Myanmar arrests activist involved in 2005 bombings

Myanmar's military government said Wednesday it had arrested a suspect in a series of bombings that killed 23 in the capital last year.

Photo: Myanmar arrests activist involved in 2005 bombings

Information Minister Brig. Gen. Kyaw Hsan said in a statement that authorities arrested a 27-year-old man named Yunod as he tried to enter Myanmar on Feb 5. It was the first publicly announced arrest linked directly to the May bombing.

Speaking Tuesday at a press conference in the northern city of Lashio, Kyaw Hsan said Yunod, also known as Aung Cho Oo, was a "terrorist" with a Thailand-based anti-government group called the Network for Democracy and Development.

Yunod, who also attended the conference according to the statement, said he had gathered information about security conditions in Yangon but had been unaware of any bombing plans.

The bombings at two supermarkets and a convention center in Yangon killed 23 people and injured more than 160.

No one claimed responsibility but the junta blamed major ethnic rebel groups, exiled pro-democracy politicians who have formed a government-in-exile, and dissident student groups led by the Thailand-based All Burma Students Democratic Front. The Network for Democracy and Development was also implicated.

The groups all denied involvement.

Kyaw Hsan also said that two members of the All Burma Students Democratic Front have been arrested in the northwestern border town of Tamu for two explosions last month at a busy weekend market that injured two people, reports the AP.

I.L.