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Rangoon masses troops near border



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<font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=5><b>Rangoon masses troops near
border<br>
</font></b><font size=3>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. <br>
Landmines are being planted along the numerous roads and trails leading
to Thai-Burmese border crossings, according to the sources. <br>
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. <br>
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. <br>
Twenty-five hours later Thai authorities made a deal with the Burmese
group, allowing them safe passage to the Thai-Burmese border. <br>
Rangoon closed its 2,401-kilometre border with Thailand soon after the
incident. <br>
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. <br>
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. <br>
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.
<br>
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. <br>
Burma said border camps harbour armed anti-government forces and on
Saturday called for Thailand to use an ''iron first'' to wipe out
terrorism. <br>
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. <br>
Suan Phung district chief Somdeee Khachayoungyuen said the movement was a
normal rotation of troops. <br>
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. <br>
The KNU's 4th Brigade headquarters was within a day's walk of the area
where the students had been released, he said. <br>
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. <br>
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. <br>
''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. <br>
''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. <br>
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''.
<br>
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. <br>
The Nation, Agence France-Presse<br>
----------------------------------------------------- <br>
</font><font size=5><b>Thailand benefits from border closure<br>
</font></b><font size=3>First, I want to say how much I admire the
government of Thailand for its exceptional handling of the Burmese
Embassy siege. It set a wonderful example for the whole world.<br>
Secondly, while I appreciate Kachadpai Burusapatana's frustration with
the continuing problem of Burmese asylum seekers entering Thailand, I
think he needs to acknowledge that the problem lies with having a
military dictatorship across the border, and not with those who seek
asylum from it.<br>
Moreover, in terms of Thailand's national security, let's face the fact
that the closing of the border between Thailand and Burma is entirely in
Thailand's interest. With the boycott of legitimate investment in Burma,
the Burmese military dictators have turned increasingly to drug
manufacture and trafficking as a major source of income. The flow of
illegal drugs from Burma into Thailand is slowly but surely eating at the
heart of this very good nation.<br>
It's time to end the trafficking of drugs from Burma one way or another.
And that won't happen until an end is put to the Burmese military
dictatorship.<br>
<b>A sympathetic foreigner<br>
</b>------------------------------------------------------ </font>
<BR>
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