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Sunday, February 6 2:40 PM SGT
UN warns protesters must be heard at Bangkok trade meetBANGKOK, Feb 6 (AFP) -The UN's trade and development chief, Rubens Ricupero, warned on Sunday that protests must be allowed at the world body's global trade meet starting in Bangkok next weekend. The warning comes amid a security crack-down by Thai authorities eager to prevent a repeat of violence by anti-globalisation activists which marred World Trade Organisation talks in Seattle last year and the more recent World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Ricupero, United Nations Conference on Trade and Developmentsecretary general, said it was vital dissenting voices be heard and that the Bangkok meeting be used to heal old wounds. "I hope that our conference will provide them with a public space, because I think it is dangerous to confine the protests to the street level," Ricupero said. "It is necessary to take their concerns very seriously and try to identify what the reasons are behind all those manifestations, and what we can do in international organisations to channel those feelings towards a constructive cause." He said the UN had "full confidence" in Thailand's security arrangements for the conference to be held between February 12 and 19. "We trust that they will do what they find is necessary," he told reporters at a press conference after arriving in Bangkok Sunday morning. Thai police chiefs Wednesday promised to permit anti-globalisation protests during the meeting, but have banned demonstrations near the venue. "As of now we haven't found a suitable venue for demonstrations, but we are looking for potential places," National Police Chief General Pracha Promnog said. Security in the capital has been stepped up, with police already on alert following last month's seizure of a hospital west of Bangkok along with hundreds of patients and staff by Myanmar insurgents. Thai authorities insist a current round-up of illegal immigrants in Bangkok follwoing the hostage crisis is unrelated to UNCTAD security preparations. "There is no direct connection between the delegates from the countries who are coming to the conference and any kind of round-up based on countries of origin," said Kobsak Chutikul, director of the foreign ministry's economics department. "The press reports perhaps are reporting over-enthusiasm and a sense of concern by those who have been entrusted with the responsibility of making security arrangements." More than 6,622 police officers will be deployed across the capital during the week-long conference, while thousands of delegates, including a number of heads of state, from more than 100 nations are expected to attend. chicago tribune RATCHABURI, Thailand -- In an
ethnic conflict as desperate as it is remote, 12-year-old twins Luther and
Johnny Htoo have become the bizarre symbols and standard bearers of the
half-century-old war in the jungles of Myanmar.
The brothers, enveloped in mystery and legend, lead God's Army, a guerrilla
splinter group of the Karen National Union, the military force that has been
fighting for an independent Karen homeland since the British left Burma (now
Myanmar) in 1947.
Recent suicide missions across the border
into Thailand by God's Army have raised tensions anew along the Thai-Myanmar
border. The hostage-taking raids by the group have embarrassed Bangkok and
enraged Yangon, formerly known as Rangoon. They also have put a spotlight on a
conflict the world had all but forgotten.
The guerrilla twins are seen by their followers as the messiahs of God's
Army, but what captured the world's attention was a hospital raid and the
arresting images of the youngsters wielding automatic weapons and hand grenades,
and one with a cigar in his mouth.
The twins and their Christian soldiers are children of violence, nurtured on
armed conflicts that have dogged Indochina for decades. They have been brought
up on today's easy access to lethal weapons and educated on ideologies that
foster private ambitions by cynical leaders who have long realized that the
dispossessed young can be easily converted to their cause.
The Karen National Union, which claims to represent the minority group of
nearly 3.4 million, finances its war with levies on goods smuggled through its
strategic territory along the border. A decade ago, it was the strongest of a
score of ethnic armies fighting the government and controlled vast areas in
eastern Myanmar.
But in the early 1990s, the government orchestrated a split in the union,
bringing Buddhist Karens disaffected with the mostly Christian leaders under its
control.
In a part of the world where Christianity has become wedded to animism, a
mythology has sprung up about the boys.
Legends abound about their reputedly black tongues. In fact, the twins'
tongues are a normal shade of pink.
Yet, because a black tongue connotes supernatural powers, the boys' blessings
are sought before a battle. Rebel soldiers believe being blessed by the boys
renders them impervious to bullets.
Those who have spent time with the twins describe them as "moody and
willful," one moment laughing and playing like any boys, the next moment nasty
and murderous.
On Jan. 25 Thai commandos stormed the Ratchaburi Hospital where 10 masked and
long-haired rebels from God's Army held 700 patients and staffers at gunpoint in
an abortive attempt to stop Thai artillery from bombarding their jungle
headquarters in the village of Kamerplaw. The village already was being
assaulted by troops of Myanmar's military junta.
In a predawn firefight, each of the 10 guerrillas was killed with a bullet
through the head.
Thai military officials denied the rebels were executed and justified the
head wounds with the statement: "The commandos always aim for the head, the
raiders might have worn bulletproof vests."
Military sources also claim that at least one of the dead guerrillas, a
student named Bay Dar, was a member of the armed group that took over the
Myanmar Embassy in Bangkok in October. The raiders held 70 diplomats and
foreigners hostage for several days in an apparent attempt to publicize
resistance to the junta's dictatorship.
But who are Johnny and Luther and their God's Army?
For local bus driver Samchai Dangarun, 40, they are the bad boys who
commandeered his bus 55 miles south of Ratchaburi recently, armed with what the
army later described as an arsenal of hardware including AK-47 and M-16 assault
rifles, and M-79 and M-80 grenade launchers.
"They ordered me to drive them to Ratchaburi Hospital and told everyone to
keep quiet and nothing would happen to them. Sure I was scared out of my wits,"
Dangarun said.
For hostage Decha Yaowong, 32, they were "armed youths who behaved politely
but had us on tenterhooks by juggling with hand grenades."
For Thailand's military--which used to make good money from an
arms-for-jewels trade with Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge on the Thai-Cambodian
border--the activities of God's Army have ruined lucrative border trade with
Myanmar.
Thailand's release of the rebels who took the embassy in October angered
Myanmar's rulers, who closed the border for two months.
For Thailand's government the raids have become an opportunity to crack down
on the growing number of young students and anti-junta activists who seek refuge
in Thailand and have been allowed to move relatively freely. Last weekend,
troops and police rounded up 2,000 illegal immigrants and asked the
international community to take them off their hands and asked Myanmar refugees
scattered throughout Thailand to return to their camps.
Washington has agreed to take 1,500 Myanmar refugees now in a camp in
northern Thailand.
Banned Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel Prize winner, and
the Karen National Union have denounced the raids by the mavericks. Both are
aware that the hostage dramas in Thailand imperiled the tacit status quo under
which Karen fighters and anti-junta student activists often found shelter in
Thailand from pursuing Myanmar troops.
Last week the group said it would offer shelter to God's Army members on the
run if they accepted the leadership of the movement and promised "not to indulge
in any more foolish acts."
Thailand announced it will continue to provide shelter for civilians caught
in the fighting. But Thai border troops will turn back any fighters carrying
weapons.
Along the Thai border is a maze of jungle tracks marked by sandbagged army
checkpoints. Thai soldiers believe the twins and the remnants of their army--
about 200 fighters--eventually will have to ask for refuge. Two Myanmar
battalions already have wiped out their village headquarters and have scattered
God's Army.
Meanwhile, the Karen National Union has elected Saw Ba Thin, 63, as its new
leader. He has announced he is willing to negotiate a peace deal with Yangon in
return for some kind of Karen autonomy.
Folklore concerning the boys' mystical powers has led their people to believe
they are the children of God. "The twins are credited with all kinds of
miracles," said a local photographer who has been to the boys' camp.
"They became icons a few years ago when they predicted from which direction
the Burmese soldiers would attack the village and said only seven fighters armed
with different weapons should fight them off. It apparently worked and the
Burmese withdrew," the photographer added.
The twins are a strange-looking pair. Johnny's soft features and long flowing
hair are more typical of a girl's. Luther wears a ponytail and is a cheroot
chain-smoker. He looks like a pint-size shaman. Wassana
Nanuam Army commander-in-chief Gen
Surayud Chulanont will be asked to approve the formation of a special
military force to pursue drug traffickers operating along the Burmese
border. "We need to act decisively to root out drug trafficking,"
Gen Boonlert Kaewprasit, head of the army's drug prevention and
suppression committee, said. "The situation now is quite critical and decisive action
inevitable."Gen Boonlert, an army special adviser, was speaking after a
three-day visit to the Third Army Region, which is responsible for border
drug suppression. Proposals to be presented to Gen Surayud would include
the formation of a special force to deal firmly with drug traffickers. "It could be similar to the special force formed during
Gen Prem Tinsulanonda's administration in the early 80s, when drug warlord
Khun Sa used the border area for the production of illicit drugs," another
committee member said. Gen Boonlert was briefed at Third Army headquarters in
Phitsanuloke by senior officers including Maj-Gen Chamlong Phothong, the
chief-of-staff, who emphasised his belief trafficking activity in the area
would get worse unless decisive action was taken. Gen Boonlert was told about 50 factories were still
producing illicit drugs along the border, opposite Chiang Mai and Chiang
Rai. Many areas were under the influence of the United Wa
State Army, widely recognised as the biggest drug producer in the Golden
Triangle area. Lt-Gen Wattanachai Chaimuengwong, Third Army commander,
said earlier the UWSA's main income came directly from the drugs trade. He
totally rejected the Wa's claim its earnings derived from trading of
natural resources. "The trend is worrisome," noted a senior officer. The Third Army forecasts that production of
methamphetamine will increase from 200 million pills last year to 250
million this year. "We were able to seize only 40 million tablets last year.
That means around 160 million pills could have found their way to the
local market," an intelligence official said. Lack of cohesion between different state agencies
tackling the drug problem was also raised during Gen Boonlert's
inspection. If left unresolved it would undermine drug suppression
efforts, he was told. Lt-Gen Wattanachai, a cavalry officer, recently sought
support from the National Security Council for the formation of another
powerful administrative body which would be empowered to handle all
security problems, including drug trafficking, in the upper northern
provinces. The idea was rejected during a meeting of leading
security officials who were optimistic that the restructuring of the
Internal Security Operations Command would resolve the problem. |