US embassy cable - 05RANGOON714

S E C R E T RANGOON 000714 
 
SIPDIS 
 
NOFORN 
 
STATE FOR EAP/BCLTV, INR/I 
USPACOM FOR FPA 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/13/2015 
TAGS: PINR, MOPS, PHUM, BM 
SUBJECT: BURMA: ALLEGED USE OF CHEMICAL WEAPONS ALONG THAI 
BORDER (C-AL5-00590) 
 
REF: STATE 101852 
 
Classified By: COM Carmen Martinez for Reasons 1.4 (B,D) 
 
1. (S/NF) Per reftel request, we are providing this Embassy 
Rangoon interagency response to questions regarding the 
alleged use of chemical weapons by Burmese army forces in a 
battle near the Thai border in February 2005.  Answers are 
keyed to numbered reftel questions.  CG Chiang Mai has 
cleared on this cable.  Embassy Bangkok has cleared on this 
cable, but will send its own responses septel. 
 
(4. A. 1) The April 23, 2005 edition of the GOB mouthpiece 
"New Light of Myanmar" newspaper published the Minister of 
Information's response to a question posed at a press 
conference regarding allegations of a chemical attack during 
military action near the Thai border.  The quotation in the 
newspaper read: "...Myanmar has already signed the chemical 
weapon control convention.  The nation and the government 
have never violated their commitment.  And the nation is not 
in a position to produce chemical weapons.  Thus, the 
accusations concerning the use of chemical weapons and the 
existence of victims showing signs of chemical weapon attack 
on the skin are wrong." 
 
(4. A. 4) It is misleading to say, as some press accounts 
have, that there is or has been a UN "investigation" into the 
alleged use of chemical weapons.  When the allegations first 
surfaced, the UN Resident Coordinator in Burma wrote a letter 
to the Health Minister, and has subsequently raised the issue 
with the Health Minister and the Deputy Foreign Minister.  He 
has also been in contact with the Australian doctor who 
examined the five KNPP alleged chemical attack victims. 
Though he never received an official reply, the Resident 
Coordinator was told by very senior GOB officials that: Burma 
doesn't have the capability to produce or transport chemical 
weapons; Burma is a signatory to the chemical weapons treaty 
and would not violate it; and, the GOB would not use such 
weapons even if they had them against a group with whom they 
might hope to soon negotiate a cease-fire.  The Resident 
Coordinator concluded, in a June 3rd written statement to us: 
"It would seem from all the information collected that there 
is no irrefutable evidence that such weapons were used." 
 
(4. C. 1) We are aware of various reports of sporadic 
skirmishes in early-mid-2005 between Burmese Army and ethnic 
forces near the Thai border.  Rangoon DAO believes the KNLP 
does not possess artillery, but may have light mortars, 
though it is highly unlikely they are capable of firing 
chemical projectiles. 
 
(4. C. 2) We have no indications that Burma has reconstituted 
a CW program.  According to Rangoon DAO, Burma Army soldiers 
do not carry even basic CW protective gear that could be 
evidence of potential use of chemical weapons. 
Martinez