Burma Explosion Confirmed

[Winston_Lee@xxxxxxx]

                         Burma Explosion
                         Confirmed

                         Monday, April 7, 1997 2:15 am EDT

                         RANGOON, Burma (AP) -- A bomb exploded in the home
 of a
                         leading member of Burma's military government, a
senior military
                         officer said Monday. The general was unhurt, he
said.

                         The senior military officer, who demanded
anonymity, confirmed
                         that an explosion had occurred Sunday night at the
 house of Gen.
                         Tin Oo, one of Burma's most powerful generals and
the possible
                         target of an earlier bomb attack.

                         Tin Oo was uninjured, the officer said, declining
to comment on
                         widespread rumors that Tin Oo's eldest daughter
had been killed
                         in a letter bomb explosion.

                         Several soldiers stood guard Monday morning
outside the closed
                         gates of the general's compound. Earlier, between
20 and 35
                         soldiers were posted around the house, located in
a western
                         Rangoon suburb.

                         Security police who normally patrol the area said
they had heard a
                         blast in the area sometime between 8:30 p.m. and
9:30 p.m.
                         Sunday. From the street, there was no apparent
damage to the
                         one-story building.

                         There is already a heavy military presence in
Rangoon, as well as
                         in other Burmese cities, following recent clashes
between Buddhist
                         monks and Muslims. Tensions between the military
government
                         and its democratic and ethnic opponents also are
running high.

                         In July, a small device exploded beneath a
government billboard,
                         located near the U.S. Embassy, urging citizens to
crush foreign
                         stooges and internal enemies of the state. No one
was hurt in the
                         blast.

                         On Christmas Eve, two bombs exploded in a temple
housing a
                         tooth believed to have belonged to Buddha, killing
 five and
                         injuring 17.

                         The bomb went off shortly after Tin Oo had visited
 the temple.

                         Government officials blamed the blast on the Karen
 National
                         Union, a border-based armed wing of an ethnic
group seeking
                         autonomy from Rangoon. The Karen were not believed
 to have
                         the capability to stage bombings in the capital.

                         Government opponents accused the military of
planting the bombs
                         as a pretext for launching a crackdown on the
democratic and
                         ethnic opposition.

                                   ? Copyright 1997 The Associated Press

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