DATE=1/25/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=THAILAND-HOSTAGES (L)
NUMBER=2-258402
BYLINE=GARY THOMAS
DATELINE=BANGKOK
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Security forces in Thailand stormed a hospital early
Tuesday morning to free hundreds of patients and medical
staff, held hostage by an ethnic rebel group from Burma.
All of the hostages were freed unharmed, while all of the
gunmen were killed. As VOA Correspondent Gary Thomas
reports from Bangkok, an earlier hostage crisis along the
same lines left Thai authorities with little choice.
TEXT: Thai commandos brought a swift and violent end to a
nearly 24-hour hostage crisis, when they stormed the
hospital in Ratchaburi that had been taken over by armed
insurgents from Burma.
Gunfire and explosions echoed in the town, located some 120
kilometers west of Bangkok, as the operation began just
before dawn. When it was over, a little more than an hour
later, nine insurgents were dead and all of the hostages --
believed to number at least 700 -- were freed unharmed.
Officials say there were 10 gunmen in all, one of whom
initially escaped but was killed later in a gun battle with
police. Two police officers were seriously wounded in the
assault.
The walled hospital compound had been taken over Monday
morning by members of a group calling itself "God's Army."
The insurgents had hijacked a bus near the Burmese border
and forced the driver to take them to Ratchaburi, where
they mounted their attack on the hospital. Once inside,
they issued their demands for medical treatment for their
comrades wounded in clashes with the Burmese Army, and
unhindered access across the border. They also demanded an
end to what they asserted was shelling of their border
positions by Thai troops.
The group is a breakaway faction of the main ethnic Karen
rebel movement, which has been fighting for autonomy from
Rangoon for more than 50 years. It is led by twin 12-year-
old boys, whom their mostly young followers believe possess
mystical powers.
This was the second hostage crisis in Thailand involving
Burmese dissidents in four months, and the Thai
government's controversial handling of the previous one
left authorities with little choice about how handle this
situation.
In October, a group calling itself the "Vigorous Burmese
Student Warriors" took over the Burmese Embassy in Bangkok.
Thai authorities let the hostage takers leave unhindered
and gave them safe passage to the border, where they took
refuge with the "God's Army". That lenient treatment
angered the Burmese government, which accused Thailand of
being soft on terrorism.
The Thai Army commander in the Ratchaburi region,
Lieutenant General Thaweep Suwannasingha, told reporters
Tuesday that authorities had previously tried what he
called the "soft way", but with hospital patients
threatened, they had to take action this time. (SIGNED)
NEB/GPT/FC
25-Jan-2000 04:14 AM EDT (25-Jan-2000 0914 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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