Burma's ex-dictator dies at 91
General Ne Win, Burma’s former military dictator, who dragged his country from near prosperity to poverty during his 26 years in power, died today under house arrest, family members said. He was 91.
The family members said he died in his lakeside villa in Rangoon, where he had been kept confined along with his daughter since March 7, following the arrest of his three grandsons and son-in-law on charges of attempting to overthrow the military government.
No other details of the circumstances of his death were immediately available.
Once a powerful figure, Ne Win’s enormous behind-the-scenes clout began to wane a few years ago, and he stood totally discredited earlier this year with the arrest of his relatives.
Because of that Ne Win’s death was not expected to change the balance of power in the secretive junta, analysts said.
“I don’t think it will make much difference. Sadly, there could be many more Ne Wins in Burma,” said Aung Zaw, a dissident who publishes a pro-democracy magazine from neighbouring Thailand.
“He had charisma. Compared with the current leaders, he was a heavyweight,” Aung Zaw said in Bangkok.
Ne Win’s son-in-law – Aye Zaw Win, 54, the husband of Ne Win’s daughter Sandar Win, and the couple’s three sons – Aye Ne Win, 25, Kyaw Ne Win, 23, and Zwe Ne Win, 21 – were sentenced to death on September 26 after being convicted of treason on the coup charges. They have appealed against the verdict.
The government claimed the family was upset at losing privileges as Ne Win’s influence declined.
A barbed wire fence that had blocked the road to his house since his arrest was opened slightly today, creating enough place for cars to go through. But the road was deserted except for three soldiers standing near the barricade.
There was no sign of unusual activity at the house either. Funeral arrangements were not immediately known, and the government did not make any announcement.
Ne Win had suffered a heart attack in September 2001 and had a pacemaker attached. He was last seen in public in good health on March 21, 2001 when he offered lunch to 99 Buddhist monks and more than 500 friends, most of them his socialist-days cronies.
Ne Win was at the forefront of Burma’s struggle for independence from Britain, which was achieved in 1948. He seized power in a bloodless coup in 1962, starting an era of authoritarianism that would sully his reputation as a national hero.
He also achieved notoriety as a playboy and reclusive eccentric. A deep belief in numerology prompted him once to issue banknotes in 45 and 90 kyat denominations because the numbers were divisible by his lucky number, nine.
He retired from politics in 1988, just before a popular uprising for democracy triggered by his quarter century of misrule, that catapulted Aung San Suu Kyi, the daughter of the late independence hero Gen Aung San, to political prominence.
Thousands of civilian protesters were gunned down in the military crackdown that followed and many more fled into exile. Burma is still viewed by the West as a pariah state.
Since October 2001, the regime and Suu Kyi have held closed-door talks, resulting in some releases of political prisoners. But as neither side has revealed the substance of the discussions, many observers remain sceptical they can achieve political reconciliation.
