DISSIDENTS KIDNAPPED NEAR MAE SOT

DISSIDENTS KIDNAPPED NEAR MAE SOT

Maxmilian Wechsler
Mae Sot, Czech Press

Twelve members of the People's Liberation Front (PLF) were abducted and are missing, according to the group's chairman Aye Saung.

The PLF is an Burmese opposition group aiming to overthrow the Burmese military junta. They are active in the Mae Sot area, Tak province. 

According to one witness who managed to escape, a number of plainclothes men raided three locations near Mae Sot just before midnight on 23 July and kidnapped twelve members of the PLF. The abductors arrived on a pick up truck. 
The PLF men were savagely beaten, tied up with ropes and thrown on the pick-up truck. All three houses were ransacked and, valuables and documents taken.

The witness said the kidnappers spoke a foreign language and one was brandishing a shotgun. No shots were fired during the raids.

Up to this time no group has claimed responsibility for the kidnappings and no ransom demand has been made. 
A source close to the PLF strongly discounted the possibility of the kidnappers coming from Burma side. 

Aye Saung is puzzled by the motive for the abductions but an independent source suspects that a conflict with another group is the reason for the kidnapping.

The raiders were well organized and executed the abductions with military discipline and precision. 

The remaining PLF member fled the area after a rumour spread that the kidnappers were planning to abduct another seven members of the PLF. Their names appeared on the note received by Aye Saung. 

Aye Saung who is a well known and respected executive member of the Democratic Alliance of Burma (DAB), expressed his outrage over the abductions and said he was prepared to meet with the kidnappers to solve the problem. He hopes his men are alive and will be returned. 

The next issue of the PLF's Liberation Bulletin No.18 will devote its front page to the kidnappings. The bulletin will be published on Saturday.