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Burma-Karen : Senior junta official
- Subject: Burma-Karen : Senior junta official
- From: moe@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 06 Apr 1997 15:19:00
Subject: Burma-Karen : Senior junta official visits captured Karen bases
Burma-Karen : Senior junta official visits captured Karen
bases
RANGOON, April 4 (AFP) - Lieutenant General Tin
Oo, chief of staff
of the Burmese army, has visited captured bases
of the rebel
Karen National Union (KNU) in southern Burma,
the official press
reported Friday.
The New Light of Myanmar pictured Tin Oo, who is
also second
secretary of Burma's ruling junta, inspecting
captured weapons at
the headquarters of the KNU's Fourth Brigade at
Minthamee
Thursday.
Accompanied by an entourage of government
ministers and
officials, he took a helicopter trip to three
Karen bases in
Tenasserim division.
"Only when there is peace and tranquility in
border areas, will
regional development tasks be carried out
effectively," the New
Light quoted him as saying.
Forces of the State Law and Order Restoration
Council (SLORC), as
the ruling junta is officially known, have swept
through KNU
enclaves close to the Thai border in a massive
offensive that
began in early February.
The KNU, which has been fighting rule from
Rangoon for almost
50 years, is the only major ethnic insurgency
yet to reach a
ceasefire with the junta.
Some 15 other insurgencies have reached accords
with the
SLORC through a combination of military pressure
and promises
of development assistance.
The KNU group has lost its fixed bases in the
current offensive
and an estimated 20,000 Karen civilians have
fled to Thailand but
the rebel's leadership is determined to continue
guerrilla
resistance.
Since the offensive began, other key SLORC
figures including its
chairman Senior General Than Shwe, and the army
chief General
Maung Aye have paid visits to captured KNU areas.
The New Light report said that Tin Oo met with
troops of SLORC's
regional battalions and their families, and
local representatives of
the junta's mass organisation, the Union
Solidarity Development
Association and other groups.