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Collecting News of Bomb with Japan



Subject: Collecting News of Bomb with Japan and Monks in Burma,04/10/97

RANGOON, April 10 (Reuter) - Burma's top official in the capital Rangoon has
urged Buddhist monk organisations to take action against members of the
order who break government or Buddhist laws, state-run media reported on
Thursday. 
    Official newspapers quoted Major-General Khin Maung Than, chairman of
the Rangoon division of the ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council,
as urging monks to follow laws set by Lord Buddha and the military government. 
    He told them to implement Directive Number 65, passed by the highest
body of monks in August 1984, which calls for action to be taken against
monks or novices who violate Buddhist or government laws. 
    ``He said that violators of Vinaya (the Buddhist monk code of conduct)
rules and promulgated laws have been encouraged to step up criminal acts as
both the government and Sangha (monk) organisations more or less ignore
them,'' the papers reported. 
    Analysts in Rangoon said the request made by Khin Maung Than showed the
government's determination to take legal action against Buddhist monks. 
    In mid-March monks staged protests in Burma's second city Mandalay in
unrest apparently sparked by tensions between Buddhist and Moslem residents. 
    Unrest spread across the country leading the government to impose a
curfew and other restrictions in several cities. 
    Most of the restrictions are still in place. 
    Witnesses said at least 100 monks in Rangoon were detained in late
March. Others said dozens of monks were at least temporarily held in
Mandalay and other cities after the unrest. 
    The government has not commented on reports of the arrests. 
    The harshest punishment the monks' organisation can dole out is to
disrobe a member of the order. But if a monk is found guilty of breaking the
nation's laws he is punished according to federal laws which could mean
imprisonment. 
    Monks played a key role in pro-democracy protests between 1988-90.
Thousands were detained after many monks refused to perform religious rights
for soldiers or their families in 1990 following military crackdowns on the
democracy movement. 

02:32 04-10-97
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TOKYO (Reuter) - Burmese dissidents in Japan on Wednesday
denied Rangoon government claims that they were behind a parcel
bomb attack in Rangoon, saying the blast was linked to a power
struggle among the country's ruling generals.
     A statement released in Tokyo by the Burma Joint Action
Committee, an umbrella group representing dissidents, said the
attack, which killed the daughter of a leading general, ran
against the group's belief in peaceful protest.
     ``That blast had nothing to do with us,'' it said. ``Here in
Japan, the movement against the (Burmese) military has always
been peaceful, disciplined and within the bounds of Japanese
law.''
     The explosion at the house of Lieutenant-General Tin Oo on
Sunday evening killed his daughter, Cho Lei Oo, 34.
     Tin Oo is one of the four most powerful men in the Burmese
government and is designated as Secretary Two of the ruling
State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC).
     A dissident representative told Reuters he was sorry to hear
of the killing and stressed the dissidents' commitment to
non-violence.
     ``Even with our demonstrations, we have to follow (Japanese)
police orders,'' said Aung Thu, general-secretary of the Burma
Youth Volunteer Association (Japan), a member group of the
committee.
     The Burma Joint Action Committee represents four major
groups of some 200 active dissidents out of a Burmese expatriate
community in Japan of about 10,000, he said.
     The committee statement said that before the attack
international media had reported on a power struggle within
SLORC. ``It is very clear that the recent blast is related to
that power struggle,'' it said.
     The statement added: ``Letters and parcels addressed to
SLORC generals have to pass through a security check, so the
accusations against us are baseless lies.''
      Burma's military government, already fraught with
international image problems and simmering domestic unrest, said
in a statement late on Tuesday that the attack was masterminded
by anti-government groups based in Japan.
     ``Initial investigation revealed that the terrorist bomb
that exploded at Lieutenant-General Tin Oo's residence on the
evening of 6 April 1997 was airmailed from Japan,'' it said.
     ``There are reasons to believe that the bomb plot was
masterminded by some anti-Myanmar (Burma) government groups
within Japan which have resorted to acts of terrorism.''
     The Japan-based activists, who include exiled students and
professionals, frequently protest at both the military junta's
crackdowns on pro-democracy forces in Burma and Japan's aid and
trade policies towards their homeland.
     Japan, whose aid of about $140 million a year makes it the
biggest donor to Burma, has obliquely criticised Rangoon's
periodic crackdowns on pro-democracy forces but held off from
using aid as a lever to press for democracy.
     Tokyo balances pressure from businesses interested in
resource-rich Burma and officials who want to increase Japanese
influence in Rangoon against calls to join Western countries in
pushing for improved human rights in Asia.
     The 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner, Aung San Suu Kyi, leader
of Burma's main opposition group, the National League for
Democracy (NLD), has studied in Japan and writes a popular
column for a major Japanese newspaper.
     The dissident groups in Japan which signed the Joint Action
Committee statement were the National League for Democracy
(Liberated Area), the Democratic Burmese Students Organization,
the 8888 Group and the Burma Youth Volunteer Association.
     Their statement said Burmese democracy activists believed
the country's problems could only be solved by dialogue.

10:30 04-09-97
****************************
RANGOON, April 9 (Reuter) - Burma's military government has asked the
Japanese government for help in finding out who sent a parcel bomb to the
house of a top Burmese official, killing his daughter, diplomatic sources
said on Wednesday. 
    Foreign ministry and diplomatic sources told Reuters that Rangoon had
requested help from Tokyo because the mail bomb was sent to Lieutenant
General Tin Oo's house from Japan. 
    Japanese embassy officials and government spokesmen were not immediately
available to give further details on the request. 
    The government has blamed anti-Burma exile groups based in Japan for
masterminding the bomb attack which killed Tin Oo's eldest daughter Cho Lei
Oo on Sunday. 
   ``Initial investigation revealed that the terrorist bomb that exploded at
Lieutenant-General Tin Oo's residence on the evening of 6 April 1997 was
airmailed from Japan,'' said a government statement received late on Tuesday. 
    ``There are reasons to believe that the bomb plot was masterminded by
some anti-Myanmar (Burma) government groups within Japan which have resorted
to acts of terrorism.'' 
    Burmese dissidents in Japan on Wednesday denied the accusations, saying
the attack ran against the group's belief in peaceful protest. They said the
bombing was more likely linked to a power struggle among the country's
ruling generals. 
    Sources close to the family said Cho Lei Oo received a phone call asking
if the family had received a book-shaped package sent from Japan. 
    Shortly after that Cho Lei Oo, a 34 year old mother of two, opened the
package which exploded. 
    No one else was hurt in the explosion, the sources said. 
    Tin Oo, one of Burma's four most powerful generals, was at home but not
injured in the attack. 
    The bombing was thought to be the second attack on Tin Oo in the past
four months. Tin Oo, Secretary Two of the ruling State Law and Order
Restoration Council (SLORC) and Army Chief of Staff, was the last senior
official to visit a sacred Buddhist shrine before two bombs exploded on
December 25. 
    That bombing was blamed on an ethnic guerrilla group, which denied
responsibility. 
    Diplomats said Japan, whose aid of about $140 million a year makes it
the biggest donor to Burma, has significant influence with Burma's ruling
generals. 
    In the past Tokyo has obliquely criticised Rangoon's periodic crackdowns
on pro-democracy forces but held off from using aid as a lever to press for
democracy. 
    Tokyo balances pressure from businesses interested in resource-rich
Burma and officials who want to increase Japanese influence in Rangoon
against calls to join Western countries in pushing for improved human rights
in Asia.
********************