ENGLISH DEYEA NEWS

By MIN LWIN : Burma’s military regime has announced a reshuffle of two cabinet positions and the appointment of the navy’s commander in chief to a ministerial post.

Rangoon-based military sources said that the move was unusual, and could signal further changes.

State-run radio and television announced on Friday that the regime reshuffled Maj-Gen Maung Maung Swe, Maj-Gen Saw Lwin, and Vice Admiral Soe Thein.

Maung Maung Swe will continue to act as the minister for social welfare, relief and resettlement, but will no longer head the ministry of immigration and population. He previously held both positions.

The change was apparently made to allow him to concentrate on relief and resettlement efforts in the wake of Cyclone Nargis, which struck May 2-3. Maung Maung Swe has been responsible for coordinating with UN officials and diplomats in cyclone relief work.

Saw Lwin will take over as minister of immigration and population, leaving his previous post as minister for industry (2). Soe Thein, the navy’s commander in chief, has been named the new minister for industry (2).

Military sources in Rangoon said that Soe Thein’s previous position as navy commander would likely be filled by Maj-Gen Nyan Tun. However, the Burmese regime does not usually announce military appointments.

Some analysts have suggested that Soe Thein was relieved of his military post because the junta’s top leaders were disappointed with his handling of the situation in the Irrawaddy delta following Cyclone Nargis.

According to military sources, Vice Sen Gen Maung Aye, the second-most powerful member of the ruling junta, visited the delta and reprimanded several army and navy officers for their slow response to the crisis.

The sources added that both Maung Aye and Sen Gen Than Shwe, the regime’s top general, were unhappy with the navy’s failure to respond to the presence of French and American naval vessels off the Burmese coast at the height of the crisis.

Meanwhile, there are rumors circulating in Rangoon that another high-ranking general, Lt-Gen Ye Myint, may soon lose his position as head of the Bureau of Special Operations (1) following a quarterly meeting of senior military leader at the regime’s capital, Naypyidaw.

Well-informed sources in Rangoon said they expect Lt-Gen Ye Myint to be forced to leave because of allegations that his son, Aung Zaw Ye Myint, was involved in drug trafficking.

Police raided Aung Zaw Ye Myint’s office in Rangoon’s Kyeemyindaing Township on May 29 and arrested him on charges of trafficking narcotics, according to sources.

Maung Waik, a close business associate of several members of the junta, was also brought in for questioning in late May. According to a former business partner, Maung Waik’s interrogation was related to Aung Zaw Ye Myint’s case.

A military source said that Ye Myint was attempting to exert pressure on Rangoon’s military command and police force to release his son.

“Aung Zaw Ye Myint’s sister told me that if the authorities imprisoned her brother, the family would leak information about drug abuse and corruption by family members of other top military leaders,” said the source, a close family friend of Aung Zaw Ye Myint.