Re: Wired News on March 13, 1993 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --------- Thailand asked to protect Karen refugees By Somchit Rungchamratrasmee KANAELAY, Burma, March 13 (Reuter) - General Bo Mya, president of the Karen National Union (KNU), has appealed to Thailand to do more to protect thousands of Karen refugees on Thai soil from Burmese harassment. In an interview at his makeshift camp in southeast Burma, the veteran campaigner complained that fighters of the breakaway Democratic Kayin (Karen) Buddhist Organisation (DKBO) continued to kidnap KNU officials under the nose of Thai authorities. ``Although Thailand has been taking very good care of the Karen refugees living in the camps, harassment by the DKBO is increasing,'' Bo Mya, 67, said. ``The KNU would appreciate more safety measures to protect Karen civilians from the DKBO,'' the general added. At least six leaders loyal to the KNU were kidnapped and five other refugees of the ethnic minority were killed in the past two months when DKBO guerrillas crossed the River Moei to raid refugee camps in Thailand, a Karen refugee official told Reuters. The DKBO was formed last December after a Buddhist faction of the KNU staged a mutiny against the Christian-dominated KNU leadership and later defected. The breakaway fighters joined Burmese government troops and spearheaded a military drive that led to the capture of the KNU's 20-year-old headquarters at Manerplaw in January, and of their last major stronghold at Kawmoora last month. Of the more than 71,000 Karen refugees housed in 20 camps in Thailand, some 8,000 are newcomers who fled in January and Febuary, the refugee official said. Bo Mya, a stocky figure who has been playing the leading role in the KNU rebel organisation for more than 20 years, said he differentiated between military and civilian objectives. ``The KNU is continuing its struggle for Karen autonomy with a new strategy of purely guerrilla mobile warefare, so casualties among Karen fighters are less important. But we are still very concerned about the civilian refugees,'' he said. Bo Mya, who is expected to be replaced at a KNU leadership meeting still in progress, vowed to continue his lifelong struggle against the Burmese government. ``Even if I have to retire from my current position I will continue to fight the enemy until the Karen gain autonomy from Burma,'' Bo Mya said. The KNU was formed immediately after Burma won independence from Britain in 1948 and has been fighting troops from Rangoon ever since. REUTER Transmitted: 95-03-13 00:51:48 EST *********** Burma, Vietnam say visit lays good basis for ties HANOI, March 13 (Reuter) - A visit by Burma's top military leader to communist Vietnam has laid the groundwork for further cooperation, the two countries said on Monday. Agreements signed last Saturday on cooperation in controlling drug abuse and in forestry ``will provide new momentum for further enhancement of the friendly relations and multi-sided cooperation between the two countries in the years go come,'' a joint communique said. It was issued after General Than Shwe, chairman of Burma's ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) and prime minister, flew home from Ho Chi Minh City after the five-day visit. The two countries resolved to work with others in southeast Asia to contribute to regional peace, stability and cooperation, the communique said. Burma welcomed Vietnam's scheduled membership of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) by next July as a positive contribution, it added. The communique gave no details of talks between Than Shwe and Vietnamese Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet on regional and international issues. Communist Party leader Do Muoi and state President Le Duc Anh accepted invitations from Than Shwe to visit Burma. Kiet went there last May, the first Vietnamese leader to do so. REUTER Transmitted: 95-03-13 08:08:19 EST ******** Thailand cracks down on oil smuggling BANGKOK, March 13 (Reuter) - Thai customs officers have arrested the captain of a fishing trawler and seized more than 60,000 litres (13,200 gallons) of diesel in a crackdown on fuel smuggling, officials said on Monday. The trawler, whose storage space had been converted into fuel tanks, was stopped and boarded 12 nautical miles off Songkhla in southern Thailand late on Sunday, the officials told reporters. Almost 300,000 litres (66,000 gallons) of smuggled diesel have been seized in the past two months, in a gathering campaign to stamp out illegal fuel trading in the Gulf of Thailand and Andaman Sea that costs the government millions of dollars in unrealised taxes. Last week marine police on the holiday island of Phuket arrested 12 people and seized 200,000 litres (44,000 gallons) of diesel from a fishing trawler they suspected of smuggling fuel from a Singapore depot, a marine police source told Reuters. Acting Prime Minister Banyat Bantadtan told reporters on Monday the government had launched an operation against the fuel smuggling in September. Authorities believe most of the smuggled fuel is redistributed within the Thai fishing industry, rather than being resold on land as alleged by some Thai politicians. ``We know that huge amounts of diesel have been smuggled into the country annually but I believe this is part of the fishermen's struggle for survival,'' the marine police source told Reuters. ``From my own knowledge, very little if any of this diesel has been sold to gas stations,'' said the source, who is part of an anti-smuggling task force comprising customs, marine police and the Thai navy. The chairman of a provincial trawler association also dismissed accusations that the smugglers were bringing the fuel ashore. The official, speaking to Reuters by telephone, admitted that some trawler companies smuggled in diesel from Singapore, but he said it was used by fishing fleets that had to make longer journeys because of dwindling inshore fish stocks. Also, some fishing fleets included unlicensed vessels. The official estimated at between 5,000 and 6,000 the total of licensed and unlicensed Thai fishing trawlers operating off Thailand, Burma, Bangladesh, Malaysia and Indonesia, adding that most of the boats relied on the cheap diesel smuggled from Singapore. ``We admit that many of the fishing trawlers are operating illegally, which means they cannot tank up in foreign ports,'' said the chairman, who asked not to be identified. The market price of diesel in Thailand is 7.50 baht (30 cents) per litre but the smuggled fuel sells for 3.50 to four baht (14 to 16 cents) per litre. REUTER Transmitted: 95-03-13 02:57:14 EST