Kort nyt: Rygter om kup i Burma (Myanmar) afvist som usande
Skrevet af Webmaster d. 26/08-2005 klokken 03:16:44
Thailands premierminister Thaksin Shinawatra har ved en pressekonference afvist at rygter om et kup i Burma (Myanmar) skulle være sande.
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«We have received confirmation from all sources that the rumor of a coup is not true. The rumor was spread by some faction, but it is not true,» Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra told a news conference in the Thai capital Bangkok. He did not elaborate.
Rumors of an alleged coup spread across Myanmar over the past two days, weakening the national currency and pushing up the price of gold, local businesspeople said.
Rumors that ruling junta chairman Sr. Gen. Than Shwe was deposed by his deputy, Gen. Maung Aye, and a group of military leaders spread rapidly after a story Tuesday night on the British Broadcasting Corp.s Burmese program, quoting a resident on the Myanmar-China border.
The person told the BBC that Than Shwe was forced to retire by army Commander in Chief Maung Aye because of «nepotism and corruption.»
The government has not officially denied the rumor, but an official close to a high-ranking military leader who demanded anonymity said Wednesday that the «news was absolutely untrue.»
«This rumor is still a rumor,» the foreign minister of neighboring Thailand, Kantathi Suphamongkhon, told reporters in Bangkok Wednesday. He said he is still planning to visit Myanmar as previously scheduled on Aug. 31-Sept. 1.
The U.S. dollar rose to 1,170 kyat on the black market Thursday from 1,150 kyat Tuesday because of the coup rumors, a black-market money changer said on condition of anonymity.
The official exchange rate for the kyat, which is non-convertible, is about 6 kyat per dollar, but most business transactions and consumer sales are conducted at the black-market rate. The government usually tolerates the unofficial exchange rate as the only realistic way of conducting trade.
«News about the alleged coup has also affected the price of gold on Wednesday. A tical of 24 carat gold (.525 troy ounce), which was 271,500 kyat (US$232), went up to 276,500 (US$236) today,» a gold-shop owner said.
News-starved citizens of Myanmar rely on foreign radio stations for the countrys current events. Because information is tightly restricted, rumors are frequent and tend to spread quickly.
Myanmars current junta came to power in 1988 after crushing a pro-democracy uprising. It refused to hand over power to Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyis party after its landslide election victory in 1990.
Former Prime Minister Gen. Khin Nyunt, also the former military intelligence chief, was ousted last October in a major junta shake-up.
In April 1992, former junta chairman Gen. Saw Maung was removed from office for «health reasons,» after which Than Shwe became chairman of the council.
In his press conference, Thaksin said democracy was making little headway in Myanmar and that he would urge its leaders to join the «club of democratic countries.»
«It (democracy) is very slow but whenever I meet them I will convince them to expedite the process. But it is really an internal affair,» he said. He noted that the two countries enjoyed very good relations and were cooperating on a number of issues, including suppression of narcotics.