Bo Mya, 79, lived in guarded exile in Mae Sot until the ravages of old age, diabetes and heart disease finally did what the Burmese military could not - he died on Sunday at 2am. Journalist Phil Thornton reflects on many interviews with the general during the writing of his book "Restless Souls".

During Bo Mya's rule over the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) rumours and innuendo flew around border towns about the old general. Academics, human rights activists, NGOs, journalists, Burmese opposition groups, barflies, and Burma know-it-alls threw all kinds of labels at him. He has been called a warlord, despot, nationalist, conservative, a killer, tax collector, cruel dictator, and damned as corrupt, uneducated, and backward. Bo Mya has been a thorn in the side of the Burmese for decades.

I arranged to interview General Bo Mya to see which - if any - of these labels were true or fair. Initial appearances were fearsome. His eyes sat hard in his jungle-ravaged face. This was a man who feared no one, at peace with his God.

Bo Mya was one of 12 children born to a poor hill-farming family in Papun district in the northeast of Karen State. His father died when he was young, and he credited his mother with bringing him up.

"She always taught me to love our Karen people. Even when I was a young commander she'd say, 'Look after them ... make sacrifices for them ... work for them.'"

Bo Mya joined the Karen resistance when he was 21.

"It was during the war [World War II]. What happened under the Japanese occupation shaped my thoughts. The Burmese collaborated with the Japanese, but instead of fighting the British they targeted the Karen. The BIA told the Japanese the Karen were British puppets and we 'had to be pulled up by the roots and killed'. In the cities they killed, burned our homes, and raped our people."

When the Karen revolution started in 1949, Bo Mya became a Karen soldier, and by the end of the year he was promoted to sergeant in the newly formed Salween Battalion. He quickly rose through the ranks. By 1966, was general-in-command, and by 1976 president of the KNU.

I asked Bo Mya if the Karen people would not have been better off if the KNU had stopped fighting years ago. His reply came with an intense stare that bore through me. "If we had not fought, there would be no Karen. We're only alive today because we defended ourselves," he said.

Bo Mya was not opposed to seeking a peaceful solution with the Burmese regime. His latest attempt at a genuine cease-fire began optimistically in 2004 but ended in slaughter during this past year when as many as 20,000 Karen villagers in eastern Burma were forced from their homes and hundreds killed.

Various international NGOs privately accused Bo Mya of continuing the Karen struggle to the detriment of his people. They said the KNU used the conflict to generate income for their own ends. The general denied this. "I'm not against a cease-fire. I want peace. But for us, a cease-fire means no surrender but a mutual discussion to settle for peace with dignity."

Bo Mya dismissed critics in NGOs and some members of the Burmese opposition who labelled him as anti-democratic as politically naive and self-serving, and predicted there would be an NGO stampede to Burma if sanctions and the conflict ends.

I asked Bo Mya if he was a "warlord". The question started a laugh deep inside him that continued until it finally erupted. "It seems like I was.

In the past we [ethnic leaders] may have acted like warlords, but underneath we all wanted to contribute for a genuine federation of Burma."

Bo Mya accused certain ministers in the former Thaksin government, Asean, and Western businesses of being more interested in making money out of Burma than with protecting human rights. "These people have no principles. They care only about their pockets. They have democracy in their own countries, but they don't care that we don't. Money is the only thing they love."

The general denied claims he had used his position to make him rich. "I could have been a wealthy man living in Burma. They promised me big houses, cars," he said. "I told them to go and never come to my place again. The reason I'm struggling is not for myself but for my people. I've sacrificed too many years that wealth won't make up for."

Finally, I asked the general if he was tired of fighting.

He unfolded a black and white newspaper clipping and showed me a picture of a Karen villager cradling the head of his dead wife. "This keeps me going. When your people are being killed, you're not afraid anymore."

While the UN and international governments have issued little more than empty threats to the Burmese regime, Bo Mya and the Karen have paid a terrible price for their struggle to be free. "I have sacrificed my life for my Karen people and my family has also paid the price. These other countries helping Burma is a disaster for the Karen. Our intention is always to protect innocent lives but those who join with the murderous regime are the same," he said.

"These countries that give money to dictators are helping to continue the abuse and the suffering."

In the eyes of his people, General Bo Mya is still the most renowned, respected, and strongest symbol of their struggle for freedom. His death leaves a void that will be hard to fill. Or maybe, as his detractors said, it will allow a more democratic debate among KNU members.

Phil Thornton is an Australian journalist who has been based in Mae Sot for about six years. He is the author of several books, including 'Restless Souls', an account of life on the Thai-Burma border that has been one of Asia Books' most successful publications.

Phil Thornton

Special to The Nation

Mae Sot