Burmese student dissidents deny i

[moe@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Subject: Burmese student dissidents deny   involvement in general's house bombing 

Burmese student dissidents deny
                            involvement in general's house bombing

                            BANGKOK, April 8 (AFP) - A leading militant
Burmese student group has denied
                            involvement in the bombing of the house of a
powerful member of Burma's military
                            junta in which his daughter was killed.

                            "We had no involvement whatsoever in this
incident," said a statement from the All
                            Burma Students' Democratic Front (ABSDF)
received by AFP late Monday.

                            A parcel bomb exploded on Sunday night at the
home of Lieutenant General Tin
                            Oo, killing his eldest daughter Cho Le Oo.

                            Tin Oo is second secretary of the Burmese junta,
officially known as the State Law
                            and Order Restoration Council (SLORC), as well
as army chief of staff and head of
                            the bureau of special operations.

                            The ABSDF said it believed that the attack had
been carried out by someone within
                            the SLORC, citing recent reports suggesting that
there was a serious rift in the
                            junta which seized power in 1988.

                            "We consider this incident to be a clear
indication of an escalating power struggle
                            within the regime," the statement said. 

                            "We, the ABSDF, believe that due to the high
level of security which surrounds
                            General Tin Oo, yesterday's bomb blast could
only have been carried out by
                            someone within the SLORC," it added.

                            The Karen National Union (KNU), the only major
ethnic rebel group yet to sign a
                            ceasefire with Rangoon, likewise issued a denial
Monday of involvement in the
                            attack, blaming it on an internal SLORC power
struggle.

                            The Burmese military government has accused the
KNU and the ABSDF of being
                            responsible for every bombing in Burma over the
past decade.

                            The ABSDF was formed in the jungle near the
Thai-Burmese border by Burmese
                            pro-democracy students who fled the country
following the 1988 coup.

                            Sunday's bombing came amid stricter security in
Rangoon ahead of celebrations in
                            the run-up to Burmese New Year on April 17,
following nationwide unrest marked
                            by a score of anti-Moslem attacks.

                            Analysts in Rangoon suggested earlier that the
bombing may have been carried out
                            by Moslem extremists, citing accusations from
dissident groups that the
                            government may have had a hand in fuelling the
ethnic unrest.