
Myanmar's military leader puts in a rare appearance at event honoring Aung San Suu Kyi's father
BANGKOK (AP): The head of Myanmar's military government made a rare appearance at a ceremony on Saturday honoring General Aung San, an independence hero and father of jailed former leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
It was the first time that 69-year-old Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing attended the Martyrs' Day wreath-laying since the army ousted Suu Kyi and seized power in February 2021.
The leader's appearance comes as his embattled government is preparing to hold elections while fighting armed opposition groups across the country.
Martyrs' Day was an important event in Myanmar's calendar for decades, but the military has downplayed the holiday in recent years.
It commemorates the assassination of Aung San, a former Prime Minister who was gunned down at the age of 32 along with six Cabinet colleagues and two other officials in 1947, just months before the country - then called Burma - achieved freedom from British colonial rule.
A political rival, former Prime Minister U Saw, was tried and hanged for plotting the attack.
Suu Kyi, who was detained when the army took over in 2021, was absent from the event for a fifth consecutive year.
She is currently serving a 27-year prison term on what are widely regarded as contrived charges meant to keep her from political activity. She has not been seen in public since her arrest.
Ye Aung Than, a son of Suu Kyi's estranged older brother, laid a wreath in front of his grandfather's tomb during the main ceremony at the Martyrs' Mausoleum near the foot of the towering Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon.
With Myanmar national flags flying at half-staff, members of the ruling military council, and cabinet, as well as high-ranking military generals joined Min Aung Hlaing in placing a basket of flowers in front of the tombs of the nine martyrs.
As the ceremony was held, people in Yangon paid tribute to independence leaders by blaring car horns and sirens at 10:37 a.m., the time of the 1947 attack.
Democracy supporters also held scattered rallies in parts of the country that are not under military control.
The event comes five months before elections that the military has promised to hold by the end of this year.
The poll is widely seen as an attempt to legitimise the military's seizure of power through the ballot box and is expected to deliver a result that ensures the generals retain control.
The 2021 military takeover was met with widespread nonviolent protests, but after peaceful demonstrations were put down with lethal force, many opponents of military rule took up arms, and large parts of the country are now embroiled in conflict.
Since the army took power, 6,974 people including poets, activists, politicians and others have been killed, and 29,405 people have been arrested by the security forces, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, an independent organization that keeps detailed tallies of arrests and casualties linked to the nation's political conflicts.
The military government calls that figure an exaggeration.
The military, which is now estimated to control less than half the country, has been accelerating its counter-offensives to retake areas controlled by opposition groups ahead of the election. - AP

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


The Star
2 hours ago
- The Star
UK police on alert for immigration protests near London this weekend
Police patrol during an anti-immigration protest, in London, Britain, October 26, 2024. REUTERS/Chris J Ratcliffe LONDON (Reuters) -British police will have hundreds of officers on duty this weekend to deal with protests linked to immigration, a regional police chief said on Wednesday, amid worries over possible rioting. Ben-Julian Harrington said he was aware demonstrations were being advertised for Saturday and Sunday in Epping, in the county of Essex to London's northeast, after protests over the last week which resulted in violent disorder offences. "We'll have a robust policing operation. Essex is safe. You will have hundreds of officers on duty," Harrington, the Essex chief constable, told a press conference. The protests occurred outside the Bell Hotel in Epping, about 20 miles north of London, that has been used to house asylum seekers. Five men have been charged with incidents of violent disorder in recent days, after police made 10 arrests following damage to vehicles and protesters throwing projectiles that injured eight officers. The police alert follows nationwide rioting last summer when racist unrest involving far-right supporters broke out after false reports on social media that a suspect in the murder of three girls was a radical Islamist migrant. The anniversary of those murders in Southport is July 29. Essex Police's focus is on protecting communities while allowing peaceful protest to take place, Harrington said. The Epping hotel has become the focal point for some anti-immigration protesters and pro-immigration groups after an Ethiopian asylum seeker living there was charged with sexual assault, harassment and inciting a girl to engage in sexual activity. He denies the charges, according to a BBC report. The man had arrived in Britain by boat from northern Europe eight days before the alleged incident on July 7, the BBC said, adding he had been remanded in custody. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has pledged to stop thousands of migrants arriving in Britain via small boats, but is struggling to do so. Official data published earlier this month showed nearly 20,000 asylum seekers arrived on small boats in the first six months of the year, marking a record high for the period. (Reporting by Sarah Young; editing by Mark Heinrich)


The Star
2 hours ago
- The Star
Thailand recalls ambassador, expels Cambodian envoy in border row
BANGKOK: Thailand expelled the Cambodian ambassador on Wednesday (July 23) and recalled its own envoy, after a Thai soldier lost a leg in a landmine blast as a border dispute festers. Acting Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai said an investigation by the Thai military found evidence that Cambodia had laid new landmines in the disputed area. A long-running territorial row in an area known as the Emerald Triangle, where the borders of both countries and Laos meet, boiled over into military clashes in May that left one Cambodian soldier dead. Since then, the two sides have traded barbs and tit-for-tat retaliatory measures, with Thailand restricting border crossings and Cambodia halting certain imports. Five members of a Thai military patrol were wounded by the landmine on Wednesday afternoon in the Nam Yuen district of northeastern Ubon Ratchathani province, the Thai army said. In response, the government agreed to an army proposal to close a number of border checkpoints, he said in a statement to journalists. "It has also decided to downgrade diplomatic relations by recalling the Thai ambassador to Cambodia and expelling Cambodia's ambassador to Thailand," he said. The Thai army said in a statement that as well as the soldier who lost his leg, others suffered ear injuries and chest pain in the blast. The army chief will visit the wounded soldiers on Thursday. The border dispute has soured relations between Phnom Penh and Bangkok -- prompting the closure of border crossings, and Cambodia blocking imports of fuel and gas as well as fruit and vegetables from Thailand. It also kicked off a domestic political crisis in Thailand, where prime minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra has been suspended from office pending an ethics probe over her conduct during the row. A diplomatic call between Paetongtarn and Hun Sen, Cambodia's former longtime ruler and father of Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet, was leaked from the Cambodian side, sparking a judicial investigation. Last week, Hun Manet announced that Cambodia would start conscripting civilians next year, activating a long-dormant mandatory draft law. He said the tensions with Thailand meant conscription was needed, and the defence budget may also be increased. - AFP


The Sun
3 hours ago
- The Sun
Tunisia leader shows Trump adviser images of starving Gaza children
TUNIS: Tunisian President Kais Saied met with US envoy Massad Boulos, senior Africa adviser to former President Donald Trump, and showed him photographs of starving children in Gaza. The official video of their meeting, released late Tuesday, captured the emotional exchange. Saied told Boulos, who is also the father-in-law of Trump's daughter Tiffany, that 'it is time for all of humanity to wake up and put an end to these crimes against the Palestinian people.' He added, 'I believe you know these images well,' while displaying a photograph of what he described as 'a child crying, eating sand in occupied Palestine.' The Tunisian leader presented multiple images, emphasizing that Palestinians in Gaza were enduring crimes against humanity. Israel faces growing international criticism over the worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where over two million people have suffered through 21 months of conflict. 'It is absolutely unacceptable,' Saied said as Boulos stood silently, occasionally nodding. 'It is a crime against all of humanity.' More than 100 aid organizations recently warned of 'mass starvation' spreading across Gaza, with medical staff reporting that 21 children had died from malnutrition in just three days. Israel maintains that aid is reaching Gaza but accuses Hamas of exploiting civilian suffering, including by diverting food supplies. After his visit to Tunisia, Boulos traveled to Tripoli, Libya, according to Tunisian media reports. - AFP