Rebel leader says he will not surrender

Rebel leader says he will not surrender

Politics

Col Yawdserk, leader of Shan State Army, has dispelled doubts expressed by both friends and foes alike by declaring that he will never yield to pressures on him to surrender until Shan State's rights are guaranteed, according to a transcript of his recent interview. 

"We will certainly face difficulties (by not giving in to pressures)", he said, "but we shall never abandon our cause and yield to the enemy. We shall struggle to our last breath." 

He urged Thailand not to side with Rangoon and reduce itself by becoming "a mere tool" and mouthpiece for the Burmese regime." 

The interview followed the Thai army's 3 October move to "re-order" the border. A Shan rebel base opposite Chiangmai said to be "jutting out" inside Thai soil had agreed to pull out as a result of the operation. 

Gen Chaisit Shinawatra, the newly appointed army commander, had on 6 October denied the campaign was intended to appease Burma, according to Bangkok Post report (7 October). 

Yawdserk also questioned the justification of Thai action citing the said base was "known as a drug route". 

"It is really unfair to us. We have a long-standing anti-drug policy and have always provided information of drug refineries and stockpiles along the border to the intelligence officers who had often visited Loifai (former name of Doikham) prior to the incident," he explained. "And I'm confused as to why our base, and not others', are not targeted" 

During a former interview, as reported by S.H.A.N. on 12 June 2003, he had explained how he had agreed to suspend his anti-narcotics activities "so that there isn't any cause for another confrontation between the two countries" and had instead limited his activities only to intelligence collecting.