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Reuters-Arson suspected after fire



Subject: Reuters-Arson suspected after fire at holiest Myanmar site 

Arson suspected after fire at holiest Myanmar site
11:28 p.m. Apr 11, 1999 Eastern
YANGON, April 12 (Reuters) - A fire in Buddhist Myanmar's holiest religious
site at the weekend may have been deliberately set, the national news agency
reported on Monday.

Security officers discovered the blaze in the attic of the Shwedagon Pagoda
on Saturday afternoon and extinguished it before it spread, the Myanma News
Agency (MNA) said. MNA did not specify the extent of the damage.

The officers found the lock to the ceiling entrance broken and recovered
among other items four coils of gunpowder used in toy guns and a burnt reed
mat, MNA said.

``It is likely that someone entered the ceiling...and set it on fire,'' MNA
reported, adding the cause was still under investigation.

Built over 2,500 years ago, the Shwedagon Pagoda is one of the forgotten
wonders of the world. It is gilded with about four tons of gold and
decorated with thousands of diamonds, rubies, sapphires and other precious
stones.

The ruling military government recently launched repairs to the pagoda as
part of the first major renovation work in more than a century.

The sacred umbrella, or 'Htidaw', that crowns the pagoda's central stupa was
repaired and re-hoisted in a major ceremony from April 4-6.