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"destructionist elements"



Burma "destructionists" set off small bomb
    RANGOON, July 3 (Reuter) - Burma's military government said
on Wednesday "destructionists" were responsible for a bomb
attack on a propaganda billboard opposite the U.S. embassy in
central Rangoon but the small device caused only minor damage.
    The bomb, planted at the base of the billboard, caused no
injuries and failed to topple the signboard but damaged an
adjacent wall, state-run television reported.
    "Destructionist elements trying to undermine peace and
stability of the state and trying to hinder and jeopardise
national development caused a small explosion... with the aim of
causing public fear," the television said.
    The "destructionist elements" were not identified but it is
a term used by the government to describe all opposition
including democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her National
League for Democracy (NLD) party, as well as ethnic minority
guerrillas fighting for autonomy.
    The sign was put up on June 9 and carried slogans in English
saying it was the "peoples' desire" to "oppose those relying on
external elements, acting as stooges, holding negative views".
    The billboard, across a street from the U.S. mission, also
said it was the desire of the people to "oppose foreign nations
interfering in the internal affairs of the state" and called on
the people to "crush all internal and external destructive
elements as the common emeny".
    Officials at the U.S. embassy were not immediately available
for comment.
    There have been no bomb attacks in Rangoon for more than
five years although the government blamed Karen guerillas for a
blast on the railway line between Rangoon and Burma's second
city Mandalay in late May which left nine people dead.
    The autonomy-seeking Karen guerrilla army, which opened
peace talks with the government late last year, denied
responsibilty for the attack.
    The Burmese government has erected propaganda billboards
throughout the country, most of them in the Burmese language.
    Political tension in Burma increased in May after Suu Kyi
called a meeting of her NLD and more than 250 party members were
arrested in an unsuccessful attempt to stop the gathering.
    Suu Kyi, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 for her
peaceful campaign for democracy, has since then been regularly
attacked as a "stooge of foreigners" and a "destructionist" in
the state-run media.
 REUTER
1557 030796 GMT