Inner conflict between Gen Maung Ay

[MSoe9872@xxxxxxx]

Subject: Inner conflict between Gen Maung Aye & Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt

Dear netters, 
Here is infomation about inner conflict between Gen- Maung Aye & Lt-General
Khin Nyunt.

He is everywhere - and nowhere. Pictures and speeches of Lt.-Gen. Khin Nyunt
pepper the pages of The New Light of Myanmar. No major event takes place in 
his
country without him. It would be unthinkable for him not to be in any 
important
delegation going overseas. Every foreign dignitary that visits Yangon calls on
him. Yet few outside a small coterie in the ministry of defense really know
him. He is notoriously diffident and media-shy. At last month's ASEAN summit 
in
Manila, most people - even regional ministers - did not know he was there. But
ensconced in his 17th-floor suite in the Manila Hotel - plush digs for a
delegation whose country is mired in poverty - Khin Nyunt monitored every step
his people in Manila took. 

Given his elusive nature, it is no surprise that impressions of him vary. A
Western ambassador, whose government views the Yangon regime as the epitome of
evil, blithely gushes about how Khin Nyunt is "charming and perfectly
courteous." An Asian envoy calls him "a nice, intelligent man." Yet one of his
own entourage laments his impassive and aloof demeanor, and disparages him
"because he never smiles." Actually, he does, though it is a strained smile, 
as
if designed to dispel that image of a cold and calculating prince of darkness.
After all, he has been Myanmar's head spook since 1984 (when his former 
mentor,
the dictator Ne Win, appointed him chief of military intelligence). It's
natural that he defies categorization. Earlier this year pro-democracy leader
Aung San Suu Kyi told Asiaweek: "Military intelligence organizations go in for
torture and oppression and a whole lot of nastiness, so as somebody who
represents such an organization I suppose you can call Khin Nyunt all sorts of
things, but expressions like the 'prince of darkness' are rather too 
dramatic."


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More importantly, Khin Nyunt, 60, is a member - some say the key member - of
Myanmar's ruling military council. He goes by the Orwellian appellation
"Secretary-1," or simply "S-1."When it comes to policy-making and strategy,
Khin Nyunt calls the shots. Like many publicly tactiturn men, he is a great
talker in private, keen to expound on grand strategies. And the impassive tag
is misplaced, for when addressed he does not hide his feelings - beaming and
slapping his thigh at a subject he seeks to engage upon, or frowning in
irritation at a question he views as based on nonsensical rumor. His English
comprehension is good, but his speaking ability is poor, so he'll switch to
Burmese for most answers. Insiders say he is a control freak, insisting that
ministers consult first with him, rather than report directly to the cabinet.
He carries this suspicious trait into his private life. At a recent bash in 
one
of Myanmar's new hotels, the European host had prepared an elegant traditional
dish for S-1, only to see it rudely carved up and tasted by aides for possible
poisoning. 

Khin Nyunt is known as a workaholic. He certainly has his work cut out
balancing the views of his more forceful and isolationist colleagues around 
the
powerful army head Gen. Maung Aye and the growing ranks of reformist young
officers who want to see Myanmar open up faster and embrace modern technology.
There is talk that Khin Nyunt's own job is on the line as the alleged power
struggle with Maung Aye intensifies. It's said that when the aging Ne Win 
dies,
Khin Nyunt will lose his greatest source of protection and may be sidelined.
Others maintain that he is the man who keeps the junta afloat. This being
Myanmar, one guess is as good as another. 

Born in the town of Kyauktan, 12 km south of Yangon, Khin Nyunt is married to
Dr. Khin Win Shwe; they have two sons and a daughter. One son is an army
officer, but the other, Dr. Ye Naing Win (also a medical doctor like his
mother), was bizarrely disowned last year by Khin Nyunt reportedly for 
marrying
a Singapore woman. S-1 takes his wife with him on most of his overseas trips.
In Manila on Nov. 29, Khin Nyunt met with Asiaweek to discuss a wide variety 
of
topics.