Gen Bo Mya’s ..dead

[Rinrada]

Bit of info for all Burma Watchers.....the old boy has joined Chea.....

Ten Thousand Attend Gen Bo Mya’s Funeral

By Shah Paung (with thanks from the irrawadi)

December 26, 2006

Karen rebel leader Gen Bo Mya, who died on Sunday, was buried on Tuesday at his last Thai-Burmese border-based stronghold, Pu Bo Mya Plaw (also know as Mu Aye Pu).

About 10,000 people—both friend and foe—attended the funeral, including Thai army officers and a Burmese army representative, Col Myat Htun Oo.

Gen Bo Mya, life-long freedom fighter and for 24 years leader of the Karen National Union, died on Sunday morning at a hospital in the Thai border town Mae Sot. The 79-year-old general had been suffering from diabetes and age-related illness.

Over the years, Bo Mya essentially became the face of the armed resistance, leading its fighters in the jungle.

He fought with the Allies against the Japanese in World War II as a member of Force 136 and joined the struggle for independence in 1947 while still a police officer under the British administration. He joined the KNU when it began its fight for autonomy for the Karens, an ethnic minority, after Burma gained independence from Britain in 1948.

After the nationwide demonstrations for democracy in1988, Gen Bo Mya welcomed many of the pro-democracy groups who fled to the Thai-Burmese border and worked with them. He was one of the leaders involved in founding such political and military alliances as the National Democratic Front, the Democratic Alliance of Burma and the National Council of the Union of Burma.

With nearly half a century of battle and revolutionary experience, Bo Mya won the respect of many exiled leaders and dissidents. His straightforward and often ruthless leadership was also respected by his troops. He served as chairman of the armed ethnic group from 1976 to 2000, after which he was named vice chairman.

"I understand that a revolution means opposing the wrong and constructing the right thing," he said in an interview with The Irrawaddy. "Our revolution is one that must fight against evil and all wrongs. We must never go against the masses of the country."

Bo Mya is survived by his wife Lah Po, chairman of the Karen Women’s Organization, seven children and more than 20 grandchildren.

The NCUB said in a statement honoring the memory of Gen Bo Mya that, with his death, “the revolution is losing a great leader.”

also from VOA....(thanks)

There are more than seven million Karen in Burma. Thousands have fled to Thailand to escape fighting between rebels and troops.

The K.N.U. is one of several minority groups that have fought the government since Burma won independence in 1948. The group reached an informal peace deal with the military junta in 2004, but an official pact was never signed.

At least 17 other rebel groups have signed ceasefire agreements with the junta.

also from the BBC...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/6207343.stm