Caption: Myanmar – 27 Mar 1994. This picture was taken on Armed Forces Day in the capital during a freak deluge. No rain had been recorded on that day in 130 years. At left is Army Chief and Vice Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council General Maung Aye. Regarded as a hardliner, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer in early 2003. Second left is Lt-General Khin Nyunt, head of Military Intelligence and Secretary 1 in the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), formerly the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC). Third from left is Lt-General Tin Oo, or ‘Secretary 2’, a hardliner and fourth most powerful general in the Burmese junta. As Army Chief of Staff, he was regarded as a hardliner who occasionally made rabid speeches against what he considered to be opposition elements. He died aged 67 on 19 February 2002 after his Russian-made MI-17 helicopter crashed shortly after takeoff into the Salween River. There were rumours of a fight on board, but many still believe the accident was due to overloading and/or poor maintenance. Sitting to the right is Lt-General Myo Nyunt, Rangoon commander during the bloody suppression of pro-democracy demonstrations in the capital in 1988. This did not prevent him becoming Minister of Religious Affairs in the cabinet of the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC). He also served as Chairman of the National Convention Convening Commission until his retirement in 1997. The National Convention was an attempt by the ruling junta to convene a body for drafting a new constitution. Its purpose was to ignore the fact that a free and fair general election was won by the National League for Democracy in May 1990.

Credit: Dominic Faulder/OnAsia.com
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