Hardliner replaces ‘moderate’ Burmese prime minister

BURMA’S secretive military regime has sacked its prime minister, seen as a relative pragmatist, and replaced him with a general who has taken a hard line in dealing with the country’s pro-democracy movement.

Neighbouring Thailand said PM general Khin Nyunt had been sacked and placed under house arrest on corruption charges.

But the Burmese military said he was “permitted to retire for health reasons” - a euphemism used in the past for the forced departure of cabinet members. The statement was signed by the junta’s supreme leader, Senior General Than Shwe.

The premier has been replaced by a top member of the ruling junta, Lieutenant General Soe Win.

The removal of Khin Nyunt could tilt the balance of power toward harder-line generals and further delay the stalled reconciliation process with the pro-democracy opposition.

Opposition leader, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi is currently under house arrest at her home in Rangoon.

Burma, also known as Myanmar, has been under military rule since 1962. The poor, isolated Southeast Asian nation has faced sanctions by western countries for years over its failure to introduce democratic reforms and to release Suu Kyi from house arrest.

The EU tightened its sanctions last week.

Human rights groups accuse Burma of violations including using political prisoners as slave labourers.

Pro-democracy protests led by Suu Kyi were bloodily suppressed in 1988 and Khin Nyunt was one of the younger generation of generals who assumed power.

In the past year, Khin Nyunt, also head of military intelligence, promoted what he called a road map toward democracy in UN-brokered contacts between the government and Suu Kyi’s party, the National League for Democracy. The talks went nowhere and critics accused the government of using stalling tactics.

Soe Win is believed to espouse a hard line against Suu Kyi’s movement and with foreign critics who favour democracy.

There were rumours in Burma that soldiers had raided military intelligence headquarters, which Khin Nyunt had long headed.

Khin Nyunt had been in an awkward position since last month, when regular army soldiers raided a checkpoint dominated by military intelligence officers. Large quantities of gold, jade and currency were seized.