Burma Prime Minister 'removed'

[george]

Burma PM 'removed'

RANGOON: -- THE secretive military government of Burma was at the centre of rumours today that the prime minister, the long-powerful General Khin Nyunt, had been removed from office, diplomats in Burma and senior officials in neighbouring Thailand said.

In Burma, a highly closed society, several rumours have been circulating, including that Khin Nyunt had been forced to resign and that soldiers had raided the military intelligence headquarters, which Khin Nyunt had long headed.

Diplomats in Rangoon said that there was a rumour that Khin Nyunt had been "taken out of circulation", but they had no details.

The rumours could not be immediately confirmed either in Burma, known internally as Myanmar, or in Thailand.

But if proven true, the removal could further a shift toward hardliners in a balance of power within the junta and hamper reconciliation with the pro-democracy opposition led by Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

Thai General Lertart Rattanatavanich said in Mai Sot, a Thai town on the border with Burma, that Thai army reports indicated that the junta "is unhappy with Khin Nyunt and they want to remove him from his position".

"We believe that whatever has happened is about changing the position of Prime Minister Khin Nyunt," General Lertart said.

Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was holding a Cabinet meeting in the eastern town, said he had "received reports that there is some political tension" in Burma but could not confirm what was happening.

Meanwhile, Bangkok Metropolitan Police Chief Lieutenant General Pansiri Prapawat said he had ordered tighter security at the Burma Embassy over concerns about the reports.

In the streets of Burma'scapital, Rangoon, there was no sign of tanks or increased military presence, and any ouster would appear to have been an internal affair.

Khin Nyunt assumed the prime minister's post last year in what was seen as a demotion from the positions he had previously held in the ruling clique of generals, increasingly dominated in recent years by hardliners.

In some aspects, Khin Nyunt is considered a moderate, though he never prevailed on other generals to strike a deal with the high-profile leader of the opposition, Suu Kyi, to restore democracy to this impoverished Southeast Asian country.

In the past year, Khin Nyunt promoted what he called a road map toward democracy in UN-brokered contacts between the government and Suu Kyi's party, the National League for Democracy. The talks went nowhere, and critics accused the government of using stalling tactics to retain its monopoly on power.

Burma has been ruled by the military since 1962, when army commander Ne Win seized power.

Pro-democracy protests led by Suu Kyi were bloodily suppressed in 1988, and Khin Nyunt was one of the younger generation of generals who assumed power.

--Agencies 2004-10-19

[bmw]

Burma's Prime Minister 'forced to resign'

Burma Prime Minister General Khin Nyunt was forced to resign and has been placed under house arrest on corruption charges, a Thai government spokesman said today.

“We can confirm Khin Nyunt has been removed from the position of prime minister and is being detained under house arrest,” said government spokesman Jakrapob Penkair.

The secretive military government of Burma (also known as Myanmar) has been at the centre of rumours today that the long-powerful Khin Nyunt had been removed from office, according to diplomats and senior Thai officials.

http://www.breakingnews.ie/2004/10/19/story171756.html

[RDN]

According to BBC World, the old PM was involved in some sort of "corruption" and was therefore deemed "unsuitable" for the position of "Prime Minister".

I have nothing further to add or correlations to make.