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AP NEWS: Rangoon Blast Kills Genera (r)



Subject: AP NEWS: Rangoon Blast Kills General's Daughter.

RANGOON BLAST KILLS GENERAL'S DAUGHTER

RANGOON (AP) A parcel bomb exploded in the home of a leading member of
Burma's military government, killing his eldest daughter, military officials
and relatives said Monday.

A senior military officer, demanding anonymity, confirmed that an explosion
occurred at 8:52 p.m. Sunday at the house of Gen. Tin Go, the army chief of
staff and one of Burma's four most powerful generals.

Oo may have been the target of a previous bomb attack at a Rangoon pagoda on
Christmas Eve.

The officer said Oo was not hurt in Sunday's explosion, but a member of the
general's family confirmed that his eldest daughter, Cho Lei Oo, 33, was
killed by what was believed to have been a parcel bomb.

A funeral for the mother of two is scheduled for Tuesday. She was married to
a major in the Burmese army.

There was no claim of responsibility and the government did not initially
accuse anyone. The government has blamed past bombings on communists , rebel
groups and prodemocracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, winner of the 1991 Nobel
Peace Prize. All deny such charges.

The statement called the attack a "terrorist bomb explosion" and said a
parcel bomb was suspected.

A vice chairman of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's party, also named
Tin Oo but no relation to the general, said her movement had no connection
to the attack and called it "an act of cowardice. I'm very deeply sorry
about it."

Two rebel groups - the Karen National Union, or KNU and the All-Burma
Students Democratic Front told reporters in Bangkok that they had nothing to
do with the blast. The rebels, currently being mauled in a government
offensive, have never shown a capability for urban terrorism.

Man Sha, KNU vice secretary general, attributed the attack to a power
struggle within the ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council or SLORC.

"This situation does not concern the KNU, it concern the SLORC," Sha said.
Inside their army, they're having more and more power struggles."

Speculation has recently focused on a power struggle between Gen. Maung Aye,
a hardline former field commander who counts Oo among his allies, and Gen.
Khin Nyunt, the powerful head of military intelligence.

A veteran of campaigns against ethnic and communist insurgents, Oo had
threatened in public speeches to "annihilate" the opponents of the regime.

No one answered the telephone Monday at Suu Kyi's home. Her political
activities have been severely restricted since September. A member of her
political party the National League for Democracy said her line had been cut.

Several soldiers have seen outside the closed gates of Oo's compound Monday
morning. No damage to the one-story building could be seen from the street.