Burmese government condemns U.S.-fu

[brelief@xxxxxxx]

Burmese government condemns U.S.-funded Radio Free Asia
Copyright   1998 Nando.net
Copyright   1998 The Associated Press 

BANGKOK, Thailand (January 29, 1998 2:43 p.m. EST http://www.nando.net) 

-- Burma rebuked U.S.-funded Radio Free Asia on Thursday, accusing it of
airing "astonishingly fictitious" reports about corruption in Burma's
military regime.

Radio Free Asia reported this week that several generals ousted in a recent
government shake-up had been arrested and tons of gold bars had been found
in their homes.

It said one, Tun Kyi, was responsible for a parcel bomb sent last year to
the home of Gen. Tin Oo, the fourth-ranking general in the government. The
bomb killed his adult daughter, but did not harm the general.

The government has denied any of its former generals are under arrest, but
none have been seen in public since the shake-up. Tun Kyi's daughter also
fled to Bangkok last week.

The Radio Free Asia report also said that former dictator Ne Win, who
stepped down in 1988 after 26 years of iron rule, intervened to prevent a
coup in Rangoon last month.

A statement released on the Internet by the military government said the
radio's report was "heavily spiced with fabrications, exaggerations and
total untruth."

Asked for comment, RFA President Richard Richter said Thursday in
Washington, D.C., "We stand behind the story. It comes from several sources."

Most political analysts in Burma agree that the reason for the government
shuffle was to rid the regime of corrupt generals whose ill-gotten wealth
had become too conspicuous.

Radio Free Asia, funded by the U.S. government, is popular inside Burma,
where newspapers are controlled by the military government.

Burma's military government has been condemned by the United Nations and
most Western countries for it suppression of the democracy movement led by
Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, for human rights violations and
for alleged failure to fight the drug trade.
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