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NEWS-Myanmar Denies Talk Khun SA Fi
Myanmar Denies Talk Khun SA Financing Development
Reuters
11-FEB-98
By Sutin Wannabovorn
YANGON, Feb 11 (Reuters) -
Myanmar's military government on
Wednesday denied speculation that
former opium warlord Khun Sa was
laundering ill-gotten money to finance
businesses in the capital Yangon,
where he now lives.
``We do not know whether he has
money deposits in banks in foreign
countries or not, but rumours of Khun
Sa laundering money are totally
untrue,'' government spokesman
Colonel Hla Min told Reuters.
``The government has even loaned
him some money to live on, and he
lives under our supervision.
``Khun Sa used to fight against the
government for several years when
more than 720 Myanmar soldiers
were killed and 2,300 of them
wounded. Do you think he will bring
the money -- if he had it -- into
Myanmar?'' the colonel said.
Khun Sa, once a powerful controller
of drugs flowing from the infamous
Golden Triangle along Myanmar's
northeastern border, surrendered to
the Myanmar (Burma) government in
1996.
He has not been in the public eye
since his surrender and little is
known about his activities.
As high rise buildings and hotel
sprout in Yangon, there has been
speculation among the diplomatic
and business circles and in the
media that Khun Sa may be using
wealth amassed from his former drug
trade to finance urban development
in the capital.
``It is widely felt among businessmen
here that a large portion of
businesses, including some hotels,
belong to Khun Sa,'' said a
businessman who declined to be
identified.
Another businessman said he had
learned that Khun Sa was laundering
massive amounts of his black money
in Yangon.
Last year, a close Khun Sa aide told
Reuters that his boss has invested in
various businesses, including a hotel
and nightclub in Yangon.
Khun Sa, who is half Shan and half
Chinese, formerly commanded
20,000 guerrillas of his Mong Tai
Army (MTA) ostensibly to fight for
independence for his northeastern
Shan state.
But international drug agencies
accused him of using the MTA as a
personal army to protect his opium
and heroin business in the Golden
Triangle, where the borders of
Myanmar, Laos and Thailand meet.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency
estimates that 70 percent of all
heroin going to the U.S. originates
from the Golden Triangle.
Khun Sa was indicted by a U.S. court
in December 1989 on various
charges of heroin trafficking.
Washington has demanded that he
be handed over to it to stand trial in
the United States and has offered a
$2 million reward for his capture.
But Myanmar's military has turned
down the U.S. demand. ``The United
States said they wanted Khun Sa and
we also wanted Khun Sa, but they
never assisted us in fighting against
narcotics. We fought against opium
growing on our own and when got
Khun Sa, they said they wanted him,''
Hla Min said.
``It is like a game in a football
competition and we won. So Khun Sa
is regarded as the trophy given to us
as the reward for the winner.
``And it is now up to us whether to
keep our trophy in the showcase, in
the living room or in the toilet.''
Copyright 1998 Reuters Limited.