Pubdate: Fri, 15 Jun 2001 Source: Bangkok Post (Thailand) Copyright: The Post Publishing Public Co., Ltd. 2001 Contact: http://www.bangkokpost.co.th/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/39 DKBA TROOPS DEFECT TO KNU OVER DRUGS Tak-Nine soldiers of the pro-Rangoon Democratic Karen Buddhist Army defected to the Karen National Union in Burma, opposite Tha Song Yang district yesterday. The defectors handed over five M16 and AK47 rifles, two M79 grenade launchers, one RPG rocket launcher, and a quantity of ammunition to the anti-Rangoon KNU, a KNU source said. They said they could not stand by and watch the large number of DKBA soldiers becoming addicted to methamphetamines and being forced to deliver the pills to the Thai border. They said Phra Uthusna, the DKBA leader, had moved from Mya Yi Ngu temple near the border to a small village near Pa-an, the Karen state capital. The DKBA broke away from the KNU in 1994 after Rangoon promised autonomy to Buddhist Karen. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake