Ceasefire leader missing, former base laid waste

Politics

Ceasefire leader missing, former base laid waste

Three days after one of his brigade commanders had allegedly been forced to surrender on 6 April, Col Sai Yi, leader of the Shan State National Army was no longer seen at his Khaihsim base in Hsipaw township, northern Shan State, reports Hawkeye from the border:

His staff and security unit, the 16th Brigade commanded by Lt-Col Khaymin, had also gone with him. Two days after his disappearance, elements from the nearby Namlan-based Infantry Battalion 243 arrived and ransacked the whole camp. "His farm tractors were taken away," said a witness. "The only house they left untouched was his."

Col Sai Yi, who succeeded Col Gunyawd last year, after the latter passed away under suspicious circumstances, had made his departure right after his representatives in Lashio were reportedly informed on 9 April by Maj Gen Myint Hlaing, Commander of Lashio-based Northeastern Region Command, that his whole group that had concluded a ceasefire pact with Rangoon in 1995 would have to follow in the footsteps of Lt-Col Ganna, Commander of the SSNA's Hsenwi-based 11th Brigade, who surrendered three days earlier. "You don't have any choice," he was reported as saying. "Don't say we are heartless, if you refuse to follow my advice." (Related report: One ceasefire commander has had enough of it, 8 April 2005)

Two other brigades: the Sixth commanded by Khaymar in Mongyen, Namtu township, and the 19th commanded by Koongkhurh in Nampawng, Lashio township, had also decamped on the same day.

Many believe Sai Yi is heading forwards the south where his childhood friend Col Yawdserk and his Shan State Army "South" operate. But others are skeptical. "He could have arrived in the south in 3-4 hours, had he wished so," said a former officer in the SSA "North". "I think he's taking refuge in Loikhurh (mountain range southeast of Khaihsim, historic bailiwick for the Shan resistance)."

The Burmese commanders appear to agree with the latter assessment. Yesterday, a meeting was held between Maj-Gen Loimao, Commander of Shan State Army "North", Sai Yi's major ally, and the Burmese commanders in Lashio, where he was asked to persuade Sai Yi "to return to the legal fold" and all would be forgotten. "The details are not known," said an SSNA source in the north, "but we heard he had agreed to send intermediaries to Sai Yi."

The SSNA was jointly founded by the late Gunyawd and Sai Yi in 1995, following their mutiny that broke the backbone of Khun Sa's Mong Tai Army leading to its surrender a year later. It formed the Shan State Peace Council, headed by Maj-Gen Hso Ten, with the SSA "North" and, later, the Shan State Joint Action Committee also with SSA "North" and Shan Nationalities League for Democracy of Hkun Htun Oo in 1996. The group also participated in the military-organized National Convention. However, since the arrests in February of Hkun Htun Oo and Hso Ten, tensions have been on the rise between the ceasefire groups and the Burma Army.