Renegade Karen commander doesn't have a leg to stand on

No.02 - 2/2007
5 February 2007
Politics
 
Renegade Karen commander doesn't have a leg to stand on
 
Attempts by the recently ousted brigade commander of Karen National Union (KNU) to set up a rival group was doomed from the start as even his own battalion commanders were against breaking away from the mother organization, according to the movement's European representative Brig-Gen Saw Hsa Gay.

^{Brig-Gen Saw Hsa Gay} 

Signatures collected by "responsible commanding officers" between August and September 2006, when reports were circulating that the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), the KNU's military arm, had broken away from the rest of the group, bear the present leadership out, he told S.H.A.N. during an interview today. A three-page signed document was handed out to S.H.A.N. to prove his point.

^{Brig-Gen Htein Maung Photo:BBC}

Among the signatures were those of the KNLA chief, Saw Mu Tu, commanders of brigades 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th, and commanders of battalions under the 7th Brigade, commanded by Brig-Gen Htein Maung, until 30 January when he was "removed from all positions of duties" by the KNU central committee.
 
The signatories "reiterate our full confidence in our current leadership, the EC and CC, as duly elected institutions", according to the signed document.
 
"The central committee had nothing to do with the document," explained Saw Hsa Gay, who also doubles as head of the KNLA's Special Warfare Section. "It was initiated and drafted by responsible officers."
 
Naw Lar Poe, widow of Gen Bo Mya, who passed away last December, also issued a statement on 2 February calling the "KNU-KNLA Peace Council" established by Htein Maung as "an evil setup". Lar Poe, who is Central Committee member and President of the Karen Women Organization (KWO), was named by the group as its vice chairperson.
 
The KNU-KNLA Peace Council is chaired by Htein Maung. Its general secretary is Nerdah Mya, one the Bo Mya's son, who together with Htein Maung is reported to be an advocate of the pro-engagement policy towards the Burmese military. The KNU leadership has so far refrained from taking action on him.