Pubdate: Fri, 01 Jan 1999 Source: Associated Press Copyright: 1999 Associated Press. Author: Don Pathan, Associated Press Writer MYANMAR REBELS PREPARE FOR DEFENSE CHIANG MAI, Thailand (AP) Every year in Myanmar, when the rainy season ends and roads to the eastern border dry out, rebellious ethnic minorities anticipate a fresh army offensive aimed at crushing their independence. The latest offensive appeared under way today as 1999 began, with skirmishes reported as Myanmar's military government built up its forces and rag-tag rebels formed a new alliance to oppose them. Government troops and ethnic Karenni rebels exchanged small arms fire and mortar shells at dawn, Thai military officials said. "It's a matter of days before the fighting reaches the border area," said Maj. Gen. Chamlong Photong, chief-of-staff of the Thai army along the border with Myanmar. The government in Yangon, the Myanmar capital, pursues a divide-and-conquer strategy in an effort to rule the hodgepodge of ethnic groups arrayed along the 1,500-mile Thai-Myanmar border. More than 100,000 refugees from Myanmar, also known as Burma, live in border camps inside Thailand. Many tell stories of rape, torture and forced labor by Myanmar government troops. The dry-season offensives usually end with a new wave of refugees fleeing across the rugged frontier into Thailand. The army usually consolidates its position, and the rebels generally win back some territory when monsoons return around May. Thailand expects to see a bigger Myanmar army offensive than usual this year and is mobilizing its own troops to keep fighting from spilling over the border. Several Myanmar battalions have been deployed in the border area, the Thais say. Thai military intelligence has reported clashes between ethnic groups and government forces in recent days. However, a Myanmar government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, suggested that the reported buildup was exaggerated and that "in countering guerrilla tactics, one doesn't use huge manpower or heavy weapons." Facing Myanmar's forces are fractious rebel bands that have made and broken deals with each other and the central government since the country gained independence from Britain half a century ago. Some groups produce and smuggle opium, heroin and amphetamines to raise money for arms and for their personal wealth. This year, one group, the Shan State Army, is trying to shed its image as a tool of notorious drug lord Khun Sa, who surrendered in an amnesty deal to the government three years ago. Khun Sa wore two hats as nationalist fighter for the Shan minority and as one of the world's biggest heroin traffickers. His organization, the Mong Tai Army, disbanded with his surrender. The Shan State Army, a component of the Mong Tai Army, says it is now composed purely of ethnic nationalists and is teaming up with the Karenni National Progressive Party, a smaller organization not implicated in the drug trade. The Shan State Army has asked the United States and Thailand to help it staunch the flow of drugs, and the Thais have welcomed their efforts. The biggest achievement of Myanmar's current military rulers has been signing cease-fires with most of the ethnic minorities in the mid-1990s, even as it keeps up military pressure. In December 1994, the army ousted the Karen National Union from their longtime headquarters in the southeastern town of Manerplaw. The government later reached a cease-fire with another southern group, the New Mon State Army, allowing Yangon to build a $1.2 billion gas pipeline to Thailand through their area. The Karenni signed a cease-fire with the government in 1995, but the deal broke down the following year over disputes involving the lucrative timber trade. - --- MAP posted-by: Patrick Henry