The Nation - Hijacker not among emb

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The Nation - Oct 6, 1999.
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Hijacker not among embassy raiders

EMERGING security reports and witness accounts yesterday confirmed two of
the five men who raided Rangoon's embassy last week were Burmese students at
Maneeloy holding centre in Ratchaburi, and not the hijacker of a Burmese
domestic flight which was forced to land in Thailand in 1989.

Government spokesman Akapol Sorasuchart dismissed reports that one of the
students was involved in the hijacking. He said the hijacker was older than
any of the gunmen who occupied the embassy last Friday.

Among the armed group, which called itself the Vigorous Burmese Student
Warriors, were Kyaw Ni or ''Johnny'' and ''Preeda''. Earlier information
indicated San Naign, one of the two radical students involved in the 1989
hijacking, was among the group.

But the identity of the other three remained shrouded in mystery and the
Interior Ministry's report on the 25-hour siege submitted to Prime Minister
Chuan Leekpai yesterday added to the confusion.

The report said the other three activists could be Burmese students under
the protection of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

In the report, Interior Minister Sanan Kachornprasart said two of them were
Aung Gyi and Win Aung while the third man's name was still not known.

''The three were not students from the Maneeloy holding centre so they were
possibly granted UNHCR protection,'' the report said.

The UNHCR has been taking care of Burmese students who escaped suppression
in their country. Thailand has participated in helping the students by
setting up the Maneeloy holding centre and UNHCR has urged students to stay
there.

Conflicting information have been circulating regarding the five who took
over the embassy and escaped to the border in a helicopter last Saturday.

A report from one security agency claimed that three were Karen.

Sanan's report also identified Kyaw Ni (''Johnny'') and Myint Thien
(''Preeda''). Preeda was also identified in earlier reports as San Naign,
the hijacker.

In his report, Sanan blamed the media for airing the movement of police and
soldiers assigned to the scene, which enabled the captors to keep track of
security measures during the siege.

The minister added that an 800-strong team had been deployed to investigate
the siege, comprising police, army officers, officials from foreign and
interior ministries, the National Security Council and the National
Intelligence Agency.

Akapol said charges against the five could possibly include unlawful
detention, possession of war weapons and robbery.

He denied an allegation by an opposition party that the government gave a
large sum of money to the gunmen before releasing them at the border, when a
negotiator was seen handing over a briefcase.

Akapol claimed that the students asked for the briefcase which belonged to a
Burmese national arrested outside the embassy while the raid was in
progress. The gang told negotiators they wanted a list of telephone numbers
inside the briefcase.

Before handing it over, officials checked the case and found the list and
some clothes, the spokesman said.

Meanwhile, Chaiyapreuk Sawaengcharoen, the former chief of the Maneeloy
holding centre who was summoned as a negotiator for the siege, said he knew
only two of five militants: ''Johnny and Preeda''.

He asked Johnny why he had led the group to seize the embassy and said he
believed his answer.

''Johnny said he was fed up with passive resistance and wanted the world to
pay attention to the problems in Burma. He did not demand money. He just
asked for a helicopter to go back,'' he said.

He said he had good relationship with both Johnny and Preeda since the two
lived at the Maneeloy centre, otherwise he would not have accepted the
request to act as a negotiator and flown in the helicopter as a hostage
along with Deputy Finance Minister M R Sukhumbhand Paribatra.

''I admit that I was also afraid because I did not know the other three
men,'' he said.

He denied that he handed a bag of dollars to the militants.

Chaiyapreuk was summoned to help relieve the tension one day after he left
his post at Maneeloy centre, where he had worked since 1992.

He has already accepted a new post at the Correction Department and reported
himself to the Interior Ministry.

Chaiyapreuk said he believed the seven Asian and Western hostages who were
seen waving and shouting support for the activists did so because they
sympathised with the gunmen and understood the motive behind their act.

The seven hostages had earlier been suspected of ''collaborating'' with the
Burmese gunmen by the ruling junta in Rangoon.

Meanwhile Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan down-played criticism by Rangoon
that Thailand glorified the gunmen by letting them walk away scot free and
labelling them as pro-democracy activists.

''Yes, there is some negative feeling emanating from Rangoon as the incident
is still fresh, but that feeling will eventually evaporate,'' Surin said.

''The long-standing and close relations between our two countries will not
be affected by the incident and all aspects of cooperation will continue as
usual,'' he said.

''Maintaining confidence is the top priority for the time being,'' Surin
said, adding that Thailand had increased the number of security personnel at
the Burmese embassy since the attack.

 ...................

Embassy raiders remain elusive

THREE days after the dramatic 25-hour hostage crisis at the Burmese Embassy,
Thai authorities are still at a loss in their efforts to establish the
identities of the five armed Burmese militants who were given safe passage
last Saturday in exchange for the release of 89 Burmese diplomats and
foreigners.

They were also trying to establish the assailants' connection with an
unidentified armed group which had cheerfully greeted them when a Thai
helicopter dropped them some 500 metres inside Burma at an area known as
Kamaplaw. Kamaplaw is over the border from Thailand's Suan Phung district in
western Ratchaburi province.

According to a well-informed source who is familiar with western border
activities, two small armed groups, the God Army and the Karen National
Union Youth (KNU-Youth), are active in the Kamaplaw area. Although another
small group known as the Karen Solidarity Organisation (KSO), led by Mahn
Robert Ba Zan, who is the son of the late Karen leader Mahn Ba Zan, has had
a presence in the jungle neighbourhood, the source ruled out KSO involvement
in the embassy attack.

Mahn Robert Ba Zan left the Karen National Union, the armed guerrilla
movement which has been fighting for greater autonomy from Rangoon since
Burma's independence from Britain in 1948, after a high-level clash over the
policy of negotiations with the Burmese junta. The KSO is not known to be
active in guerrilla operations.

The source said he had heard that the hostage-takers, who called themselves
the Vigorous Burmese Student Warriors, had contacted the KSO but that the
KSO was unable to help because it did not have any armed forces.

The source added that it was not yet known whether either of the two other
groups, the KNU-Youth and the God Army, had given the hostage-takers a warm
welcome when they were set free in the Kamaplaw area.

The KNU-Youth is a Buddhist-dominated organisation. The God Army was formed
by a group of disgruntled Karen villagers seeking revenge for the Burmese
Army's major attack and capture of the KNU's 4th Brigade headquarters in
early 1997. The Burmese military offensive displaced the whole Karen
population living in the rugged border terrain opposite Kanchanaburi
province.

Many of the refugees who fled to Thailand were later repatriated and
resettled in another border area opposite Ratchaburi province, far south of
their traditional homes, which were in the way of major economic development
projects, including the multi-billion dollar Yadana gas pipeline and the
highway between western Thailand and the Burmese port of Tavoy.

Following the fall of the KNU's 4th Brigade headquarters and the failure of
the KNU forces to protect the civilian population, the villagers decided to
arm themselves to protect their own interests and for safety from Burmese
troops, said the source. The Christian-dominated God Army is thought to have
150 to 200 armed men. ''They are very simple villagers who decided to take
up arms and fight the Burmese,'' said the source.

Thai authorities are trying to establish contact with the groups to find out
if the five Burmese assailants are living with either of them. Thai police
plan to issue arrest warrants for the hostage-takers.

Yesterday the authorities were able to establish the identities of only two
Burmese hostage-takers, Gyaw Ni or San Gyaw Gyaw Oo and Prida or Myint
Thein. The three other collaborators were believed to be young ethnic Karen
from the border area.

Chaiyapreuk Sawaengcharoen, a senior official of the Correction Department
and a former chief of the Maneeloy holding centre for Burmese asylum-seekers
in Ratchaburi, who flew with the hostage-takers to the border, recognised
both Gyaw Ni and Prida, both of whom had at one time lived in Maneeloy camp.

In a statement dated Aug 29, 1999 announcing the establishment of the
Vigorous Burmese Student Warriors, Gyaw Ni and Myint Thein are identified as
among the 18 founding members. The statement, which gave the group's
intention as joining forces to establish democracy in Burma, also included
the names of three members living outside both Thailand and Burma, Ye Thu
Naing (Australia), Tin Khaik (Japan), and Than Htay (Canada).

The name San Naing is also mentioned in the list of committee members. It is
not yet known if it is the same San Naing, or Ye Thi Ha, who along with
fellow student Ye Yint hijacked a Burmese domestic flight to Thailand in
October 1989.

 ...................

'Bangkok Solution' best way to handle siege -- diplomats

FOREIGN diplomats based in Bangkok yesterday praised the Thai government's
handling of the Burmese embassy siege last week which saw 38 hostages freed
unharmed by heavily-armed Burmese student dissidents.

One Western diplomat said while the ''Bangkok Solution'', which allowed safe
passage to the Burmese border for the five hostage-takers, could set a
precedent for similar acts in the future, it was more important that the
crisis ended quickly and the hostages released.

But he added: ''Thailand sent a strong message to the Burmese government
that it remains committed to freedom and liberty even though there maybe a
price to pay for that.''

An Asian diplomat who has served in Thailand for many years said: ''A lot of
people in Bangkok are sympathetic to the aspirations of the exiled Burmese
student movement.

''And I think the fact that the Thai authorities knew the nature and the
mentality of those students helped ward off violence.''

''If this happened in another country, then things could have been
different. This was a very Asian way of dealing with a crisis,'' he said.

The diplomats were attending the farewell party for the out-going Japanese
Ambassador to Thailand, Hiroshi Ota, at a Bangkok hotel on Monday evening.

Ota had been in Thailand for three years.

He said he had followed the siege closely and was relieved that it ended the
way it did, even though it was unexpected.

He said it was one of the most exciting moments he would remember during his
time in Bangkok. One Japanese national was among the hostages.

''It's very fortunate that the crisis ended very quickly and with no loss of
life.'' The siege, he said, reminded him how similar situations can end in
loss of life, like the hostage crisis at the Japanese Embassy in Lima, Peru
two years ago which ended in bloodshed.

This was the second time this year that security at embassies in Bangkok has
been breached.

On March 13, a Bangkok-based North Korean diplomat and his family were
abducted by 13 people including embassy staff and North Korean government
agents sent from Pyongyang.

The month-long crisis ended without any criminal charges being laid. The
North Korean diplomats return to Pyongyang after the incident.

But the North Korean incident allowed much more time for negotiations as it
was conducted exclusively through diplomatic channels.

Another incident in 1971 had a similar ending to last week's embassy siege.

It involved the late Prime Minister Chatichai Choonhavan, who was then
deputy foreign minister.

Chatichai offered himself as hostage to fly a group of Arab terrorists out
of Thailand after the group agreed to release hostages they were holding.

Those at Ota's farewell party could not help but notice the increase in
security obviously inspired by the Burmese embassy siege.

There was a metal detector in the corridor leading to the function room at
the hotel and a throng of security men.

''I have never seen this much security at a diplomatic function in
Bangkok.'' said one guest.

Earlier in the day, hundreds of police had been dispatched to provide
security when the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration arranged a a trial
ride on the new skytrain for Bangkok-based diplomats.

''It was a good and comfortable ride except when the train ran passed the
Burmese Embassy on Sathorn Rd,'' said one Western diplomat.

''There was a bit of a commotion as everyone turned their attention to the
embassy and started to chat about the incident.''

 ....................

Police Report 'Almost' Ready

POLICE are close to concluding their report on the siege and expect to file
10 criminal charges relating to it. They are waiting on statements from some
key witnesses, including the Burmese ambassador.

Metropolitan Police assistant commissioner Pol Maj-Gen Chakthip Kulchorn na
Ayutthaya said the ambassador has yet to agree to give a statement on the
incident pending approval from Rangoon.

Chakthip said the probe team will question Deputy Foreign Minister
Sukhumbhand Paribatra, warden Chaiyapruek Sawangphan and helicopter pilot
Somyos Buaman to reconstruct the activities of the five hostage-takers
before they crossed over the Burmese border.

According to statements given by witnesses, the five Burmese had hired a
truck converted for passenger transport, running between Bang Rak and Chong
Non See, to drop them off at the embassy.

Upon arrival, the five rushed out to secure the gate before storming into
the compound. They had not paid the Bt200 for the truck but the driver fled
after realising the siege was in progress.

Some witnesses claimed that the hostage-takers had scouted the embassy area
since Sept 27. A food vendor opposite the embassy identified them as lunch
customers.

The probe team planned to lay charges of assaulting accredited foreign
representatives, destroying the national emblems to defame a state with
diplomatic ties, threatening violence to intimidate authorities, threatening
violence to intimidate others, instigating public disturbances by using
threats, holding hostages, aggravated armed robbery, unlawful possession of
weapons, unauthorised carrying of arms and unlawful entry into the country.

Such charges each carry lengthy statutory jail terms.

 ....................

Student Warriors' Declaration

Here is the unofficial translation of a statement on the formation of the
Vigorous Burmese Student Warriors, who staged a daring 25-hour occupation of
the Burmese Embassy in Bangkok last Friday, holding 89 hostages.

Vigorous Burmese Student Warriors

Announcement 1/99

Date: 29 Aug 1999

We, student democratic activists, join forces to end the Burmese military
junta's rule in our motherland Burma. We want to gain genuine democracy.

We, the following comrades, form the following committee to join forces with
our fellows to fight till we get democracy. We will continue to fight until
we get democracy.

List of committee members

1 Comrade San Naing

2 Comrade Min Lwin

3 Comrade Kyaw Ni

4 Comrade Hla Aung

5 Comrade Aung Kyaw San

6 Comrade Ko Latt

7 Comrade Kyaw Naing

8 Comrade Tint Lwin Oo

9 Comrade Than Zaw Oo

10 Comrade Naw Kan

11 Comrade Myint Thein

12 Comrade Min Min Oo

13 Comrade Ye Thu Naing (Australia)

14 Comrade Tin Khaik (Japan)

15 Comrade Aung Soe

16 Comrade Cho Tu

17 Comrade Myo Myint

18 Comrade Than Htay (Canada).

BY YINDEE LERTCHAROENCHOK

The Nation