FORMER SLORC MINISTER DIES

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Media Release
November 17, 1998

                                    
           FORMER SLORC AGRICULTURE & IRRIGATION MINISTER DIES

Former Minster for Agriculture and Irrigation of the State Law
and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) Lt. General Myint Aung died
in Rangoon on November 15, exactly a year after he was ousted
from the post for corruption, according to sources in Rangoon.

General Myint Aung served in the Burmese army as the Commander of
the Northwestern Military Region, which includes Burma's
Irrawaddy Division. He belonged to a group of high-ranking
military officers known to have taken a hard-line stance against
opposition groups, particularly the National League for
Democracy.  At this stage the cause of his death is not known.

Foreign Affairs Secretary of the All Burma Students Democratic
Front, Aung Naing Oo, said that the funeral of General Myint Aung
is likely to be shunned by many people, including the general's
former comrades-in-arms.

"When General Sein Aung, who was removed along with General Myint
Aung, died in January this year, his funeral was not attended by
any of his former colleagues. This is the status of many
high-ranking army officers who have played important roles in
suppressing pro-democracy groups. General Myint Aung, for
instance, was responsible for the deaths of many innocent Karen
civilians in Irrawaddy Division, in response to an offensive by
the Karen National Union in 1991."

General Myint Aung graduated from Burma's Officers Training
School in 1955. He became the commander of Burma's Division 44 in
1979. In 1988 he was made Commander of the Northwestern Military
Region. After the 1988 uprising he became a member of the SLORC,
and in 1993 he was made Minister for Agriculture and Irrigation. 

General Myint Aung served in the SLORC cabinet until he was
ousted on November 15, 1997 along with 13 other high-ranking
officers and cabinet ministers because of their extreme
corruption.

All Burma Students' Democratic Front 

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