AFP-Rebels list catalogue of Myanma

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Rebels list catalogue of Myanmar military offences, but junta denies
Wed 12 Aug 98 - 13:15 GMT 

BANGKOK, Aug 12 (AFP) - A rebel army Wednesday issued a catalogue of
alleged offences by Myanmar government forces, but the country's junta
immediately dismissed them as groundless.

Most of the dozens of claims by the Karen National Union (KNU) guerrillas
involved the theft of rice, pigs, chickens or cash, but some included
forced labour, abductions and the burning of homes in villages in several
districts along the Thai border.

Villagers had been forced to carry goods and clear land for the military,
the KNU said in a statement.

But a junta spokesman brushed aside the allegations, saying any such
offences would be dealt with by the isolated country's legal system.

"KNU has been fabricating, exaggerating and accusing whoever is against
them, and it is not surprising that they are coming up with such claims,"
he said in a statement to AFP.

"The defence forces of Myanmar abides by its code of conduct and any action
regarded as breaching the code will be dealt (with) legally."

The KNU is the last major insurgent group holding out against the junta and
controls small pockets of land on the country's eastern border with
Thailand. The government has struck truces with dozens of rebel groups in
recent years.