Myanmar rejects Thai grip over intrusion
Myanmar rejects Thai grip over intrusion
BANGKOK (Reuter): Myanmar has rejected a recent Thai complaint
over an alleged violent incursion into Thailand by Myanmarese
army troops, Myanmar's state-run media reported.
The rejection, in a protest letter this week, is the latest in
a series of complaints and accusations exchanged between the two
countries and comes on the eve of a trip to Yangon by Thai
Foreign Minister Krasae Chanavongse.
Myanmar's state television, in a news broadcast monitored in
Bangkok late on Thursday, said Thailand's ambassador to Myanmar
Poksak Nilubol was summoned to the Myanmarese Foreign Ministry
and handed a letter rejecting a March 20 Thai complaint over an
alleged raid into Thailand by Myanmarese troops.
"The protest letter presented by the Myanmar (Burmese) Foreign
Ministry states that (Burmese) soldiers were in no way involved
in that incident," the television said.
The incident was connected to a split in Myanmar's Karen
National Union (KNU) guerrilla group, the television said.
Accusations that Myanmarese government troops were involved in
such incidents could create unnecessary misunderstandings between
the two countries, the broadcast added.
Normally cordial relations between the two neighbors have been
strained since the beginning of the year when a Myanmarese army
offensive against the KNU sent thousands of refugees into
Thailand.
Hundreds of Myanmarese army shells landed on the Thai side of
the border in attacks on KNU bases on Myanmar's side, forcing
hundreds of Thai villagers to flee their homes.
Local Myanmarese army commanders accused Thai forces in
February of assisting the autonomy-seeking guerrillas who operate
out of areas of Myanmar on the border with Thailand. Thai
commanders rejected the accusations.
Thailand has lodged several complaints about Myanmarese
soldiers and members of a Karen guerrilla splinter faction which
recently joined Myanmarese government forces crossing the border
to harass and attack refugees and Thais.
In another incident, Myanmarese media, citing an official from
the ruling military body, last month deplored Thailand's refusal
to hand over a group of Shan guerrillas who had fled to Thailand
after a raid on a northeast Myanmarese border town.
Krasae flew to Yangon early yesterday and was set to meet
Myanmarese counterpart Ohn Gyaw during the day and the military
government's intelligence chief, Lt. Gen. Khin Nyunt, today, a
Thai Foreign Ministry official said.