BREAKING NEWS: OIL TANKER BELONGING

[moe@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Subject: BREAKING NEWS: OIL TANKER BELONGING TO SPDC EXPLODES

Oil Tanker Explodes Near Thailand

 .c The Associated Press 18/10/99

  
BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) - In a suspected act of sabotage, an oil tanker
belonging to Myanmar exploded while at anchor near the country's tense
border with Thailand, police said today. 

The oil tanker exploded late Saturday just off the Myanmar coast, one mile
from Thailand. Two crewmen on the oil tanker died, and a cargo ship also was
destroyed, the Bangkok Post newspaper reported. 

Thai police at the nearby port of Ranong, 290 miles southwest of Bangkok,
arrested three Myanmar nationals five hours after the explosion. 

Police said the three were carrying dynamite and traveling in a boat in Thai
waters. They were charged with illegally crossing the Thai border and
possessing explosives. 

``These people accepted that they owned the dynamite but denied any
involvement in the oil tank explosion. We are detaining all of them for
investigation,'' said Major General Charoen Maneewong, commander of the
Ranong police. 

The incident comes at a time of bilateral tension: Myanmar's military regime
has blamed Bangkok for allowing anti-Myanmar ``terrorists'' to operate from
Thai territory. Officials from Myanmar, also known as Burma, were not
immediately available for comment on the explosion. 

AP-NY-10-18-99 0300EDT