Burma junta alleges 'bomb plot'

By Jonathan Head
BBC South East Asia correspondent

Nineteen people died in blasts in Rangoon in May 2005

The military government in Burma has warned that opposition groups have sent more than 20 people into the country to bomb targets in three cities.

The statement in the official media accused exiled groups of planning the attacks in co-ordination with politicians inside Burma.

That is an apparent reference to the main opposition party, the NLD.

The military has stepped up criticism of the NLD, prompting speculation that it is about to ban the party.

As with all its previous charges against the opposition, Burma's ruling military council offered no evidence to back its claim that it is planning a wave of bombings.

But that hardly matters in a country where normal judicial procedures no longer exist, and where the government has retreated to a secretive new capital from which all visitors are banned.

The best guess as to why the military keeps making these statements is that it is preparing the population for a decision to ban the National League for Democracy.

Bomb mystery

The party barely functions any more, as its leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, remains under house arrest.

But banning it would clear the way for the military to write a new constitution, backed by parties it has either created or given its approval.

There has been a series of unexplained bombings in recent years, which the government has blamed on dissident groups exiled in Thailand. However, these claims seem unlikely.

The main group, the All Burma Students' Democratic Front, once attracted thousands of student volunteers, and received military training from ethnic rebel groups on the border. But it is now a shadow of its former self, and it denies involvement.

It seems just as likely that elements within the Burmese military itself may be behind the bombings, in an attempt to justify its continued authoritarian rule.