Junta chief visits cyclone devastated delta twice in a row

by Mizzima News
Tuesday, 03 November 2009 14:43

Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – Burmese junta supremo Snr Gen Than Shwe is making yet another trip to Laputta and Mawlamyinekyun towns in cyclone devastated Irrawaddy delta on Tuesday.

Sources in the military establishment said, during the trip, the Than Shwe led team will spend a night in Bassein (Pathein) town, capital of the Irrawaddy division, and will return to Rangoon on Wednesday.

Colonel Thein Nyunt, who is also a senior member of the junta-backed Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA), is reportedly planning a grand reception for the Than Shwe led team.

On Monday a 32-member team led by Than Shwe paid a day’s visit to Bogale and Pyapone towns in the Irrawaddy delta in three helicopters but returned to Rangoon in the evening. Than Shwe’s delta trip has been planned since early October but was later cancelled and re-scheduled.

The members of the team were informed of the trip at the eleventh hour on October 30, the source said.

Than Shwe’s visit to the delta, coincides with the visit of United States’ Assistant Secretary of State, Kurt Campbell and US ambassador to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Scot Marciel to Burma.

The four-member US delegation, which on Tuesday morning arrived in Naypyitaw, will be meeting several junta officials including Minister for Information Brig-Gen Kyaw San and will spend the night in Burma’s new jungle capital.

According to the US embassy in Rangoon, the US delegation will arrive in Rangoon and meet the detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Wednesday morning. It will also have a press interaction including a photo session before departing from the country later in the evening.