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Still Smokin'
The image flashed around the world - 12-year-old twins who led a rebel army, one puffing on a
cigarette. Now, Johnny and Luther have surrendered and are reportedly planning on cutting back on
their tobacco habits.

The Associated Press


S U A N P H U N G, Thailand, Jan. 18 - The teenage twins who lead the God's Army rebels are anxious
to meet their parents after emerging from the jungles where they lived a fugitive's life for 12
months, a Thai official said today.


Johnny and Luther Htoo, believed to be 13 or 14 years old, have also promised to cut down on
smoking, said Payakkaphan Phokaew, the chief of the Suan Phung district where the twins surrendered
Tuesday.
The twins turned themselves in with 12 followers, most of them youngsters. Three more God's Army
members surrendered Wednesday. The group's members believe the twins have magical powers.

The twins became icons for youthful rebels around the world after the widespread circulation a year
ago of a photograph which showed the angelic-looking, long-haired Johnny next to his
tougher-looking, cigarette-puffing brother, Luther.

"I told them to quit cigarettes and Johnny and Luther promised to cut down," Payakkaphan told The
Associated Press, interrupting the interview to ask an official to buy lice medicine for the twins.

End in Sight

The twins' surrender brought to an end an ineffective hit-and-run armed campaign that their ragtag
guerrilla group had carried out for the last three years against the Myanmar military.

The twins belong to Myanmar's ethnic Karen minority who are fighting for independence. The main
insurgency is led by a much larger guerrilla group.

The fighting has forced about 100,000 Karen refugees into Thailand. Among them are the twins'
parents.


Possible Refugee Status

Payakkaphan, who had a breakfast of rice and chilly squid with the twins today, said the boys want
to go to the refugee camp where their parents live.

"Soldiers have informed the parents that they [the boys] are under the protection of the Thai
authorities," he said.

"The twins seem happy enough. At least they have more food and are not afraid of their enemy," he
said. The twins and their colleagues are being kept out of the public eye at border patrol
headquarters in Suan Phung, about 100 miles west of Bangkok.

"This week we want to give them time to recuperate," Payakkaphan said.

He said a committee of Thai and U.N. officials would probably meet next week to determine if the
twins and their followers qualify for refugee status.

Among those who surrendered are three teenagers who are suspected of taking part in a Dec. 30
gunbattle in a Thai village that killed six villagers.

The three youngsters were taken today to the village of Ban Wai Noi Nai where they re-enacted the
shooting, a customary practice in Thailand.

Police say the re-enactment helps the investigation, but it is also seen as being done for the
benefit of news television channels.

God's Work

Ban Wai Noi Nai, a village of 10 families, is located 12 miles from Suan Phung and three miles from
the Myanmar border.

One of the suspects, 19-year-old Ga Pa, has confessed to taking part in the shooting with four other
rebels, police Lt. Col. Chatchai Susamin said.

God's Army was formed a few years ago after an assault on the twins' village, when they allegedly
inspired a daring and successful counterattack against Myanmar troops. That rare victory gave birth
to a local legend about their mystical powers.

The group gained notoriety when it gave refuge to another group of Myanmar dissidents, which had
earlier taken hostages at the Myanmar Embassy in Bangkok in October 1999.

A few months later the group seized a Thai hospital, triggering a manhunt and crackdown on God's
Army by the Thai authorities.