Daily News-May 20 - 2001- Sunday

  • Rebel Group Vows Continued Fight Against Burmese Regime
  • Karen leader re-elected DAB chairman
  • Junta said responsible for Tavoy bomb blast to divert people's attention
  • Thai Police Seize 1 Million Methamphetamine Pills
  • Detainees in poor health in Burmese cells
  • Illegal logging and drugs worry border people most

    • Rebel Group Vows Continued Fight Against Burmese Regime

    MAE SOT, Thailand (AP)--A rebel organization, greatly weakened by defections, has said it wants to force Myanmar's military rulers to agree to talks by stepping up its attacks on the army, according to a press release Saturday.

    The Democratic Alliance of Burma, which ended a four-day conference Thursday, attracted 55 leaders of 19 armed ethnic groups and political parties opposed to Myanmar's government. The alliance called for tripartite dialogue among the regime, the DAB and the party of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

    "The Alliance will escalate political and military activities to achieve the process of tripartite dialogue," the statement said.

    Once a potent force, the DAB was largely crippled after the military rulers cut separate peace deals with several ethnic minority rebel groups, including the Kachin and Mon.The Karen National Union remains the only important group still fighting the military leaders. KNU Gen. Bo Mya was re-elected to head the DAB at the conference.

    The conference welcomed secret talks reportedly taking place between Suu Kyi and the military but added that such dialogue should be based on "mutual respect and equal status of the parties."

    Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace prize winner, remains under virtual house arrest in Yangon, Myanmar's capital. The regime is widely condemned for human rights abuses, including the jailing of opposition figures.

    The conference accused the military government of trafficking in narcotics and condemned its ongoing border feud with Thailand.The DAB's third conference was held in an undisclosed "liberated area" near the Thai border.
    Karen leader re-elected DAB chairman

    source : Bangkokpost

    Anti-Rangoon Karen National Union leader Bo Mya has been re-elected chairman of the Democratic Alliance of Burma which consists of nearly 20 democracy groups.

    A statement issued during the third DAB meeting held in a border area of Burma opposite Tak on May 14-17 said Gen Bo Mya was elected chairman for the third time.

    Ye Htut of the Australia-based Overseas Burma Liberation Front was made his deputy while Aung Moe Zaw of the Democratic Party for Society was elected secretary-general.

    Another three democracy groups-the Arakan League for Democracy, Naga National League for Democracy and Mergui-Tavoy United Front-will become members.

    The meeting was host to 64 representatives and observers from 19 democracy groups in Burma.
    Junta said responsible for Tavoy bomb blast to divert people's attention

    BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; May 19, 2001

    Text of report by Burmese opposition radio on 18 May

    DVB [Democratic Voice of Burma] has learned that a bomb exploded in Tavoy, Tenasserim Division, at about 2300 [all times local] on 9 May.

    The bomb exploded near the government petrol station at the junction in Shanmaleswe Ward, Tavoy. No one was hurt in the explosion but the wall near the petrol station collapsed. The townspeople from Tavoy believed it was a set up by the SPDC [State Peace and Development Council] Defence Services. DVB correspondent Myint Maung Maung filed this report.

    [Begin recording] [Myint Maung Maung] DVB contacted a Tavoy resident and asked about the bomb explosion.

    [Unidentified Tavoy resident] The bomb explosion happened near the government petrol station. The time was about 2300. According to their report given in the morning we were told that someone exploded a bomb. But the local people believed that it was a ploy by the military to find ways to increase their fund collection. Ordinarily if they ask for more funds the people will be infuriated, but now they can use the bomb explosion to exploit and manipulate the collection of funds.

    [Myint Maung Maung] The place where the bomb exploded is a thoroughfare and it is extremely difficult for an ordinary person to plant a bomb. Furthermore, the explosion occurred late in the night. As the circumstances did not make any sense, the locals believed the military was responsible.

    The SPDC has neither officially reported about the bomb blast nor were they able to arrest those responsible. They were also unable to detain anyone in relation to the 4 May Mandalay Zaycho Bomb explosion.

    Some political observers believed that since the SPDC is incapable of solving the prevailing political and economical impasses, they might create sporadic bomb explosions nationwide to divert the people's attention, to instil fear, and to manipulate them.
    Thai Police Seize 1 Million Methamphetamine Pills

    BANGKOK (AP)--Police in northern Thailand seized 1.1 million methamphetamine pills hidden in a police car heading from the border with Myanmar, a radio station said Saturday.

    Police Sgt. Banleng Atchan, 40, was arrested after police at a road block searched his car and found the speed pills as well as 4 kilograms of chemicals, reported the INN radio news agency.

    Police acted on a tip-off about a large cache of methamphetamines being smuggled from Myanmar, also known as Burma, to Chiang Rai, 680 kilometers north of Bangkok. The radio said Banleng confessed that he brought drugs and the chemicals from Myanmar's Tachilek area and was going to meet buyers in Chiang Rai.

    The Thai government believes the United Wa State Army is operating several methamphetamine factories along Thailand's northern border and flooding Thailand with the illegal substances.

    The Wa organization, described by the U.S. as one of the world's largest drug trafficking outfits, was once among a dozen ethnic minority rebel armies fighting the central government. But it signed a peace pact with the regime, which allowed the group to retain its weapons and some autonomy over territory.

    Last month, more than 13 million methamphetamine tablets were confiscated in northern provinces along the Myanmar border. The government accuses Myanmar's ruling military of turning a blind eye to the production of methamphetamine on its soil, a charge Myanmar denies.
    Detainees in poor health in Burmese cells

    source : Bangkokpost

    Eleven villagers from Kra Buri district in Ranong province are being held in poor conditions in Burma, say relatives. They want the government to intervene after the group was detained almost a month ago.

    The group, including two school boys, was reportedly fishing in the bordering Kra Buri river on April 20 when Burmese soldiers emerged and arrested them. They are Mon Chumanee, 42, her son Noppadol, 13, Anant Rittipat, 31, Manit Rittipat, 21, Ruab Thongkham, 35, Boonyuen Ketkaew, 42, Boonyuan Ketkaew, 20, Kiart Suetrong, 15, Panom Worasing, 23, Visanu Worasing, 16, and Saravut Kiawwong, 13.

    They are detained at a police station in Kawthaung. Paka Kiawwong, Saravut's mother, said she had visited her son three times, each of which cost her at least 3,000 baht in entrance fees. The detainees had no change of clothes and got only one meal a day, she said. She urged the authorities to seek the release of the group. Her son suffered convulsions and should be in school, she said.

    Nob Worasing, mother of Panom and Visanu, said her family was in trouble as it depended on both sons. Border co-ordinators in Ranong have asked for their release but Kawthaung officials replied that the decision depended on Rangoon.

    The Thais were charged with intrusion in Burmese waters and unauthorised fishing. Suriya Sawasdi, a former provincial councillor and a co-ordinator, said he would take relatives to Bangkok next week to seek help from the interior and foreign ministers.
    Illegal logging and drugs worry border people most<

    Supamart Kasem
    source : Bangkokpost

    Illegal logging and drug trafficking are the major causes of concern for residents along the Burmese border, Lt-Gen Wattanachai Chaimuenwong said yesterday.

    The Third Army commander said illegal wood was being supplied to more than 100 sawmills along the border. Some 60% of the sawmills were foreign-owned. Those benefiting from the illegal businesses were mostly military personnel on the Burmese side of the border.

    "When these people have a conflict of interest, they fight, thus affecting people's livelihoods," he said.

    Pro-Rangoon Democratic Karen Buddhist Army soldiers attacked a government outpost at Ban Muen Ruechai, Phop Phra district, early this month because their methamphetamine deliveries were blocked by Thai soldiers, Lt-Gen Wattanachai said. Three civilians were killed in the crossfire. Thai troops earlier seized more than 10 million speed pills smuggled into the area by DKBA soldiers.

    The Third Army commander yesterday accompanied Gen Surayud Chulanont, the army chief, on a tour of military and police units in Mae Sot, Mae Ramat, Phop Phra and Tha Song Yang districts.