Coup Leader Named Premier of Burma

Gen. Saw Maung on Wednesday became Burma’s fourth head of government in two months. State radio said he was named prime minister by the nine-member governing council, appointed the day before and made up primarily of his military cronies. He also holds the defense and foreign affairs portfolios.

Demonstrators demanding democracy and a halt to 26 years of authoritarian rule stayed off the streets Wednesday for the second day during the crackdown by the new military regime.

Troops killed 67 people, wounded 34 and arrested 100 “in the course of the government’s law and order restoration work” in Rangoon and three other areas Tuesday and Wednesday, government spokesman Kyaw San told reporters. The government said troops have killed more than 140 civilians since the hard-line Saw Maung ousted the civilian president on Sunday.

Kyaw San said he had no knowledge of a rumored sweep by authorities against student leaders who spearheaded the pro-democracy protests.

The latest tally brought the official death toll since Sunday’s coup to 144. But some Western diplomats in Rangoon believe at least 400 people have been killed in the Burmese capital alone, many when troops opened fire on largely unarmed protesters Monday.

“At Rangoon General Hospital, there were 200 corpses on Monday night and that was only one hospital,” said one diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“There doesn’t seem to be any end to the cycle of violence that has been going on since March,” said a Western diplomatic source in Bangkok, Thailand.

The government spokesman listed eight separate incidents in Rangoon during a 20-hour period beginning Tuesday morning in which 57 people died as troops broke up mobs looting government warehouses and a biscuit factory.

Office, Patrol Attacked

Nine more people died when security forces beat back attacks on a local government office in Mudon and a patrol in Mandalay, Kyaw San said. Another death was reported in a clash between security forces and a mob in the southern city of Mergui.

Pro-democracy demonstrators who have filled Rangoon by the hundreds of thousands in recent weeks stayed off the streets Tuesday and Wednesday, residents reported.

All major markets remained closed. Small food stores and roadside shops were open.

Troops conducted house-to-house searches in the heart of Rangoon on Wednesday after a nighttime attack against City Hall and the main government administration, residents and officials said. No casualties were reported.

A government release said a “group of people” attacked the two buildings with an M-79 grenade launcher and automatic weapons and fled after security forces returned fire.

Saw Maung, 59, is known as a loyal follower of strongman Ne Win, who seized power in 1962 and instituted a repressive, military-backed system that turned resource-rich Burma into one of the world’s poorest nations.

After Ne Win resigned in late July, the government was led for 17 days by former military officer Sein Lwin, who was succeeded by civilian President Maung Maung.

Maung Maung gave in to opposition demands to hold elections and allow a multi-party system. The sticking point was the opposition demand for an interim government to ensure a fair vote. Maung Maung was removed in Saw Maung’s coup.

Although Saw Maung also has promised multi-party elections, he has shown no signs of establishing an interim government.

Many observers believe Ne Win remains the supreme power in Burma and are skeptical about the promise of elections.

“It’s the same people running the country,” the Bangkok-based diplomat said. “They’re trying to buy time and hold on to power.”

Government administration remained virtually shut down as civil servants sympathetic to the pro-democracy protests stayed on strike. Authorities have ordered employees back on the job by Oct. 3, which is now viewed as a crucial deadline.