Burma denies coup rumors but hints at Cabinet shuffle

Burma denies coup rumors but hints at Cabinet shuffle

January 28 (AP) - Burma denied Friday that a coup d'etat had taken place in the military-ruled country, but hinted at possible changes in the Cabinet.

"No, no, no," Myanmar Foreign Minister Nyan Win said, responding to questions about rumors of a leadership change that have swept the country's capital, Yangon, in recent days.

"It's all just rumors," he said with a laugh. "Everything there is fine."

Footage shown Friday night on Myanmar state television of the junta's top two leaders and Prime Minister Lt. Gen. Soe Win attending an official function together bolstered his assertion.

Diplomats in Yangon had said this week they were expecting Soe Win to lose his position, as unverifiable stories circulated of a power struggle that according to some accounts may have included a gunfight among the country's military rulers.

The three men at the center of the speculation _ junta chief Senior Gen. Than Shwe, second-ranking Gen. Maung Aye and Soe Win _ were shown on the first report of the evening news attending a meeting in Yangon with ethnic minority students.

The rumors of a shake-up had been fueled by an extended absence of reports in the state media until Friday about Soe Win's activities.

Thaung Tun, director general of the Myanmar foreign ministry's political department, also said his country's situation was stable. He and Nyan Win were in Thailand to attend a conference on a proposed Indian Ocean tsunami warning system.

"In every country there are changes in the Cabinet," Thaung Tun said without elaborating. "We do things in a measured way. Everything is normal."

Adding to the sense of political unease in Myanmar had been the unexplained death of Lt. Col. Bo Win Tun, the personal assistant to Gen. Maung Aye.

Although it is widely believed that he took his own life, for reasons unknown, a report by the opposition Democratic Voice of Burma radio station, based in Norway, suggested he died in a shootout.

Earlier Friday, Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said political tension had erupted among leaders in neighboring Myanmar, but that no coup had taken place.

"I was informed that there is political tension in Myanmar," said Thaksin, who added that the information was confusing and still being checked.

"There is tension and conflict but not at the level of a coup d'etat."

Myanmar's former prime minister, Gen. Khin Nyunt, was ousted last October and replaced by Soe Win.

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