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The Nation - October 11. 1999



THE NATION - October 11, 1999

Headlines

Rangoon masses troops near border

MAE HONG SON -- Burmese troops are pouring into border regions opposite
Thailand's northern Mae Hong Son province and may be preparing to attack
refugee camps, sources said yesterday.

Landmines are being planted along the numerous roads and trails leading to
Thai-Burmese border crossings, according to the sources.

Ethnic minority leaders and Thai intelligence sources said an attack might
be planned in retaliation for the seizure earlier this month of Burmese
embassy in Bangkok by pro-democracy gunmen.

On Oct 1 five-heavily armed Burmese dissidents stormed the embassy, holding
38 hostages at gunpoint and preventing 51 others from leaving the embassy
compound.

Twenty-five hours later Thai authorities made a deal with the Burmese group,
allowing them safe passage to the Thai-Burmese border.

Rangoon closed its 2,401-kilometre border with Thailand soon after the
incident.

A senior Thai intelligence source in Mae Hong Son estimated the number of
Burmese troops in the area had increased in recent days from some 10,000 to
between 20,000 and 30,000.

Karenni National Progressive Party deputy commander Major General Aung Myat
also said government troops had moved closer to the Thai border and may be
preparing raids.

The gunmen, who initially called for the Rangoon junta to hold talks with
the democratic opposition led by Aung San Suu Kyi, and demanded the released
of all political prisoners in Burma, were later provided with a helicopter
by Thai authorities to allow them to flee in the border area.

Burmese officials, while thanking Thailand for ending the hostage drama
peacefully, also accused Bangkok of being too soft on the gunmen and
pressured Thai authorities to get tough with exiled dissidents.

Burma said border camps harbour armed anti-government forces and on Saturday
called for Thailand to use an ''iron first'' to wipe out terrorism.

Meanwhile, a provincial official in Ratchaburi's Suan Phung district
down-played reports quoting rebel Karen officials claiming hundreds of
Burmese government troops had been mobilised to the area.

Suan Phung district chief Somdeee Khachayoungyuen said the movement was a
normal rotation of troops.

A Karen National Union officer (KNU), however, told The Nation that one of
his units had intercepted a radio message confirming that the government was
planning to attack an area opposite Suan Phung, where the five student
hostage takers were reported to have taken refuge.

The KNU's 4th Brigade headquarters was within a day's walk of the area where
the students had been released, he said.

The KNU was the last major ethnic rebel force still in open armed resistance
to the military junta ruling Burma and denied any previous knowledge or
involvement with the embassy siege.

The war of words between Bangkok and Rangoon continued yesterday with Prime
Minister Chuan Leekpai down-playing on-going criticism of the handling of
the dissidents.

''Never mind. It's not really our concern as to when they are going to stop
their criticism,'' Chuan said when asked what measures the government would
take to stem the verbal barrage from Rangoon.

''Our job is do the best we can to convey our position. If we have already
done our best then that's good enough,'' he added.

Rangoon was infuriated by a statement made by Interior Minister Sanan
Kachornprasart who referred to the five armed men as ''students fighting for
democracy'' and that they were not ''international terrorists''.

Burma retaliated on radio, television and newspapers, attacking Thailand's
handling of the incident. Since the embassy siege Burma had closed its
border, was reported to be moving troops to border areas and had sealed off
its territorial waters to Thai vessels.

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THE NATION - October 11, 1999

Local & Politics

Indian Navy helps Thai fishing boats return safely

MOST of the Thai vessels operating in Burmese waters have returned home with
the help of Indian authorities after Rangoon sealed off its territorial
waters to Thai fishing boats, a Navy source said yesterday.

The Indian Navy permitted Thai vessels to travel through Indian territorial
waters following a request forwarded by the Thai military attache in New
Delhi, the source said.

According to a statement from the Fishery Department, 250 Thai fishing
vessels were working in Burmese waters.

Latest figures over weekend put the number of Thai boats still in Burmese
waters at 20.

''A few Thai fishing vessels operating off Burma's Rakhine province are
expected to return home today through Indian waters. We have to see how many
remain after today's deadline,'' an officer at the Navy's operation centre
said yesterday.

The source said there was concern that some Thai vessels that were fishing
illegally in Burmese waters could have been detained by Burmese authorities.
However, he had no details.

A number of Thai Navy vessels had been deployed along the sea borders
between Thailand and Burma to ensure safe passage of the Thai boats, he
said.

The president of the Fishery Association in Ranong province, Banjong
Wiphakkij-anand, said the closure of the border and revoking of the fishing
licences by the Burmese would be temporary.

''I am confident this will only be temporary because the income to Burma
from fishing licences is enormous. If licences are revoked, Burma will lose
a lot of revenue,'' he said.

Although the impact of the licence ban has yet to be felt the industry, in
the long term it would be enormous on both sides, Banjong said.

''Some of the fishing vessels returning are carrying plenty of fish, so at
the moment the situation is not too bad,'' he said.

However, not all vessels will be returning to Thailand with a full catch,
Banjong said.

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THE NATION - October 11, 1999

Mailbag

Burmese exiles must be classified as proper refugees

Eight hundred students housed at Maneeloy, 2,000-odd students living in
exile under the (care?) of the UNHCR, they say no third country will take
them. Then why doesn't the UNHCR issue the students and the ethnic refugee
status?

They are qualified as displaced -- there is a big difference. Should the
ethnics and the Burmese be properly qualified as refugees, the complete
picture changes. Then developed nations like Canada, the USA, Sweden and
Britain would have to open their doors. The UNHCR know this very well.

If this happens, the UNHCR may have to move staff to other third-world
nations of less desirable status, and prestige. Why don't The Nation
reporters question the UNHCR on this issue?

Forget what the junta wants or feels at this moment. They have taken a legal
government and hijacked it from its people. The world community of
peace-loving nations knows this very well.

How much more money do these thugs want? How much more misery can the people
suffer? Now the international community must move while the fire is hot.
Anyone seen or heard from Uncle Kofi Annan?

Observer

CANADA

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