Than Shwe: The military’s hardman

BURMA’S strongman Than Shwe heads one of the world’s most secretive regimes.

He was born in central Burma in February 1933 when the country was under British control. Than Shwe worked as a postal clerk before joining the army in 1953.

He rose through the ranks to become military supremo with the official title “Senior General” in 1992 after his predecessor, General Saw Maung, retired on health grounds.