. We understand that we cannot make the people
strong unless we ourselves are strong.
"For this we need your full support and encouragement and we hope we will
achieve democracy before long," she said in her 10-minute speech.
"Democracy does not guarantee prosperity. But it guarantees you the basic
right to improve your life... We (the NLD) cannot go it alone. We cannot do it
only by ourselves, the people must also lend their full support so I would like
to appeal for your help and support," she added.
This was Aung San Suu Kyi's first-ever visit to Kamayut township, whose
parliamentary seat was won by NLD executive committee member U Lwin in
1990.
The bystanders, many of whom had come in the hope of just catching a
glimpse of "the Lady", as she is popularly known here, had refused to disperse
when a 10-minute downpour occurred just prior to her arrival.
"She looks very serene. She has honesty written all over her face," one
elderly woman said. "This is a very special treat for me, that I have got to see
her in person."
Aung San Suu Kyi is next scheduled to visit the nearby township of
Kemmendine.
The Kamayut and Kemmendine NLD offices were reopened after a
"reconciliation dialogue" was initiated between Aung San Suu Kyi and the
military in October 2000, a month after she was confined to her famous lakeside
home.
----------------------------------------------------------------- The Nation
Govt pins border hopes on
soaps
Published on May 25, 2002
In a bid to ease ongoing tension with Burma, Thailand will send copies of
two Thai soap operas, one of them Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's favourite,
to Burma's junta leaders, Deputy Defence Minister Yuthasak Sasiprapha said
yesterday.
Thaksin, whose diplomatic style is based on personal relations, will give
copies of two soap operas, "Ban Sai Thong" and "Vaen Thong Louang", as a gift
from the Thai people to Burma, Yuthasak said.
Based on the novel "Kor Surangkanang", "Ban Sai Thong" is a love story
about a girl named Pojaman from a noble family who fights with relatives to
obtain her right as the real owner of the castle. The fighting ends in happiness
when she finds true love with the son of one her relatives that she is fighting
with.
"Ban Sai Thong" has been made into a film and a television series several
times in the past four decades. A version of the film starring Jarunee
Suksawasdi brought good luck to Thaksin in the early 1980s when he was involved
in a debt-ridden film business. Thaksin once said the reason he had chosen the
film to screen at his cinema in Chiang Mai was because the main character's name
was Pojaman, the same as his wife's. The film ended up making a lot of money for
Thaksin.
"Vaen Thong Louang" is also a love story, about a woman who wears a brass
ring living in misery until she finds her lost love.
Yuthasak said the copies would be handed to Burmese Foreign Minister Win
Aung, who also loves the two television soap operas and had asked for copies of
them.
Relations with Burma deteriorated early this week following border
skirmishes that led to an exchange of official protests and closure of border
checkpoints.
"It is not in exchange for reopening the border, but we hope the two soap
operas will maintain positive feelings with the leaders in Rangoon," he
said.
Developments on the border yesterday remained unchanged with no sign of
Rangoon reopening border checkpoints despite the withdrawal of Thai troops from
the area.
----------------------------------------------------------------- Bangkok Post - Saturday 25 May
2002
Rangoon paper heaps blame on Thai
army
Deliberate move to harm ties, it claims
Wassana Nanuam
The Thai army had deliberately harmed relations between Thailand and Burma
even as their governments tried to strengthen ties, said Burma's official
newspaper the New Light of Myanmar.
The newspaper, which serves as the government's mouthpiece, said the Thai
military was to blame for a new round of border tension.
``At a time when Myanmar [Burma] is promoting Myanmar-Thai friendship, the
Thai army is acting to the detriment of it,'' it said.
Army spokesman Col Somkhuan Saengpataranetr said the army was merely
defending Thai sovereignty.
``The army has no intention to stir up tension,'' he said.
The newspaper said the ruling State Peace and Development Council closed
border checkpoints with Thailand on Wednesday after the Thai army provided
military support to Shan State Army rebels.
A SSA operation, launched early this week opposite Chiang Mai's Wiang Haeng
district, inflicted casualties among Burmese border forces.
Col Somkhuan said the army could not ignore intentional cross-border
shellings from foreign forces. ``Cross-border fire from Burmese forces or Wa has
to be countered in line with rules of military engagement. We have no desire to
seek confrontation with Burma,'' said the colonel.
The army had not given support to the SSA, he stressed.
``We want to see peace along the border, as we have to provide help to
people fleeing from fighting for humanitarian reasons,'' he said.
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