Exiled Burmese MPs say rivals tried

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Subject: Exiled Burmese MPs say rivals tried to  kill junta leader

Exiled Burmese MPs say rivals tried to
                            kill junta leader

                            BANGKOK, April 9 (AFP) - A coalition of exiled
Burmese MPs said Tuesday that
                            rivals within the ruling junta were behind a
bomb attack on the home of senior
                            general.

                            They said Sunday's bomb, which killed the
daughter of Lieutenant General Tin Oo,
                            the junta's second secretary, was the second
attempt on his life by rivals in recent
                            months.

                            In a statement received here, the National
Coalition Government of the Union of
                            Burma (NCGUB) contended that the attack on
Sunday followed a bid to assasinate
                            Tin Oo at a pagoda in Rangoon on Christmas Day.

                            "The NCGUB condemns the bomb explosion on April
6, which follows the
                            December bomb blast at the Kaba-Aye Pagoda, the
target of which apparently was
                            also Lt. Gen. Tin Oo," it said.

                            Tin Oo, who is also chief of staff of the armed
forces, was reported to have
                            escaped injury in Sunday's mail bomb blast,
which killed his eldest daughter.

                            In December, five people died and seventeen were
injured in an explosion at a cave
                            shrine displaying a famous tooth relic of Buddha
on loan from China.

                            Senior figures from the State Law and Order
Restoration Council (SLORC) had
                            paid homage to the relic. Tin Oo was reported to
have been the last SLORC
                            member to have visited before the blast.

                            "Both the bombs could only have been planted by
persons with high-security
                            clearance. The explosions are quite obviously
the result of a power struggle within
                            the SLORC," the NCGUB alleged.

                            The rebel Karen National Union and the dissident
All Burma Students' Democratic
                            Front have also contended that Sunday's bombing
was the result of a rift within
                            SLORC -- between the leaders of Burma's armed
forces and its military intelligence
                            wing.

                            The NCGUB said it regretted the loss of life,
even though Sunday's explosion "may
                            have been meant for a tyrant" responsible for
injustices by the Burmese military,
                            which had cost the live of thousands of innocents.

                            Only political dialogue for national
reconciliation could bring peace to Burma, the
                            statement said.

                            The NCGUB was formed by parliamentarians who won
seats in the 1990 elections
                            and have since fled into exile from military rule.

                            SLORC never recognised the results of the
elections, which were swept by the
                            democratic opposition led by Aung San Suu Kyi.