KAREN NATIONAL DEFENSE ORGANIZATION COOPERATION WITH BURMA COMMUNISTS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00810A001800540005-8
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 15, 2016
• Document Release Date: November 24, 2003
• Sequence Number: 5
• Publication Date: July 21, 1953
• Content Type: REPORT

Approved For Release 2003/12/18 : CIA-RDP80-0081OA001800540005-8
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
INFORMATION REPORT
SECRET
SUBJECT Karen National Defense Organization
Cooperation with Burma.Communists
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PLACE ACQUIRED
uu
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UATIONS IN THIS REPORT ARE DEFINITIVE.
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711E FGILLI;i 4 ity ~ , fii ' icli
DISTRIBUTED AS PRELIMINARY
DISSEMNIATION .NUMBERED
25X1 Commeiit. Documents captured by the Burma Army and released in a summaryto
the press, by the Burmese War Office indicate that as an outgrowth of a Karen;
National Defense Organization (ENDO)-Burma Communist Party (BCP) conference reported
held at Ngainhtaung in the Delta on 10 June, a complete reorganization of the KNDO
structure on-the communist pattern in under way. This is presumed to pertain only
to the Delta KNDO in spite of the similarity of the upper political command echelons
with the Salween area KNDO. The latter may have been able to count on the Chinese
Nationalists as allies to a large extent; have not been closely exposed to the
communists; are not driven to as desperate a life and death search for allies by
military pressure; and are close to Thailand where smuggling dividends have paid off.
25X1 the strength of the newly termed Karen
Peoples Liberation Army KPLA in the Thaton-Delta area is estimated at 1,200 and
that the KPLA is already running schools in the Thaton-Delta area under BOP direction.
1. The defunct Karen National Union (KNU) is now being reorganized on the communist
frameworkias.the Karen Liberation Movement. The Movement is presently under the
control of an interim committee composed of Hunter THA M NE, Mahn BA ZAN; Mahn THEFN
MAUN 4, Mahn.SEIN HAN, and Mahn AYE BI. The interim committee is in the process of
drafting a constitution, and party cadres are being established in four zones of
lower Burma.
2. The overall political reorganization is in the hands of Mahn BA ZAN. The political
indoctrination of the 11DO is entrusted to the BCP-controlled Peoples Democratic Front.
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SECRE
ISTATE
F x NAVY '_1 g AIRx FBI AEC
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This Document contains lntprmation affecting the Na-
tional Defense of the United States, within the mean-
ing of Title 18, Sections 793 and 794, of the U.S. Code, as
amended. Its transmission or revelation of its contents
to or receipt by an unauthorized person is prohibited
by law. The reproduction of this form is prohibited.
REPORT NO. 25 1
DATE DISTR. 21 July 1953
NO. OF PAGES 2
REQUIREMENT NO.
Approved For Release 20U3T92T18" CIA-RDP80-0081OA001800540005-8
 Approved For Release 2003/12/18 : CIA- MR-0081 0A001800540005-8
SECRET
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A subsequent meeting in June of various insurgent leaders at Eipe in the Thaton
District was held for the purpose of determining the course of future joint action.
This conference was attended by MIN MAUNG, Commander in Chief of the Kawthulay Armed
Forces, and BCP, Communist Party Burma.CPB) Peoples Volunteer Organization (PVO),
and Mon National Defense Organization (UNDO) leaders. The desired political
education program was categorized as follows?
as Political ideologies.
b. Karen revolutionary movement and its strategy.
c. Marxism Leninism.
I_ (Comment. This move by the Delta KNDO is surprising t has not
occurred earlier. 'this alliance
is inevitable if the ng o er cans continue their attitude of disclaiming the
Karens as "friends". The KNDO attitude is and has been that there is no other
course open'for their survival. To the hard-core KNDO leaders, who have a strong
underlying mistrust of the Government of'Burma (GOB), surrender or negotiation on GOB
term&is and has been unthinkable. The significance of this alliance may be
appreciable and may be to the detriment of the ENDO. It is likely that the gap between
the Saiween area KNDO and the Delta KNDO may be widened as a result of this alliance
in view of the general repugnance to the communists in the Salween area. It is also
possible that there will be a repetition of the fighting which has split all earlier,
smaller, and more localized alliances of convenience between the LIDO and the
communists.
25X1 Comment. Mahn BA ZAN is the former head of the KNDO Delta Command, chair-
man of he Delta INU, and signator of an assistance pact for the IGIDO with the
BCP in 1951 which was loudly renounced by other top KNDO leaders at that time.
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SECRET
Approved For Release 2003/12/18 : CIA-RDP80-00810A001800540005-8