Very interesting piece of news

I found it so interesting to read below news!!! must be something if
one looked closely into Myanmar democampers perhaps?

""A federal grand jury indicted 10 members of California's Hmong
community and a former California National Guard official o­n Thursday
o­n charges they plotted to violently overthrow the communist
government of Laos.

The indictment came the same day federal agents arrested an 11th
suspect in the case, Dang Vang, 48, of Fresno, California. Prosecutors
allege that Vang drafted elaborate plans to finance and carry out the
coup.

All 11 were charged with conspiracy to violate the US Neutrality Act,
as well as several other felonies associated with an alleged plot to
purchase nearly US $10 million in weapons, including AK-47 rifles and
Stinger missiles, and to hire mercenaries to carry out the attacks.

Prosecutors say the group's goal was to bomb government buildings and
shoot down military aircraft in an effort to topple the country's
communist regime, which has been accused of persecuting US-
sympathizing Hmong since the end of the Vietnam War.

"Federal law is without equivocation: you cannot conspire to overthrow
a foreign government with whom our nation is at peace," US Attorney
McGregor Scott said in a statement announcing the indictment.

Scott's office released an 88-page criminal complaint o­n June 4
detailing six months of recorded conversations in which suspects
allegedly discussed plans to airlift weapons to the Laos-Thailand
border and launch a coordinated attack in Laos.

Officials also have said their probe may extend to a former Wisconsin
state senator, an unnamed congressman and the California Highway
Patrol. They were not named in Thursday's indictment, however, and it
was unclear if prosecutors plan to make further arrests.

At the heart of the alleged plot is Vang Pao, a 77-year-old former
general in the Royal Army of Laos who led CIA-backed counterinsurgents
during the Vietnam War, and retired California National Guard Lt-Col
Harrison Jack.

Federal prosecutors allege Jack, 60, a 1968 West Point graduate and
Vietnam-era Army Ranger who led covert operations and worked with
Hmong during the war, was the central arms broker in the scheme.

Assistant US Attorney Bob Twiss said prosecutors did not originally
seek a formal indictment before the arrests because they believed the
plot was close to being executed and they needed to apprehend the
group. The original complaint stated that the group planned to ship
weapons o­n June 12 and June 19 to Thailand.

What the alleged conspirators did not realize, according to the
prosecution, was that the weapons would not be delivered to the remote
staging area along the Thailand-Laos border. The person they thought
was an arms dealer actually was an agent with the federal Bureau of
Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

The accused 11 are charged with conspiracy to violate the Neutrality
Act, which bars Americans from taking military action against nations
with which the United States is at peace. They are also accused of
conspiracy to kill, kidnap and maim; conspiracy to receive and possess
firearms and destructive devices; and conspiracy to export listed
munitions without a State Department license.

All face life imprisonment if convicted.

Thursday's indictment also offered details about the 11th man
arrested, Dang Vang.

According to the indictment, Dang Vang in February prepared a document
titled "Operation Popcorn," an acronym for "Political Opposition
Party's Coup Operation to Rescue the Nation."

It was a comprehensive plan detailing the means and methods the
defendants planned to use to cause the overthrow of the Laotian
government, according to the indictment. It also allegedly laid out a
budget for the purchase of weapons and other administrative actions.

While it's not entirely clear what prompted the aging group to launch
the coup attempt, a February e-mail Jack sent to friends indicated he
believed the Lao government had recently issued an order to
exterminate the remaining 75,000 Hmong in the country. Some of Jack's
friends say they now believe the threat of imminent genocide served as
the genesis for the plot.

Most of the Hmong arrested in the case are from California's Central
Valley, which is home to thousands of refugees who have fled the
Southeast Asian nation since the end of the Vietnam War. Large
populations also have settled in Minnesota and Wisconsin.
The Hmong, a mountain people, helped US forces during the Vietnam War.
Those who stayed behind after Laos fell to the communists have been
subject to severe persecution, according to the US State Department.

.

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