RANGOON, Burma -- Burmese troops killed a French mercenary training ethnic Karen insurgents in southeastern Burma, a government spokesman said Friday.
Lt. Col. Than Tun, a spokesman for the military government said troops captured a letter from a rebel commander intended for the parents of the mercenary, identified as Olivier Thiriat.
'We don't know how many foreign mercenaries are with the Karen National Union (KNU) insurgents but the letter shows they are there,' Than Tun said.
The letter, seized during clashes in southeast Burma, was written by Maj. Than Maung of the 101st Special Force of the KNU July 16 to Thiriat's parents in France. The letter did not give Thiriat's parents' address in France.
It said Thiriat was killed by shrapnel May 10 while fighting alongside Karen insurgents against government troops in the Kawmura area of southeast Burma near the border with Thailand.
According to the letter, Thiriat reached the Karen general military headquarters at Manerplaw in May last year to give military training to Karen forces.
The Karens are one of about a dozen ethnic groups fighting the central government of Burma. The ethnic groups say they are fighting for regional autonomy, democracy and protection for their languages and cultures. They control large strips of remote territory near Burma's borders.
The government in Rangoon considers them rebels and bandits.
Fighting between the ethnic insurgents and the government has intensified since last year when the military seized direct power and crushed a nationwide democracy movement among ethnic Burmese.
