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The Nation (3-10-99) No. 1
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<font face="arial" size=4><b>Headlines</font></b><font size=3> <br>
</font><font size=5><b>Raiders release hostages, escape<br>
</font></b><font size=3>AFTER 25 hours of uncertainty and ordeal, all 89
hostages at a tense Burmese Embassy occupation as well as their five
heavily armed Burmese captors were released unharmed yesterday afternoon
in a dramatic ending, leaving behind a trail of suspicion and numerous
questions. <br>
The Thai government eventually complied with the assailants' demand that
they be flown to the Thai-Burmese border accompanied by a group of
non-Burmese hostages in exchange for the release of all captives held
after the lightning attack on the embassy compound on North Sathorn Road
on Friday morning. <br>
Deputy Foreign Minister M R Sukhumbhand Paribatra and Chaiyapreuk
Sawaengcharoen, the former chief of the Maneeloy holding centre for
Burmese asylum-seekers in Ratchaburi province, gave themselves up in
echange for a group of seven Western and Asian hostages and accompanied
the armed captors in a helicopter to Baan Tako Thong in Ratchaburi's Suan
Phung district. <br>
It is not yet known if the group crossed the border into Burma or
remained in the Thai border area, which is under the supervision of the
Thai Army's 9th Division. The Burmese area is under the control of the
Karen Nation Union guerrilla group, which has yet to strike a truce deal
with Rangoon. <br>
Tu Ye, a senior KNU officer, told The Nation on Friday that his group was
not involved in the violent raid on the embassy and had no connection
with the armed attackers. He said he did not know the source of the heavy
weaponry acquired by the group. <br>
Armed with AK-47 assault rifles, shot guns and hand grenades, the
Burmese, whom Interior Minister Sanan Kachornprasart chose to call
''student activists'' rather than ''terrorists'', stormed through the
front gate of the embassy, hit a Thai plain-clothes police intelligence
officer and later rounded up Burmese diplomats, Thais and foreigners at
gunpoint in the chancellery building. <br>
In a statement, the group declared their readiness ''to die in action''
if their demands that the Burmese junta release all political prisoners,
open dialogue with pro-democracy politicians and convene the parliament
elected in May 1990 were not met. <br>
Throughout the highly tense stand-off, the group, which called itself the
''Vigorous Burmese Student Warriors'', negotiated with Thai police
officers and was interviewed by Thai and foreign journalists over an
embassy fax line. Gyaw Ni, or ''Johnny'', was the only negotiator and
interviewee throughout the incident. <br>
According to officers and officials involved in resolving the crisis,
Gyaw Ni had countless phone conversations including arguments with other
Burmese student groups which had pursued non-violent political strategy.
The raiders also received a number of faxed messages threatening them
with pending Thai assaults. <br>
Saroj Chavanaviraj, permanent secretary of the Foreign Ministry, told The
Nation yesterday after the occupation that the safety of all the
hostages, 38 in the chancellery and 51 in the four-storey building
serving as diplomatic residence and school, had been Thailand's ultimate
objective, which was why the government had agreed to the captors' demand
to be flown by helicopter to the border area. <br>
He said the Burmese junta ''wanted to see the crisis resolved at the
earliest moment and in a non-violent way''. <br>
Saroj agreed that the violent attack on the embassy and the escape of the
group could set a precedent for similar violent acts in the future but
insisted that the Thai insistence on ''no bloodshed'' had been ''the best
solution'' for the embassy hostages. ''Thai actions will be taken on a
case-by-case basis,'' he said. <br>
When asked if the captors, some of whom have records of violent
behaviour, would be let go unchallenged, Saroj said: ''Just wait and see
what Thailand does.'' <br>
The embassy assailants included San Naing, alias Ye Thi Ha, who with his
friend Ye Yint hijacked a Burmese domestic flight and diverted it to
Thailand on Oct 6, 1989. San Naing is said to have been involved in two
failed bomb attacks on the embassy, according to one Thai intelligence
officer. <br>
The Thai Police are still checking the identities and backgrounds of the
attackers and their affiliation with Burmese and non-Burmese political
and financial backers. <br>
Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai yesterday said all crisis resolutions were
risky but no loss of life was the best option to pursue and ''that is our
objective''. <br>
He said negotiations normally took time and patience and that everybody
involved in resolving the embassy crisis had done their best. <br>
He said he would call a meeting soon to assess Friday's ordeal. <br>
Thailand, said the premier, will have to review its security measures.
<br>
''I believe they are too lax and have instructed all agencies concerned
to intensify security, particularly at foreign embassies,'' he said.
<br>
''I'm amazed at how easily they could enter the compound. I had thought
that security at the Burmese Embassy had been strengthened since the 9999
incident,'' said Chuan. ''It will have to be intensified now.'' <br>
Like Sanan, Chuan said surveillance of exiled Burmese students and their
anti-government activities here would have to be strengthened. <br>
Chuan, other Thai government leaders and administrative and security
agencies have expressed shock at ''the relatively easy and swift'' raid
by the armed Burmese group and its unchallenged seizure of a large number
of Burmese diplomats and other hostages in broad daylight in a busy
central-Bangkok area on a working day. <br>
They wondered at the attackers' possession of war weapons and about the
source of finance for their acquisition and the bold operation. One very
well informed official said the authorities had been tipped off about the
potential embassy attack ''several months ago'' but failed to take
precautionary measures. <br>
He said some ''relatively aggressive'' students who had staged a hunger
strike last month in front of the Burmese Embassy had warned undercover
intelligence and police officers of a ''more exciting potential showdown
some time soon''. <br>
He said that although Thais in general had great sympathy for the Burmese
who had lived under military dictatorship for nearly four decades, they
deeply disapproved of any violent anti-government action on Thai soil.
<br>
Although most hostages, including a pregnant woman, children and elderly
people were weakened by their ordeal, police officers were surprised by
the ''strange'' behaviour of a group of seven captives, one Asian and six
Westerners, who appeared ''very jubilant and cooperative'' with the
Burmese assailants. <br>
The group, which was initially picked to accompany the assailants' flight
to the border, was seen waving a flag and shouting political support for
the Burmese before they boarded the helicopter at the Armed Forces
Academies Preparatory School. <br>
The seven were also wearing red headbands with ''9999'' on them,
signifying Sept 9, 1999, when a major anti-government Burmese uprising
was supposed to begin. <br>
A senior Police general, who was involved in resolving the crisis, was
seen informing embassy officials of the ''strong Thai suspicion'' that
the seven could be ''collaborators'' of the Burmese attackers. Like all
other hostages, the group was questioned by Thai authorities for clues to
their involvement before being handed over to their respective embassies'
diplomats. <br>
When asked by The Nation, French Ambassador Gerard Coste, who went to the
Thai emergency command unit at the Bayer Building next to the Burmese
Embassy, categorically denied that three French hostages who were seen
showing support for the Burmese attackers were in any way involved in the
occupation. ''They are not collaborators, no,'' he said. <br>
After their release, most foreign hostages were met by embassy diplomats
and taken away. Thai officers have asked the embassies for cooperation in
case they want to question the former hostages further. <br>
Despite initial reports that there were 12 armed hostage-takers, Thai
authorities found out on Friday night that the number was in fact five.
''The Burmese students claimed there were 12 of them to boost their
negotiating power and to retain full control of the hostages,'' said one
Thai officer. <br>
The police, added the officer, ware investigating and reconstructing the
whole incident in order to find out the true motives and identities of
those involved. <br>
The Nation<br>
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