Myanmar guerrilla chief warns of war ahead of vote

The head of Myanmar's largest guerrilla army warned Friday that the risk of armed conflict between powerful ethnic minority groups and the military regime is at its highest level in more than two decades as contentious national elections loom on the horizon.

The junta has been in negotiations with semiautonomous minorities for months as it attempts to bring them under its control before holding elections later this year. But with talks deadlocked, most of the groups have stepped up military preparations in the event of a renewed conflict, which would likely envelop vast regions of the country and probably spark a mass refugee exodus.

"(There is the) greatest possibility of renewed conflict between large, cease-fire armed groups and (the military regime) in over two decades," said Zipporah Sein, general secretary of the Karen National Union, which has been fighting the central government for more than 60 years.

The Karen joined more than 150 activist groups Friday in urging the international community to denounce the elections and refuse to recognize the results. They say the vote is a sham designed to perpetuate military rule.

The junta has tenuous control of many parts of the country where minority groups are strongest. It has reached cease-fire agreements with 17 ethnic minority rebel groups since 1989 - though not the Karen - and most have been allowed to keep their weapons and maintain some autonomy over their regions.

But in the lead-up to the election, the date of which has yet to be announced, the junta has asked the groups to turn their armed forces into a border guard force under virtual Myanmar military leadership. Most have refused.

There is concern the military could try to force the issue.

"The military is sending troops to the areas of the cease-fire groups and they are ready to fight if attacked. So the tension is rising between them," Zipporah Sein, the first woman leader of the KNU, told a news conference in the Thai capital.

Military preparations have recently been reported among the largest of the cease-fire groups, the Wa State Army, which fields some 20,000 troops, and the Kachin Independence Army, said to have about 4,000 under arms.

"The Wa are ready," the KNU chief said.

The Irrawaddy Magazine, a Thailand-based journal run by Myanmar exiles, said Thursday that the New Mon State Party, another cease-fire group, was moving its weapons stockpiles and some of its departments to an undisclosed location in case war breaks out.

The Karen leader said the military has been holding talks with more than half a dozen groups - both cease-fire groups and those still fighting the junta. However, all such earlier efforts at forging an alliance have failed.

"These elections will only compound the suffering of our ethnic people," she said.

She said the country's new Constitution - which passed in 2008 and insures the military will retain a controlling say in the future government - "centralizes military control over ethnic areas and grants blanket immunities for the regime's crimes against humanity."

International human rights group have long documented massive human rights abuses by the Myanmar military against ethnic minorities, including killings, rape, torture, the burning of villages and forced labor. The junta has denied such charges.

The setup of the elections has been widely criticized, both by opposition groups at home and activists abroad. Recently published election laws - such as one that would bar pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi from taking part in the vote - have received international condemnation.

Source :http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2010/03/19/myanmar-guerrilla-chief-warns-war-ahead-vote.html

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