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Recent bombings across the country were plotted by youth members of the Karen National Union with someone else controlling them from behind the scenes, KNU central executive committee member Phadoh Mahn Nyein Maung told a press conference yesterday.
The KNU press conference, held at Myanmar Peace Centre (MPC), was also attended by fellow executive committee member Phadoh Saw Shwe Maung. A third committee member, Phadoh Saw Rodger Khin, had initially planned to attend but was not present.
The KNU delegation met with government representatives in Nay Pyi Taw on Saturday and held a press conference yesterday after meeting with the youths arrested by authorities in connection with the bomb blasts.
“Saw Myint Lwin is a former member of the KNU but he is not from a KNU armed group. He is only a local militiaman. He served for three or four years in the KNU. He is in his youth. He was forced to do this [plot the bombing] and has admitted as much,” said Phadoh Mahn Nyein Maung.
“What I want to emphasize here is that the plots were not arranged by the KNU. The plan was an emotional plot carried out by the lowest rank in the KNU. The public don’t assume that this is what the KNU want.”
While Saw Myint Lwin was a former local militiaman for the KNU, Nyein Maung added, the main suspect now on the run is Saw Nay Toe, who is a township business supervisor for KNU No.5 Battalion.
“They went to religious buildings for the plan and they thought about planting a bomb at Shwe Dagon Pagoda on a Muslim religious day. We assume that they were intending a disturbance for political reasons. They wanted to stir up religious and racial tension and cause instability. Another thing is they wanted to destroy the peace process of the KNU,” he continued.
They also went twice to Bagan to plant a bomb at Ananda Pagoda, he said, quoting the driver who took the bomb plotters to Bagan.
“We haven’t found out yet who the people are behind the plot, but we have concluded that the youths have been used for other purposes. We will continue to investigate and cooperate with the government,” he said.
The KNU representative added that it is not unusual for organizations such as his to have internal disagreements on strategy. Most organizations experience such rifts.
“No organization can control the entire organization, any more than the government can prevent bribery or control law and order. There are more than a few of us [in the KNU] who don’t obey the central body. I’m just being honest here. In every organization, some believe in the overall political direction and some don’t. I think it is normal for every organization,” said Nyein Maung.
The KNU will take action against its members if they are involved in the plan, he said, adding that his organization apologizes to all people who have suffered from the bombings even though the plan was not hatched by the KNU.
Neyin Maung did not directly answer questions regarding the government’s accusation that the KNU plotted the blasts, preferring to point out that the government has also been involved in a forty-year battle with Mon ethnic armed groups.
The KNU decided to hold the press conference after the government said that the suspects who planted the bombs in Taungoo, Yangon, Mandalay, Sagaing and Shan State had connections with the KNU.
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