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Junta hints, next target will be th



Subject: Junta hints, next target will be the Hindus


Burmese junta sees a foreign hand behind violence

Rangoon, March 23: Burma's ruling military urged people not to fall prey 
to religiousand racial conflict as reports circulated on Sunday of 
attacks against Muslim sites in the capital.

In an apparent reference to recent anti-Mualim riots in the country's 
second largest city,Mandalay, Leiutenant General Tin Oo claimed internal 
and external destructionists were trying to incite religious conflict and 
sow disunity within the country.

Lt. Gen. Tin Oo, a senior member of the ruling junta, spoke on Saturday 
as a group of Buddhist monks attacked a mosque in the north-eastern 
Rangoon suburb of Yankin, according to reports reaching Bangkok.

The attack, and another in the near by Kaba Aye area, could not be 
officially confirmed. The second incident involved either another mosque 
or the ransacking of a house owned by Muslims. Although more military 
presence was evident on the streets of Rangoon and other cities, 
observers said troop deployment was normally increased before the Annual 
Armed Forces' Day, which will be remarked on Thursday.

According to the government and Mandalay residents, the initial rioting 
was sparked last on Sunday by the rape of a Buddhist girl by a Muslim 
man. Monks and others vandalised mosques and Muslim- owned homes and 
cars. A similar riot on Tuesday was quelled when security forces fired 
over the heads of demonstrators. Tight security was imposed on Mandalay 
but the city, located 700 Km north of Rangoon, was reported quiet over 
the weekend.

The eruption of violence between Buddhists and Muslims in Burma is the 
result of long simmering frustration against a ruling junta combined with 
historical animosities, analysts say.

Burmeas authorities have blamed the violent incidents on individuals 
trying to sow instability in Burma, but observers say the monks singled 
out Muslims for attack since they were unable to express their rage 
against the junta.

 " It is my firm belief that their next target will be 
the Hindus if problems between Buddhists and ( Moslems)... do not (meet) 
their expectations," said one military intelligence official.The official 
said the monks had been trying to scupper Burma's attempt to become a 
full member of the Asean by alienating the grouping's Muslims countries.
Asean countries are Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia with the Philippines, 
Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Analysts in Rangoon agree that sinking Burma's Asean membership might be 
the objective behind the attacks. The monks may be trying to "put a spoke 
into Asen membership," one diplomat said. However, they also suggest that 
Buddhist monks merely chose an easy target on which to vent their anger 
against the authorities.  

The Asian Age (New Delhi)