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Bomb Kills 4 in Rangoon Shrine
- Subject: Bomb Kills 4 in Rangoon Shrine
- From: waterly@xxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 26 Dec 1996 11:29:00
Bomb Kills 4 in Rangoon Shrine
Thursday, December 26, 1996 7:18 am EST
RANGOON, Burma (AP) -- A bomb exploded near a Buddhist shrine
popular with pilgrims and leaders of the military regime while
investigators were examining damage from a blast two hours
earlier.
Four people were killed.
There were no casualties in the first explosion in the
Maha Pasana
cave, where thousands pay homage daily to a relic believed
to be one
of Buddha's teeth.
But the second blast Wednesday night killed four people
and injured
18. The man-made cave next to the Kaba Aye pagoda, eight
miles north
of Rangoon, was filling with pilgrims at the time, the
official
newspaper New Light of Myanmar reported today.
It was not clear how many people were inside. The dead
included a
Red Cross worker, a member of the military junta's
security forces and
two people in a civilian organization linked to the
government,
according to the newspaper. All of the victims were
believed to be
Burmese.
A monk and five pilgrims were among the injured, the
newspaper said.
Lt. Gen. Tin Oo, third in command of the ruling State Law
and Order
Restoration Council, had visited the shrine just three
hours before the
first explosion. After the second explosion, the cave was
closed.
Security was tight today, but worshipers were allowed to
pray 50
yards away at the pagoda.
The second bomb was believed to have been hidden in a vase.
No claim of responsibility was mentioned in the newspaper
report, but
it said the government blamed ``dastardly, destructive
elements with
extremely wicked and ruthless intent to harm the
friendship between
China and Myanmar.'' Myanmar is another name for Burma.
China, Burma's closet ally and chief supplier of weapons,
lent the tooth
relic to Burma. Security was stepped up today around the
Chinese
ambassador's home and official Chinese offices.
Burmese government officials were not available for
comment. The
newspaper's language was similar to that usually used to
describe
pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's party and alleged
communist guerrillas that the regime blames for whipping
up student
unrest.
Suu Kyi won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 for her non-violent
democracy campaign, and her supporters eschew violence. The
communist party in Burma disintegrated in 1989.
The government has cracked down this month on student
protesters
demanding more civil liberties. The student demonstrations
marked the
biggest street unrest since the regime gunned down
thousands of
pro-democracy marchers in 1988.
The Chinese Embassy issued a statement condemning ``this
terrorist
action.''
``The bomb attacks on the sacred shrine killing and
injuring the
innocent people blaspheme the Buddha and go against the
will of the
people,'' the statement read.
The tooth was not damaged, New Light of Myanmar said. It
is believed
to be one of two teeth remaining since the Buddha's death
2,500 years
ago.
When the tooth arrived in Burma on Dec. 6, it was taken to
the cave in
a chariot drawn by an elephant replete with regalia in the
style of
Burma's ancient kingdom.
Those killed Wednesday were not identified beyond their
ties with the
government and, in one case, the Red Cross. The
international Red
Cross pulled out of Burma in 1995 because it was being
denied access
to political prisoners.
The bombing was the first reported in Burma since July 3,
when a
bomb exploded in a park near the U.S. Embassy beneath a
billboard
denouncing Burma's pro-democracy movement. No one was injured.
State media blamed ``destructionists,'' a term used to
refer to Suu Kyi's
movement.