junta leader rumoured ousted in coup:Reuters
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- Date: 24 Aug 2005 03:01:21 -0700
Myanmar junta leader rumoured ousted in coup
24 Aug 2005 08:37:00 GMT
Source: AlertNet
By Aung Hla Tun
BANGKOK, Aug 24 (Reuters) - Rumours swirled in army-ruled Myanmar and
neighbouring Thailand on Wednesday that junta strongman Senior General
Than Shwe has been removed by the powerful army commander.
Reports suggested Than Shwe, head of a military junta which has ruled
the former Burma in various forms since 1962, had been ousted by number
two General Maung Aye although Yangon was calm and people said there
was no extra security on the streets.
A Thai intelligence official told Reuters his organisation was trying
to determine the truth of the rumours in the absence of official
comment from the Yangon government.
"We've heard Maung Aye has seized power from Than Shwe, citing
allegations of corruption and his involvement in illegal trade of
weapons," he said.
He said Thura Shwe Man, the number three general in the ruling State
Peace and Development Council (SPDC), was rumoured to have been
assigned to investigate Than Shwe's alleged crimes.
However, Thai Foreign Minister Kantathi Suphamongkhon told reporters:
"So far, everything is just a rumour. I am still sticking to my plan to
visit Myanmar late this month." Soe Myint, editor of the pro-democracy
Mizzima News Web site mizzima.com, which is based in New Delhi, said
there had been tension among the generals for some time.
"From what I have heard, a five-member group of generals led by General
Maung Aye staged the coup during a weekly cabinet meeting on Monday,"
he told Reuters in the Indian capital.
"The group accused Than Shwe of nepotism and said he was incapable of
running the country. Ever since, there has been a total blackout and
there has been no news from the cabinet meeting," Soe Myint said.
UNDER ARREST?
Than Shwe has not been seen on state television since August 20 when he
met U.N. envoy and former Indonesian Foreign Minister Ali Alatas, but
official newspapers on Wednesday reported his message of
congratulations to Ukraine on its independence day .
Diplomats in Yangon said they believed he was on a provincial tour.
"We understand he is out of town and this rumour did not start in
Yangon, but outside the country," a Southeast Asian diplomat said.
The opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) also played down the
rumours.
"So far as we can confirm, this rumour is more likely not to be true.
The situation across the city is quite normal," NLD spokesman Nyan Win
told Reuters.
But the Thai language newspaper Phuchatkan reported on its Web site at
manager.co.th that Maung Aye, the army commander-in-chief had ordered
Than Shwe detained at a Yangon hospital on Tuesday.
"General Maung Aye has taken over power since midnight on August 23,"
the newspaper said, citing Thai intelligence sources.
The former Burma has been ruled by the military in various guises since
a coup in 1962 and is reviled in the West for its alleged human rights
abuses and confinement of democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi since May
2003.
Yangon says it is moving towards democracy along a seven-stage roadmap
it unveiled in August 2003.
However, few take its rulers seriously, especially with Suu Kyi
languishing under house arrest and her party effectively excluded from
talks to draw up a new constitution, which are set to resume in
December.
Than Shwe, 73 and an expert in pyschological warfare, seized the junta
leadership in 1992 with the help of General Khin Nyunt, who was ousted
as prime minister and military intelligence chief last October.
The Norway-based Democratic Voice of Burma reported on its Web site,
dvb.no, on Monday that Than Shwe's son-in-law, Teza, was being
investigated for corruption.
(Additional reporting by Nopporn Wong-Anan and Trirat Puttajanyawong in
BANGKOK, Y.P. Rajesh in NEW DELHI)
((Writing by Darren Schuettler, editing by Michael Battye))
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