Mahtu Naw, leader of Burma’s ethnic Kachin ceasefire group the Kachin Defense Army (KDA) is in a critical condition in Mandalay hospital

Written by KNG
Saturday, 07 November 2009

Mahtu Naw, leader of Burma’s ethnic Kachin ceasefire group the Kachin Defense Army (KDA) is in a critical condition in Mandalay hospital, said hospital sources.

Mahtu Naw, over 60 underwent a surgery recently in Mandalay public hospital after suffering a brain hemorrhage. He also suffered a paralytic stroke, said relatives in Mandalay.

The KDA leader is in a coma in the hospital. His chances of recovery are slim, his relatives told KNG today.

His health deteriorated in September and he was admitted to the hospital in Mandalay from the Lashio public hospital early last month, said KDA sources.
ust before hospitalization, as an ethnic Kachin leader, he was invited to attend two meetings in the capital Naypyidaw by the Burmese ruling junta— with Ban Ki-moon, United Nations’ General Secretary in July and U.S. senator Jim Webb of Virginia in August.

KDA is based in Kawnghka, also spelled Konghka, near Kutkai town in Northeast Shan State and it accepted conversion to a local Kachin militia group under Burmese Army’s control in June.

The KDA, led by Mahtu Naw, is the former 4th brigade of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), based outside Kachin State. It split from the mother group in 1990 and signed a permanent ceasefire agreement with the Burmese ruling junta on January 13, 1991. Mahtu Naw came in for severe criticism by the Kachin public because he as a Christian constructed a Buddhist pagoda and temple in the KDA headquarters Kawnghka in 2001, and accepted transforming the group to a local militia group for a smooth relationship with the Burmese junta.

Meanwhile, Lanyaw Zawng Hra, over 70, chairman of the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), the political wing of the KIA has recovered from age related illness and returned from Mandalay following medical checkup late last October, said KIO sources.