Burma's Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) has reportedly reversed its original decision to accept the regime's plan for ceasefire groups to become a “border guard force” (BGF).
Sources in the Three Pagodas Pass area of the Thai-Burmese border told The Irrawaddy that Burmese businessmen there said they had been told by DKBA leaders of the group's change of heart.
A DKBA officer at the Three Pagodas Pass told The Irrawaddy: “The majority of us don't agreed to the Burmese government’s proposal.”
A businessman with DKBA contacts said leaders of the group had rejected a proposal by the Burmese army's Southeast command in Moulmein for talks on the issue.
The DKBA, which is used by the regime as a proxy force to combat insurgencies in Karen and Mon States, agreed to the border guard forces plan shortly after the regime announced it in April, 2009.
However, when the DKBA's spiritual leader, the influential abbot Ashin Thuzana announced his opposition to the plan this month, the group's leadership backed away from its original acceptance.
A DKBA official said: “We don't agree to the plan because our monk doesn't accept it.”
Ashin Thuzana, 68 year-old abbot of Myaing Gyi Ngu Monastery in Karen State, has long been active in the promotion of Buddhism there and has been responsible for the construction of several pagodas in Myaing Gyi Ngu.
He was reportedly admitted to hospital in Bangkok earlier this month for treatment of a long-standing lung problem. Burmese military officials reportedly offered to admit him to a military hospital in Rangoon, but he chose a private clinic in the Thai capital.
The DKBA, which was formed 15 years ago, now controls most of the Thai-Burmese border areas that were previously Karen National Union (KNU) territory.
It claims to have 6,000 troops and to have plans to enlarge the army to 9,000, making it Burma's second largest non-state armed group. It has been accused of human rights abuses in its clashes with KNU forces and also of involvement in human trafficking along Thai-Burmese border.
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