AP: Burma Official Gets Extra Guard

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Subject: AP: Burma Official Gets Extra Guards

                         Burma Official Gets Extra
                         Guards

                         Monday, April 7, 1997 1:06 am EDT

                         RANGOON, Burma (AP) -- Soldiers were posted around
 the
                         home of a top member of Burma's military
government on
                         Monday morning amid reports of a bomb blast in the
 area the
                         night before.

                         Between 20 and 35 soldiers guarded the residence
of Gen. Tin
                         Oo, one of Burma's four most powerful generals.
Security police
                         who normally patrol the area said they had heard a
 blast in the
                         vicinity sometime between 8:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.
Sunday.

                         There was rumors in the streets of Rangoon that
Tin Oo received
                         a letter bomb Sunday night that exploded, killing
his oldest
                         daughter.

                         The military government has not yet commented on
that claim or
                         explained the beefed-up military presence around
Tin Oo's home,
                         located in a western suburb of Rangoon.

                         Rangoon already has a heavy military deployment,
as do 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.

                         Although there was traffic in and out of Tin Oo's
home Monday
                         morning, from the street, there was no visible
signs of damage to
                         the one-story structure.

                         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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