RESPONSES ON KAYAN NEW LAND PARTY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 RANGOON 001363 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR EAP/MLS; PACOM FOR FPA; PRM/A:TRUSCH AND S/CT:TKUSCHNER E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/18/2016 TAGS: PGOV PHUM PINS PREF PTER BM SUBJECT: RESPONSES ON KAYAN NEW LAND PARTY REF: A. SECSTATE 133124 ¶B. RANGOON 1184 RANGOON 00001363 001.2 OF 002 Classified By: PolOff Dean Tidwell for Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: Post has no information or evidence that the Kayan New Land Party (KNLP) has engaged in any activities that are considered acts of terrorism, nor has it posed any threat to U.S. national security or to the security of U.S. nationals or allies. The KNLP was a founding member of the National Defense Front, a union of ethnic minority resistance groups, but later decided to ally itself with the Burma Communist Party. After it agreed to a cease-fire with the SPDC in 1994, the KNLP joined the National Convention process and continued to push for regional autonomy and reduced military involvement in a future government. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (C) We have no information that the Kayan New Land Party (KNLP) has ever engaged in hijacking or sabotage of civilian transportation. Our local sources, Karenni politician Raphael P. Taung (PROTECT) of the Democratic Organization for Kayan National Unity, and Reverend Shae Kawee (PROTECT), President of the Karen Baptist Convention, know of no efforts by the KNLP to develop, acquire, or use weapons of mass destruction. The sources have no information that the KNLP has ever targeted civilians or engaged in kidnapping. ¶3. (C) Post has no knowledge of any links between the KNLP and any USG-designated terrorist organizations. Post has no information to suggest that the KNLP poses a threat to the security of U.S. nationals or to the security of the United States and its allies. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND ¶4. (U) The KNLP was formed in 1964, after founder Shwe Aye, a Kayah student activist, fled Rangoon following the military coup in 1962 and joined forces with co-founder Bo Pyan. In 1976, the KNLP joined the National Defense Front (NDF),a coalition of nine ethnic resistance groups, but it later opted out and joined with the Burma Communist Party (BCP). It formed an alliance with two other Kayah State resistance groups allied with the BCP, the Shan State Nationalities Liberation Organization and the Karenni National People's Liberation Front (which split from the Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP) over a dispute on whether to forge ties with communists.) During the KNPP's short-lived cease-fire with the SPDC in 1994 (ref B),the KNPP accused the KNLP and its allies of killing 14 of its soldiers and arrested Shwe Aye, but later released him. ¶5. (U) The KNLP lost influence when the BCP collapsed in ¶1989. Its strength eroded further in 1991 when Gabriel Pyan led a breakaway faction to form the Kayan National Guard (KNG). In February 1992, the KNG reached a cease-fire agreement with the regime and exchanged arms for financial support. The KNLP agreed to a cease-fire with the regime in July 1994. Nearly 1,500 people, including family members of soldiers, surrendered. The SPDC granted the KNLP a small territory bordering Mong Pai Township of Shan State, now known as Kayah Special Region 3. The KNLP has supported itself since 1994 through teak and gem trading. The SPDC also encouraged the KNLP to dig ponds for fish farms, but that project was not commercially successful. HOT AND COLD RELATIONS WITH THE SPDC ¶6. (U) The KNLP sends one delegate to the National Convention (NC). On two occasions, the KNLP delegate upset the regime by signing petitions circulated by other ethnic delegates RANGOON 00001363 002.2 OF 002 that called for more autonomy for ethnic states and less military control of the government under a new constitution. While it is not a member of the Committee Representing the People's Parliament (CRPP),consisting of pro-democracy MPs elected in the 1990 elections, the KNLP signed a statement of support when the CRPP was established. In 1997, the KNLP also signed an "ethnic nationalities statement" with 14 other ethnic groups that denounced the NC process as a sham, voiced support for NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi and the NDF, and called for a federal system of government. ¶7. (U) In January 2005, the GOB arrested four men whom it claimed traded KNLP arms to Chin and Naga rebels in western Burma. The evidence was weak. Shwe Aye died in August 2006 and a new KNLP leader has not been named, although Vice Chairman Than Soe Naing remains active. VILLAROSA