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Armed Men Enter Myanmar Embassy
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<font size=3D5><b>Armed Men Enter Myanmar Embassy <br>
</font></b><font size=3D3><i>By Busaba Sivasomboon<br>
</i>Associated Press Writer<br>
Friday, Oct. 1, 1999; 3:12 a.m. EDT <br>
BANGKOK, Thailand A dozen men armed with assault rifles and hand
grenades stormed into the Myanmar Embassy today, seizing hostages and
then negotiating with Thai police, officers said. <br>
At least one shot was heard from within the building, and a Thai
businessman standing outside the embassy said five shots were heard
earlier. <br>
The identity of the men was not known, said police who surrounded the
building located along a major road in downtown Bangkok. <br>
A police officer, who asked not to be identified, said an embassy
security guard told them that a dozen armed men broke into the building
after posing as foreigners wanting to apply for visas to Myanmar, also
known as Burma. <br>
The Thai security guard, Tanomsak Artdej, was struck in the head as the
group, some armed with M-16 rifles, charged into the embassy. He was
released from a hospital after treatment. <br>
Gen. Pornsak Durongkavibul, the deputy head of Thailand's national police
force, was negotiating with the men by telephone. More than 100 police,
including SWAT teams and police dogs, surrounded the embassy compound.
<br>
The embassy is the site of frequent protests by Myanmar students and
other exiles opposed to the military regime in their country. <br>
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=A9 Copyright 1999 The Associated Press <br>
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