Karen rebels ordered to leave border area

Bangkokpost, Published: 8/05/2012 at 01:35 AM .... 

TAK : The Myanmar army has ordered a Karen rebel group led by Maj Gen Na Kaw Muay to withdraw its soldiers from the Thai border along Mae Sot district.

A border source said the Myanmar army yesterday issued the order because it does want to see relations between Thailand and Myanmar grow strained. It told the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army rebel group to withdraw its troops as quickly as possible.

Maj Gen Na Kaw Muay, leader of the rebel group, last week deployed his soldiers to seal off the Myanmar border with Ban Mae Kon Ken village in Mae Sot in retaliation for the Thai government accusing him of being involved in border drug trafficking.

His alleged drug involvement recently hit the news after Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yubamrung, who oversees the country's drugs suppression and prevention efforts, said the Karen military leader is currently ranked fifth on the Office of the Narcotics Control Board's list of the 25 most wanted drug kingpins and had a bounty of one million baht on his head.

The source said the Myanmar army claimed the border area where Maj Gen Na Kaw Muay is keeping his armed soldiers comes under its control and that the Karen rebel group had no right to occupy the area.

The source added the Myanmar army wanted people of the two countries to be able to cross the border freely to promote border trade between the town of Mywaddy and Thailand's Mae Sot district.

According to the source, Maj Gen Na Kha Muay said Karen soldiers had sealed off 12 border crossings in Myanmar opposite Umphang and Phop Phra districts in Tak. That prompted the Thai army to send in troops to bolster security in nearby villages.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/292264/karen-rebels-ordered-to-leave-border-area