Thursday, February 3 2:54 PM SGT

Thai Army Chief: Will Arrest Twins Leading ""God's Army""

BANGKOK (AP)--Thailand's army chief of staff has said that the 12-year-old twin boys leading the Myanmar rebel group God's Army will be arrested if they set foot in Thailand.

The Bangkok Post newspaper reported Thursday that Gen. Montrisak Boonklong said that the fall of the God's Army camp at Ka Mar Pa Law, inside the Myanmar border, would ease tensions along the frontier.

God's Army, a fringe rebel outfit of the Karen ethnic minority, and allies from the radical Vigorous Burmese Student Warriors seized a Thai provincial hospital last week and trapped hundreds of hostages. The 10 gunmen were killed in a commando raid.

Johnny and Luther Htoo, the leaders of God's Army, and a prominent member of the Vigorous Burmese Student Warriors known as Johnny, who led last October's hostage-taking at Myanmar's embassy in Bangkok, may try to cross into Thailand to escape Myanmar attacks, Montrisak said.

"They might flee together, and if the cross the border they will be picked up," Montrisak was quoted as saying.

Thai troops prevented God's Army fighters from retreating to Thailand two weeks ago by shelling their positions, one factor that triggered the hospital takeover as the gunmen sought to force Thailand to grant refuge to civilians and fighters fleeing Myanmar forces.

Thai officials have said since then that God's Army could seek refuge in Thailand, but only if they lay their weapons down first.

The group, believed to number 100 to 200 fighters, has been reported by Thai officials and dissidents to have split up into smaller units and skirmishing with Myanmar troops while seeking to link up with forces from the larger Karen National Union.

Myanmar, also known as Burma, has been ruled by the military since 1962. The Karen minority has been fighting for more autonomy since 1949, but has been losing ground steadily over the past decade.

Beaten on battlefield, Karen rebels ready to talk, but not surrender


An armed Karen fighter wearing a headband of the Karen National Liberation Army guards a jungle camp in Myanmar

February 3, 2000
Web posted at: 12:42 p.m. HKT (0442 GMT)

MAE SOT, Thailand (AP) -- When Ba Thin joined up in 1949, the ethnic Karen minority's war for freedom from the country then known as Burma looked like it would be short.

Battle-hardened Karen fighters, who had helped colonial ruler Britain fight Japanese troops in World War II, had pushed the post-independence Burmese army to the capital, Rangoon, and looked set to carve out an independent state.

More than half-a-century later, only the dwindling numbers of Ba Thin's generation can remember the scent of victory.

With Karen forces facing annihilation from the ever-more powerful government army, the situation has become so desperate that perhaps 200 fighters have turned for leadership to twin 12-year-old boys leading a faction called God's Army.

The future of the Karens -- who account for 7 percent of Myanmar's 48 million people -- may rest in the hands of Ba Thin, 73, who was elected president of the main rebel group, the Karen National Union, in a congress last week.

Ba Thin's accession amounted to a tacit admission of the obvious _ the war is all but lost. He replaced Bo Mya, also 73, a bearish general who had led the KNU since 1976 and stubbornly presided over defeat after defeat in the past decade.

Speaking to reporters during Monday's celebration of Karen Revolution Day, Ba Thin took pains to say that his elevation would not affect KNU policy, which is to rally world pressure on the military to allow democratic rule and greater autonomy for ethnic minorities.

But he stressed the need for negotiation and voiced less of the fight-to-the-end rhetoric that became Bo Mya's hallmark.

Educated in missionary Baptist high schools in the 1940s, Ba Thin joined the KNU at its inception in 1949 and rose through rebel ranks to colonel. He then shifted to the political wing, becoming secretary-general in 1982.

"When I started serving my people, I had to carry a gun. There have been so many killings in my life," Ba Thin told The Associated Press in an interview.

"Our problems can only be solved at the negotiating table, not in battle. But surrender is also out of the question to pursue our goal."

The KNU, however, has increasingly little bargaining leverage. A decade ago, it was the strongest of a score of ethnic armies fighting the government and controlled vast swaths of territory in eastern Myanmar.

Gems and teak traded through Thailand enabled it to hire foreign mercenaries and line the pockets of corrupt Thai and Karen officials.

Since then, the government has made peace with nearly all the other factions and practically only a rump of the KNU is left fighting.

In the early 1990s, the government orchestrated a split in the group, bringing Buddhist Karens disaffected with the mostly Christian leaders under its control.

The pro-government Democratic Karen Buddhist Army has been an instrument of terror, raiding refugee camps in Thailand sheltering more than 100,000 refugees from Myanmar, mostly Karen civilians.

Under annual government offensives since then, the KNU lost all but a few toe-holds in Myanmar. Fighting strength is down to an estimated 4,000 troops -- from a one-time high of more than 20,000 _ and many new recruits are only in their early teens.

The KNU depends on Thailand for a safe rear area, but the Thai government increasingly views Myanmar's dissidents as more of a security threat than as a buffer against Myanmar's army.

The feeling of defeat has been so pervasive as to send some KNU veterans into God's Army, which seized a hospital with hundreds of hostages last week in an attempt to secure retreat into Thailand. The hostage-takers were killed, and the operation deepened Thai distrust of the Karens.

Bo Mya has held cease-fire negotiations with the government on several occasions in the past five years. Each time, they failed, once over the regime's insistence that the KNU give up its arms.

Some other rebel groups that have reached cease-fires have kept their weapons -- including the 20,000-strong United Wa State Army, considered by Washington to be the world's biggest armed drug-trafficking group.

The National League for Democracy, led by 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, is the main legal organization opposed to military rule. Suu Kyi said government cease-fires and terrorism by insurgents like God's Army won't solve Myanmar's long-standing problem of ethnic minorities seeking autonomy.

The Straits Times FEB 3 2000

Extra-judicial killings worry Thais

Human-rights groups say the death of 10 rebels at the hands of commandos highlights a widespread problem

By JAMES EAST
IN BANGKOK

THE storming of Ratchaburi Hospital by Thai commandos, in which 10 Myanmar rebels were shot dead, has highlighted the growing number of extra-judicial killings in Thailand.

Thai human-rights groups are pressing for a probe into last week's shootings, despite vehement denials by the government that any of the rebels, who had seized hundreds of hostages, were executed after surrendering.

Their call is hardly surprising.

Last year, human-rights groups claimed that 82 people died in at least 50 cases of extra-judicial killings.

The death toll is the highest in more than two decades, if killings under the Anti-Communist Act are excluded.

In an open letter to Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai, five pro-democracy and human-rights groups called on the government to investigate the allegations that some of the rebels, thought to be ethnic Karen and Myanmar student dissidents, were shot in cold blood.

Despite national pride at the success of the operation to retake the hospital, local media cited witnesses who said they had seen their captors surrender before being led away by the commandos.

One witness said the rebels were stripped and shot.

Photographs showed the dead rebels wrapped in sheets before they were taken for burial without post-mortem examinations being conducted.

The five groups wrote: "This has brought a negative image that the Thai government violated Thai law and Thailand's commitment to international law.

"It will also tarnish Thailand's record on human rights in spite of the country's previous good reputation in this region."

Mr Jaran Ditapichai, chairman of the Union of Civil Liberties, said: "I do not think the Prime Minister will appoint an inquiry into this, because he must think that the army, the police and most Thai people agree and support the military operation.

"Thai people do not like Myanmar and look down on the Karen, so it is easy to kill them without a problem."

Mr Jaran believes the same is true for drug dealers.

Thailand is in the grip of a drug-taking epidemic, with millions of addicts.

Students are the most obvious target for the gangs, which smuggle drugs in from Myanmar.

Parents are desperate for something to be done.

"Ya baa is in every corner of Thailand. Thais complain and so it legitimises the police carrying out extra-judicial killings," said Mr Jaran.

Ya baa refers to an amphetamine known as "crazy drug" because users become highly emotional and often violent.

"Even in the media, there is no concern about this violation of human rights."

Human-rights groups say the police are not only protected by fellow officers, but also by government officials and the courts, which free those accused of killing suspects.

Police officers at the centre of the most infamous extra-judicial killings of recent times, in which six alleged drug dealers were killed in 1998 after being arrested, have never been tried.

Television footage showed the handcuffed group being led into a hut from which they did not return.

Police said the men had gone for their guns and there was no choice but to shoot them all.

A similar explanation was given for last month's killing of Iranian fugitive Nache Sagane Lasem, 40, who was accused of gunning down an Australian hotelier.

Lasem fled a Bangkok police station, was recaptured, and being returned in a van when he was shot.

Police said the Iranian tried to grab a gun after the driver braked. The officers have been accused of negligence in failing to handcuff the suspect with his hands behind his back.

In the latest incident on Monday, a police officer shot a woman pedestrian accidentally when he tried to shoot out the tyres of a three-wheeled tuk tuk.

He was charged with negligence.

Kyodo News BANGKOK, Feb. 3

6 Myanmar soldiers detained in Thailand

      The Thai military on Thursday apprehended six Myanmar soldiers
who had crossed the border into Thailand, a local military officer at
the border province of Mae Hong Son said.
     The soldiers, carrying two rifles and 80 rounds of ammunition, 
were quoted as saying they were looking for food when they entered 
Thai territory by accident.

Political pitfall lurking in the forests
Fortune in teak that lies just beyond reach

Nauvarat Suksamran
The forestry chief has been caught in a scam in which a powerful politician demanded 10 million baht from each of four firms to facilitate the import of a huge amount of teak stranded in Burma for two years.
The firms baulked at the demand and sought to halve it in negotiations with the politician, who wields considerable clout in the government, said a source.
Attempts at bargaining failed with no money changing hands, and the teak, worth several hundred million baht, remains opposite Mae Hong Son province.
Stringent conditions imposed by Plodprasop Suraswadi, the Forestry Department chief, after the Salween logging scandal in 1997 were seen by the firms as the main obstacle to the import of the 10,000 logs.
Only the Forestry Department held firm, while other agencies, including the Interior Ministry, National Security Council and Customs Department, cleared the importation.
The department required the logs be inspected by its officials to confirm they are of Burmese origin; a yard be opened near the border to receive the timber; and each log bear a bar code.
The firms said the conditions made the import impossible because Rangoon officials could not take part in the process since the logs are in rebel-held territory. Establishment of the yard would require cabinet consent and bar-coding would be prohibitively expensive. Although Mr Plodprasop agreed last month to revoke the first two conditions, the bar-coding stipulation held.
The firms sought support from other sources, approaching Maj-Gen Manoonkrit Roopkhachorn and Gen Chettha Thanajaro, advisers to Interior Minister Sanan Kachornprasart. They also told Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai the department was being obstructive. Mr Chuan raised the issue with the National Security Council, which referred it to the Customs Department, both of which consented to the import.
Anticipating endorsement from Mr Plodprasop for the import, the firms extended their felling concessions with Rangoon to retain their right to the stranded timber.
Negotiations with Mr Plodprasop ended in harsh words, according to an executive of one of the firms. "We aren't beggars. Many times we sought meetings with him and had to wait and wait," he said. "We have followed normal procedure and the Burmese authorities are wondering why it has taken so long to import the logs that we have to renew our concessions."Boonsawat Duangjai-ek, of B&F Goodrich Co, one of the four firms, said Mr Plodprasop might not understand forestry law well. Changes had been made to long-standing forestry procedure by Mr Plodprasop, previously director-general of the Fisheries Department for eight years.
The executive denied that B&F Goodrich or the other three firms: FA Pharmaceuticals, Korean War Veterans Welfare Co and Polpana, were behind any death threats.
According to the source, the Burmese regime invited representatives of the Agriculture and Co-operatives Ministry late in December to discuss the importation of the stranded timber but there had not been a reply.
"Thai authorities even told us that there had never been such an invitation," the source said.
Although the dispute over the Burmese log imports has been prolonged for years, parties involved expect it to end before the general election late this year. Logging companies operating in border areas have long been regarded as sources of significant funding for political parties.

Bangkok Post - Feb 3, 2000.

God's Army leaders face arrest if they flee

Wassana Nanuam

The twins who lead God's Army and Johnny or Kyaw Ni, who was involved in the Burmese embassy siege, will be arrested if they set foot on Thai soil, the army chief-of-staff said yesterday.

Security units on the border in Ratchaburi have been told Johnny and Luther Htoo, 12, and Kyaw Ni might try to cross to escape Burmese forces who over-ran the Kamaplaw base of God's Army, said Gen Montrisak Boonkong.

"They might flee together and if they cross the border they will be picked up," he said.

Kamaplaw fell to Burmese troops following days of heavy shelling that drove 300 Karen refugees to flee 7k to Huay Suud Pass, in Suan Phueng district.

The fall of Kamaplaw should see an easing in tension on the border, where Thai forces have been told to nurture relations with their Burmese counterparts in the interests of peaceful coexistence, he said.

"There should not be any problem," said Gen Montrisak, who believed the 200 or so fighters of God's Army had split into small groups and had moved deeper into Burma.

Patrols had been suspended on the border area after five soldiers were wounded and their dog killed by a booby-trap set by the rebels.

Sappers would be assigned to clear the booby-traps, mainly mines, which were intended for Burmese troops, he added.

The Nation - FEB 3, 2000.

Headlines

Fighting spills into Mon territory

FIGHTING between Burmese government troops and Karen rebel armies has spilled southward to areas under the control of Mon rebels and student groups, dissident and official sources said yesterday.

According to the sources, heavy fighting between Burmese government troops and units from Karen National Union - together with its splinter God's Army group and the Vigorous Burmese Student Warriors - has shifted southward. The shift has also drawn the Free Mon Movement and fighters from the All Burmese Students Democratic Front into the three-week-old conflict.

God's Army and the Student Warriors, whose Kamarplaw base camp is just across the Burmese border from Ratchaburi's Suan Phung district, had been hit by shelling from both the Thai Army First Region and Burmese government troops just kilometres away from its base.

Fierce fighting by both the Burmese army and the rebels groups forced a shift in the conflict to an area near Prachuab Kiri Khan province's Bang Saphan district.

About Burmese 60 villagers were reported to have crossed into the district yesterday and more are expected to cross over in the coming days.

Col Ong-art Phongsak, commander of Special Task Force 19, said yesterday that Burmese soldiers had overrun the Mon rebels' strategic base at Khatakrob Hills, torching about 50 shacks, forcing villagers to flee for the Thai border.

Meanwhile, Thai soldiers detained 10 Karen National Union soldiers who had crossed into the Suan Phung district yesterday along with about 200 refugees. Nearly 2,000 villagers, mostly ethnic Karens, have crossed into Thailand in the past three weeks as fighting intensified.

The Nation

BBC-Thursday, 3 February, 2000, 12:26 GMT
East Timor invites Burmese dissidents
The East Timorese independence leader, Xanana Gusmao, has invited the Burmese government-in-exile to open an office in the East Timor capital, Dili, after the territory becomes fully independent.

Speaking to the BBC from Thailand, Mr Gusmao said that East Timor and Burma shared an interest in achieving democracy.

He's travelling in the region seeking help for rehabilitating the United Nations-controlled territory which voted last year for independence from Indonesia.

The Washington-based Prime Minister-in-exile, Sein Win, says he and his National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma will accept the offer of a Dili office.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service