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Rebels vow to maintain fight agains



Subject: Rebels vow to maintain fight against Myanmar 

Rebels vow to maintain fight against Myanmar
06:39 a.m. Dec 18, 1998 Eastern
ZUKENUE, Myanmar, Dec 18 (Reuters) - The leaders of two ethnic rebel
movements vowed on Friday to maintain their guerrilla wars against Myanmar's
military government.

Bo Mya, the president of the Karen National Union (KNU), told 400 guerrillas
and 3,000 villagers in the jungles of eastern Myanmar he would continue a
war against Yangon his movement has waged for almost 50 years.

Clad in the army fatigues, the KNU general said only unity among the Karen
people and other minorities could overcome the power of Myanmar's State
Peace and Development Council (SPDC) government.

``I would like to urge my Karen compatriots and other ethnic nationals to
have strict unity and continue fighting against the SPDC for the freedom of
ethnic nationalities,'' he said in a speech to mark the Karen New Year.

Ethnic Karen in eastern Myanmar and in refugee camps in western Thailand
celebrated the Karen new year on Friday with fire crackers and traditional
dances.

About 100,000 Karen live in sprawling camps in the northwest Thai provinces
of Tak and Mae Hong Son to which they have fled to escape fighting with the
Yangon government.

Bo Mya's KNU was formed in 1948 and began fighting for an autonomous state
in 1949. At its peak, the movement commanded more than 20,000 guerrillas and
was regarded as the biggest military threat to the Yangon government.

But the Christian-dominated KNU suffered a major setback in 1995 when a
Buddhist faction defected to the Myanmar army and began fighting against its
former comrades.

Bo Mya now commands a few hundred guerrillas and is waging a low-key war
against the SPDC in eastern Myanmar.

The leader of another rebel group, the Shan State Army, also promised on
Friday to keep up the fight against Yangon.

Yod Suk told reporters in the jungles of eastern Myanmar his grouping would
try to stamp out the drugs trade in its region.

Yod Suk was formerly part of the Mong Tai Army (MTA) of drug warlord Khun
Sa, who surrendered to Myanmar troops in 1996. The MTA claims to have 12,000
troops.

``The SSA has not only washed its hands of the narcotic business, we have
also formed our own narcotic suppression teams to fight against the opium
and heroin business in Shan state,'' he said.