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YANGON : Myamar's top three generals were pictured smiling together in state media, in what observers said was a calculated attempt to quash rumours of a coup or struggle at the pinnacle of power.
Suspicion had swelled that political tension was once again boiling over in the secretive state just three months after the ouster of Prime Minister Khin Nyunt.
Last week Lieutenant Colonel Bo Win Tun, the personal assistant to Myanmar number two Deputy Senior General Maung Aye, died under mysterious circumstances and was given a military funeral.
Rumours swirled that he may have been assassinated, killed himself or died protecting Maung Aye, sparking talk of a power struggle resurfacing in Yangon.
Western diplomats had noted the recent disappearance from public view of new Prime Minister General Soe Win, which led to reports he may have been placed under house arrest or fled the city.
Saturday's state-run New Light of Myanmar and other newspapers published several photographs from the previous day depicting junta leader Senior General Than Shwe with Maung Aye and Soe Win.
All three were shown, together in some photographs, wearing military uniforms and attending an annual student ceremony in Yangon.
They were also pictured in traditional Burmese dress greeting the students at a banquet.
"This is a calculated effort to show things are in order and it's an indication that these rumours are pretty much quashed," one observer in Yangon told AFP.
Myanmar Foreign Minister Nyan Win, visiting the Thai island Phuket for a tsunami meeting, also reportedly dismissed speculation about the top brass.
"Prime Minister Soe Win is still in office and fine. He is not under house arrest like Khin Nyunt," the Nation newspaper quoted him as saying.
On Friday Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra told reporters "there has been some form of tension in Myanmar." He said he did not believe a coup had taken place but offered no details as to what may have happened.
- AFP
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