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[HCDX] Burmese Media Denies Reports of Mutiny, Attacks BBC
Burmese Media Denies Reports of Mutiny, Attacks BBC
By WAI MOE Saturday, January 23, 2010
http://www.irrawaddy.org/print_article.php?art_id=17647
Burma's state-run media slammed the BBC Burmese Service on Saturday
for reporting alleged cases of mutiny in Pegu Division, saying that the ruling
regime would "never accept any scheme to break up the Tatmadaw
[Burmese armed forces]."
In commentaries run in both Burmese and English, state-run newspapers
accused the BBC of fabricating a series of reports of unrest within the ranks
of the military that have been broadcast by the BBC's shortwave radio
service over the past month.
Low-ranking soldiers in Rangoon
"Since the last week of December 2009, the BBC has been airing
slanderous accusations with the aim of disintegrating the Tatmadaw," the
state-run New Light of Myanmar claimed.
"In fact, the story put in the Internet including the broadcasting of BBC is a
complete fabrication. At the respective regiments and battalions, there was
no mutiny, resignation and discontentment."
Since Dec. 23, the BBC's Burmese-language service has reported several
cases of mutiny involving troops from Light Infantry Division (LID) 66,
based in Prome, western Pegu Division; LID 77, based in Hmawbi and
Pegu; and Military Affairs Security (formerly known as the Military
Intelligence Service).
According to BBC correspondent U Than, who is based in Sangkhlaburi,
Thailand, a number of people were killed or injured in exchanges of gunfire
or during mass resignations of soldiers resulting from economic hardship.
In response, the state media said: "Although we want the Tatmadaw to be
strong and firm, we have noticed that there are still some wicked, narrow-
minded people who want to see it become weak and break up."
"It is crystal clear that skyful liers [sic] made their fabricated news and
stories as they are instructed by their stooges inside the country to break up
the unity of the Tatmadaw and divide it."
A resident of Prome, where one of the incidents allegedly took place, said
he could not confirm the reports of mutiny. "But it is true that like most
Burmese people, Tatamadaw soldiers are suffering economic hardships,"
he said.
The gap between ordinary soldiers and officers in terms of salary and
opportunities is quite huge. Ordinary soldiers earn just 16,000 kyat (US
$16) a month, while the lowest-ranking officers get more than ten times that
amount.
Observers say the downfall of the Burmese military regime will probably
come from conflict within the Tatadaw rather than from political opposition
or any external threat.
According to the influential Economist Intelligence Unit, "Perhaps the
biggest threat to the junta´s long-term grip on power is internal strife."
Following an information leak to the media about secret military ties
between Burma and North Korea, dozens of military and civilian officials in
Naypyidaw were detained and interrogated. A former major, Win Naing
Kyaw, and a staffer of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs were sentenced to
death for the leak, while another person involved in the case received a
long prison sentence.
Recently the military junta reshuffled six general staff officers from the War
Office to the front lines. Some suspect the reshuffle was related to the
information leak.
Although the BBC Burmese Service first broadcast its reports about the
mutiny among Burmese troops on Dec. 23, the Burmese state media didn't
respond until Saturday.
Journalists in Rangoon said that the government media published the
response to the BBC reports because the reports have been spreading
among Burmese troops across the country.
"True or not, the BBC reports have begun to spread within the Tatmadaw
and across the country," said an editor with a Rangoon-based journal who
spoke on condition of anonymity.
"The ruling generals don't care what civilians think, but they're worried
about what soldiers think. That's why they responded," he added. "This
story in today's newspapers is definitely aimed at soldiers."
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http://tinyurl.com/5vzg7e
Please read my article on SINPO at http://tinyurl.com/yt7qjd
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