By Biswajyoti Das GUWAHATI, India, Jan 19 (Reuters) - India will urge Myanmar to help crack down on separatist rebels from the troubled northeast it says are hiding in camps across the border when its foreign minister visits the country later on Friday. Security officials say around 200 rebels from the state of Assam have fled into neighbouring Myanmar over the last week after India launched a military offensive against the insurgents. Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee will discuss the presence of the rebels of the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) with Myanmar's military junta, a ministry spokesman said. "I am sure that matters of regional security and the concerns regarding terrorism are likely to be discussed," said Navtej Sarna, foreign ministry spokesman. Mukherjee's visit comes days after Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said he had urged Myanmar to crack down on ULFA, during a meeting with his counterpart Soe Win in Manila on the sidelines of the East Asia summit this week. The Indian Express newspaper, quoting sources, said New Delhi believes there are 14 ULFA camps in Myanmar and will suggest joint operations on both sides of the border to flush out the rebels. India's northeast, joined to the rest of the country by a thin strip of land, is home to dozens of tribes and ethnic groups, and several major separatist rebellions.A rebel faction in Assam's neighbouring state of Nagaland, which has numerous camps in northern Myanmar, has said it has given refuge to up to 1,500 ULFA militants. "The area in northern Myanmar is controlled by us and we, as a revolutionary organisation, help other rebel groups during crisis," said Kughalu Mulatonu, a senior leader of National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Khaplang faction (NSCN-K). Indian forces moved against the insurgents after ULFA -- which has been fighting for Assam's independence for decades -- was blamed for the massacre of 72 migrant labourers working in the state but from other parts of India earlier this month. More than 20,000 people has been killed in the ULFA rebellion since 1979 in Assam. The rebels accuse New Delhi of exploiting the forest and mineral resources of the tea-and-oil rich state.
