Influential Karen rebel dies at 79
General Bo Mya, long-time freedom fighter and former leader of the strongest rebel group in Burma, died yesterday at the age of 79, marking a major loss to the Karen group.
Bo Mya, who suffered from diabetes and heart and lung ailments, died in the early hours of Sunday in a private hospital in the Thai border district of Mae Sot. His body was taken back to the Burmese side of the border yesterday for a military funeral tomorrow, according to the group's spokesman David Thaw. The Karen leader suffered a stroke nearly two years ago. He could not eat anything for two weeks before he died. Born in 1927 in Hti Mu Khi village in the Karen state, Bo Mya went underground with the Karen National Union (KNU) in fighting for autonomy in 1949. He broke with the KNU in 1966 due to a rift over a relationship with the Communist Party of Burma. He set up a new KNU together with charismatic leader Mahn Ba Zan in 1968 and became its vice president in 1975 and president a year later. Bo Mya's struggle and the KNU came to their peak in 1988 after an uprising in Burma when many democratic movements fled to the border and Thailand to join the ethnic minorities in armed fighting. Bo Mya formed and chaired the Democratic Alliance of Burma to unite ethnic rebels and the democratic movement. The KNU faced a major setback when it lost its headquarters in January 1995 after a huge offensive by the Burmese army and its ally the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army - a faction which separated from the Christian-dominated KNU in late 1994. Bo Mya was demoted to vice president in 2000 but retained his command over the Karen army until recent years as his health declined. His death might not have any significant impact on the KNU's military strength as he was sidelined from the military command for some time, according to a Thai military source. Bo Mya led a KNU delegation for peace talks and reached a "gentlemen's agreement" with then Prime Minister Khin Nyunt in early 2004. But the agreement was broken after the purge of Khin Nyunt and the junta launched a series of offensives against the rebels. The death of Bo Mya is a big loss for the KNU but the rebels promised to continue their struggle with the junta to reach their goal, said KNU secretary-general Pado Mahn Sha. "General Bo Mya has laid strong fundamentals and guidelines for the Karen revolution," he added.
Supalak Ganjanakhundee The Nation
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