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Karen leader denies any links to ra



Subject: Karen leader denies any links to raid on embassy

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<font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=5><b>Karen leader denies any
links to raid on embassy <br>
</font></b><font size=3>AN exiled Karen leader yesterday denied that his
organisation was involved in the armed raid on the Burmese Embassy last
Friday. <br>
Mahn Robert Ba Zan, president of the Karen Solidarity Organisation (KSO),
told The Nation in an interview that he did not know the five Burmese
assailants whose identity the Thai authorities are still trying to
establish. <br>
The assailants were flown to southern Burma opposite Thailands Suan Phung
district in western Ratchaburi province in a deal with the Thai
government which secured the release of 89 hostages. <br>
Mahn Robert Ba Zan, 58, said the KSO was a non-violent political
organisation which had no territorial control in Kamaplaw area where the
Burmese attackers were believed to have been dropped off, or anywhere
else along the Thai-Burmese frontier. <br>
Moreover, the KSO had been forbidden by the Karen National Union (KNU) to
mobilise mass political support in the frontier area it controlled, he
added. <br>
A former military trainer and frontier commander, Mahn Robert Ba Zan quit
the Karen National Union after a clash with its leadership and formed the
KSO on Aug 31, 1997. <br>
''I don't know these five students, but they may know me because I used
to train students when they fled to the border after the 1988 popular
uprising in Burma'' he said. <br>
Mahn Robert Ba Zan, who is the son of late Karen revolutionary movement
lader Mahn Ba Zan, said he was shocked when he heard of the attack on the
embassy. He added that he was also surprised by the ''small number'' of
people involved in the raid. <br>
He believed the seizure of hostages was ''well planned'', saying that the
attackers appeared to have achieved their objectives by winning the
sympathy of both the Thai and foreign hostages and publicising their
political demands. <br>
''If they did have only five people, it means that they must have had
very good planning,'' he said. <br>
He said he was also ''very shocked'' that Burmese Embassy officials and
intelligence officers, who were well trained and experienced in
intelligence gathering and security, had completely failed to foil the
raid, especially as it came at a time when there were calls for
demonstrations and protests against the Burmese regime in and outside the
country. <br>
''How could the embassy rely only on the Thai guards to protect their
security?'' he asked. <br>
Mahn Robert Ba Zan said he could not confirm that the assailants were
flown to Kamaplaw, which is under the control of the Christian-dominated
God Army. The God Army, believed to have about 300 men under arms, was
formed by former KNU troops and Karen villagers after the fall of the
KNU's 4th Brigade headquarters to the Burmese Army in 1997. <br>
Other rebel groups said they were afraid that the armed raid on the
embassy could have a detrimental effect on their activities. <br>
A number of the dissident groups are armed. Others, like the KSO, have
employed political and diplomatic means to inform the outside world about
the atrocities committed by the military government in Rangoon. <br>
The KNU is the biggest armed ethnic group fighting the military
government of Burma. The organisation was formed 50 years ago shortly
after Burma gained independence from Britain. Its current leader is Gen
Bo Mya. <br>
BY YINDEE LERTCHAROENCHOK <br>
The Nation<br>
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