VZCZCXRO7687
PP RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHCHI #0022 0361028
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 051028Z FEB 07
FM AMCONSUL CHIANG MAI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0384
INFO RUEHCHI/AMCONSUL CHIANG MAI PRIORITY 0425
RUEHBK/AMEMBASSY BANGKOK PRIORITY 0648
RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS

C O N F I D E N T I A L CHIANG MAI 000022 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL:  2/5/2017 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINS TH BM
SUBJECT: KNU RIFT WIDENS 
 
REF: A. A) RANGOON 08 
 
     ¶B. B) (06)  RANGOON 1828 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: Bea Camp, Consul General, U.S. Consulate General 
Chiang Mai, U.S. Dept. of State. 
REASON: 1.4 (b) 
 
¶1.   (U)  Summary:  A growing split among leaders of the Karen 
resistance to the Burmese military government has broken into 
the open in the wake of the Dec. 26 funeral of long-time Karen 
National Union (KNU) leader Bo Mya.  Thai observers are 
concerned that the dispute will further weaken the KNU, with 
possible negative effects on Thai border security.   End summary 
¶2.  (U) Although 79-year old KNU Gen. Bo Mya was ailing for 
several years, his charisma and years at the helm helped prevent 
long-standing disagreements among various factions within the 
KNU and Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) from boiling over. 
 The large and politically diverse turnout for his funeral 
masked a widening rift in the Karen resistance, as ethnic Karen 
villagers, exiled political activists, officers from the Burma 
Army and the pro-regime Democratic Buddhist Karen Army, and 
representatives of Burma's State Peace and Development Council 
(SPDC) and Thai military intelligence gathered to pay their 
respects. 
¶3.  (U) Within days of the funeral, KNLA 7th Brigade Commander 
Brig Gen Htain Maung broke ranks with the KNU Central Committee 
by leading a delegation to Rangoon Jan. 3-11.   The KNU 
responded on Jan. 30 by dismissing Htain Maung, leading the 
general and some KNU military officials to form a splinter group 
the next day under the title of "Peace Council".  The KNU on 
Feb. 4 issued a statement decrying Htain Maung's actions and 
forwarded a statement by Bo Mya's widow denying allegations that 
she had joined the Peace Council. 
¶4.  (C)  The KNU earlier expressed to the Thai military its 
disapproval of the 7th Brigade's action in a Jan. 17 letter from 
KNU General Secretary Mahn Sha La Phan to RTA Commander Gen 
Sonthi Boonyaratkalin.  In the letter, provided to the Consulate 
by a contact from the Thai National Intelligence Agency (NIA), 
the KNU executive committee confirmed that the KNU would not 
move on ceasefire talks without RTA approval. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Both National Council of the Union of Burma (NCUB) 
foreign affairs committee member Nyo Ohn Myint and an NIA 
contact denied reports that the Thai military is pushing the KNU 
to deal with the regime.  Thai field security units that have 
monitored developments since Bo Mya's death believe the SPDC 
does not genuinely want a ceasefire with the KNU.   Nyo Ohn 
Myint warned that an agreement between the regime and the 7th 
Brigade "might threaten Thai security," explaining that "the 
Thais can't monitor the road from Mae Sariang to Mae Sot; the 
KNU is their eyes." At the same time he acknowledged that Thai 
business interests in the timber on land controlled by the 7th 
Brigade could lead some Thai officials to favor a ceasefire. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Comment:    Disagreements between the KNU and the 7th 
Brigade have been brewing for more than a year, ripe for 
exploitation by the Burmese regime.  An NIA contact described 
the SPDC tactic of using economic and business incentives as 
"bait" to entice splits in the KNU, as it has successfully done 
with other armed ethnic minority groups in Burma.   If so, the 
tactic has succeeded; KNLA Gen. Isaac Po contacted the Consulate 
over the weekend to say "we have been wedged by the SPDC." 
Embassy Rangoon notes that with the 7th Brigade controlling 
nearly half of the KNLA's soldiers and the 5th Brigade 
reportedly sympathetic to the 7th Brigade, a permanent rupture 
would seriously weaken the Karen resistance. 
 
CAMP