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Burma accuses foreigners of 555 bomb attacks
By Amy Kazmin
Published: May 16 2005 16:41 | Last updated: May 16 2005 16:41
Burma's military junta has claimed that a global "superpower" was behind the
three near-simultaneous bomb explosions that killed at least 19 people, and
wounded some 160 others, in the Burmese capital, Rangoon, this month.
The Burmese generals initially had accused three ethnic rebel groups and
exiled pro-democracy campaigners of planting the powerful bombs that rocked
two crowded shopping malls and a Thai trade fair on May 7.
But in the first briefing since the unprecedented attacks, Brigadier-General
Kyaw Hsan, the information minister, at the weekend pointed to a foreign
hand, citing as evidence the discovery at the bomb sites of the high
explosive RDX which he claimed was not available in Burma. "It is crystal
clear that the terrorists . . . and the time bombs originated from training
conducted with foreign experts . . . in a neighbouring country by a world
famous organisation of a certain superpower nation," the minister told
journalists in Rangoon.
While he did not specify a country, the junta frequently accuses Washington,
a fierce critic of its oppressive regime, of meddling in Burma's internal
affairs.
But the general's assertions are unlikely to quell feverish speculation
inside and outside Burma about the real forces behind the sophisticated
attacks, especially the heated debate over whether they stemmed from rising
tensions within the military itself.
"It is convenient for the military to blame the usual suspects but I don't
know who is going to buy it," said Aung Naing Oo, a researcher with the
Burma Fund. "A lot of people in Burma say, 'Oh it is the military'. This
reflects how much they distrust the military. They say, 'who has the
intention, who has the resources, and who has the ability?' "
Rivalries within the junta's highest echelons and the lower ranks burst into
public view in October when Gen Khin Nyunt, a former prime minister and then
head of the feared military intelligence, was put under house arrest in a
palace coup orchestrated by Senior General Than Shwe and Gen Maung Aye, the
two other top leaders.
After the coup the entire military intelligence apparatus, which had
branched out from spying to building a vast business empire, was dismantled,
with hundreds of senior officers sentenced to long prison terms.
Gen Khin Nyunt's two businessmen sons, one of whom started Burma's only
internet service provider, are also now in Insein prison where their trial
for economic crimes is reported to have begun last week.
Still, doubts remain about military intelligence's involvement.
"They have got the motive, and they've got the capacity," said a western
diplomat. "But why would they target shopping malls?" After the bombing the
US government, now waging a "war on terror", offered Rangoon immediate
technical assistance to investigate but the offer was refused. With the
perpetrators still unknown, analysts predict further infighting amid the
increasingly nervous regime.
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