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Bangkok Post News (18-3-99)





<bold>Burma denies using armed fishing boats 

</bold>

	<bold>Illegal fishing blamed for clashes with navy 

</bold>

	Burma yesterday refused to admit that it used armed fishing boats in
recent clashes with the thai navy  in the Andaman Sea and maintained that
illegal fishing by Thai fishermen was the root cause of the incidents.

	"the main cause of the problem is the illegal fishing by Thai boats in
Burmese territory,"said Major General Thein sein,chief of the triangle
Region Command who led the Burmese side to the 17th Regional Committee
meeting which ended yesterday.

	According to Lt-Gen Taweep Suwanasingha,the commander of the First Army
Region who let the Thai delegation,the Burmese side the unidentified
boats could have belonged to "any interest group."

	The Burmese also pointed out that they would only use"modified" boats
for managerial purposes,such as for transporting food and oil,Lt-Gen
Taweepadded.

	Lt-Gen Taweep acknowledgef that Thai fishermen had operated illegally
and said he would try to encourage them to abide by Burmese law. 

	The meeting referred to the clashes on December 19,in which three
Burmese were killed, and on January 12,in which two Thais died.

	Burma at the same time stood firm against the Thai request for the
despatch of an officer to the Border Fisheries Coordination Center in
Ranong province,saying the two sides could co-ordinate through the
provincial level Township Border Committee and local army umits.

	Maj-Gen Thein Sein cited lack of precedent with its other neighbours
India,China,and Laos to reject Thailand's  proposal for launching a joint
patrol.

	On the Thai call for the setting up of an"equidistance line" pending
demarcation of the water boundary,Maj-Gen Thein Sein reaffirmed the
Burmese position that this should be dealt with by the Joint Boundary
Committee due to meet next month.

	Major General Thien Sein said two measures agreed at the meeting were
expected to help curb clashes at sea.These include the call for boats to
carry respective national flags and for the two countries' navies to
communicate through specific radio frequencies.

	" After all, we've achieved further cooperation and improved our under
standing, lessened incidents which would enhance bilateral relations, "
he said.   


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<bold>Burma comes back

</bold>

Rangoon -- Burma has reopened its embassy in Phnom Penh after a break of
20 years and expects Cambodia to follow suit with its mission in Rangoon,
officials said yesterday.

	Officials said Burma was eager to reestablish ties with all countries in
the region, especially with Cambodia as it is expected to soon become the
10 th member of the Association of South east Asian Nations.