Burma's military junta says it has identified a suspect wanted in two weekend bombings as a member of an exiled anti-government group, state media reported Tuesday.
Security cameras behind the Traders Hotel in Rangoon, the biggest city in Burma, filmed a man "carrying explosives" on Sunday evening before blasts went off in the area, The New Light of Myanmar reported.
A mini van damaged by a bomb blast in a street in Rangoon. (Photo: AFP)The newspaper reprinted a snapshot from the security camera, showing a blurry image of a man in a T-shirt and knee-length shorts holding what appears to be a small bag and another nondescript item.
Citing anonymous sources, the state-run newspaper said the man has been identified as a member of the exiled group, Vigorous Burma Student Warriors. The paper said the man went by the code name Storm, and had entered Burma after attending explosive training courses in an unnamed country.
Authorities appealed to the public for help in finding the suspect.
The second explosion on Sunday went off behind the luxurious Traders Hotel, about an hour after a blast nearby in downtown Rangoon.
The blasts were caused by explosives planted under cars and caused no injuries, the newspaper said.
Five armed students from the Vigorous Burmese Student Warriors were responsible for storming the Burma Embassy in Bangkok in October 1999. The group took 38 hostages to demand democracy in their country, also known as Burma. Thailand allowed them to fly to the border and disappear, angering Burma but ending the standoff without bloodshed.
Several exiled Burma dissident groups operate from neighboring Thailand.
Terrorism is rare in Burma, which has been under military rule since 1962.
A few small-scale bombings have occurred in recent years, which the government has blamed mostly on ethnic rebel groups seeking autonomy.
Earlier this month the country's state-run media warned that terrorists might plant bombs during next month's referendum on a long-awaited constitution.
Critics say the proposed constitution, which was drafted without any input from the opposition, is designed to ensure the military's grip on power.
The junta crushed peaceful pro-democracy protests led by Buddhist monks last September, sparking global outrage. The United Nations estimates that at least 31 people were killed and thousands more detained in the crackdown.
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