Khin Nyunt
9th Prime Minister of Myanmar
In office 25 August 2003 – 18 October 2004
Leader	Than Shwe
Preceded by	Saw Maung
Succeeded by	Soe Win
Secretary 1 of the State Peace and Development Council
In office 1997 – 25 August 2003
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Thein Sein
Personal details
Born	(1939-10-11) 11 October 1939 (age 72) Syriam, British Burma
Nationality	Burmese
Spouse(s)	Khin Win Shwe
Children	Thin Le Le Win, Lt.-Col. Zaw Naing Oo, Dr. Ye Naing Win
Military service
Service/branch	Myanmar Army
Years of service	1960 - 2004
Rank	General

This article contains Burmese script. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Burmese script.

General Khin Nyunt (Burmese: ခင်ညွန့်; MLCTS: hkang nywan.; pronounced: [kʰɪ̀ɴ ɲʊ̰ɴ]; born 11 October 1939 in Kyauktan, Yangon Division) is an officer and politician in Myanmar. Khin Nyunt is of Burmese Chinese descent.^[1] He held the office of Chief of Intelligence and was Prime Minister from 25 August 2003 until 18 October 2004. He is married to Khin Win Shwe, a medical doctor, and father to a daughter, Thin Le Le Win, and two sons, Lieutenant Colonel Zaw Naing Oo and Dr. Ye Naing Win, who owns Bagan Cybertech, one of the few internet service providers available in Myanmar.^[2]

Khin Nyunt graduated from the 25th batch of the Officer’s Training School in 1960, after dropping out of Yankin College in the late 1950s.^[3]

After his career in the military, he was ordered back to Rangoon in 1984 after an attack on a visiting South Korean delegation which was visiting Burma at that time. 21 people, including three South Korean cabinet ministers, died during the attack, (Rangoon Bombing) which occurred on 9 October 1983 and was perpetrated by terrorists sent from North Korea.^[4] Khin Nyunt was then appointed Chief of Intelligence. From the mid-1980s to the late 1990s Khin Nyunt was considered to be a protégé of the late Ne Win, who supposedly retired from politics in July 1988 but who is thought to have continued to be an influential figure behind the scenes until about the late 1990s.

The 1988 uprising that occurred from March to September 1988 was quelled by the military when the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) was formed on 18 September 1988. The SLORC was renamed as the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) in 1997, and Khin Nyunt was appointed as its first secretary (Secretary −1), a post which he held until his appointment as Prime Minister in August 2003.

Shortly after Khin Nyunt was appointed as Prime Minister, he announced a seven-point roadmap to democracy; this roadmap was heavily criticized by the Burmese opposition as well as by many foreign governments especially Western ones as it envisaged a permanent military participation in the government. The so-called 'systematic and step-by-step implementation of the road-map to democracy' also contained no time-line.

The first 'step' of the road map was the recalling of the suspended National Convention (NC) which first met in January 1993. The NC was supposed to 'lay down' the basic principles for a new Constitution. The NC met sporadically until the approval of a new constitution in 2008 by what many observers considered the rigged Burmese constitutional referendum, 2008.

After his appointment as Prime Minister, Khin Nyunt's role in the government gave rise to some hope and speculation that there might be some 'liberalization', as he was considered a moderate pragmatic who saw the need of a dialogue with the democratic opposition. The SPDC Chairman Than Shwe and his deputy, General Maung Aye were seen as hardliners who opposed any relaxation of the military's iron grip of the country.

On 18 October 2004, in a one-sentence announcement signed by SPDC Chairman Senior General Than Shwe, Khin Nyunt was "permitted to retire on health grounds". However, he was immediately arrested and placed under protective custody.^[5] Allegations of Khin Nyunt's corruption were officially made several days later. Khin Nyunt's dismissal and arrest were the result of a power struggle in which the junta's strongman, Than Shwe, successfully managed to clip the power of the "intelligence faction" of the Burmese Armed Forces which Khin Nyunt led. Most of the Generals and military officers in the SPDC, like Than Shwe, did not and do not want to negotiate with Aung San Suu Kyi and the National League for Democracy (NLD).

On 5 July 2005, Khin Nyunt was tried by a Special Tribunal inside Insein prison near Rangoon on various corruption charges. On 21 July 2005, he was sentenced to 44 years in prison, though it is believed that he is ostensibly serving his sentence under house arrest instead of in prison. Khin Nyunt's sons were also sentenced to 51 and 68 years respectively. It is unclear whether his wife was also indicted.^[6]

In July 2009, a video of Khin Nyunt at the home of former Burmese minister Brigadier-General Tint Swe, taken on 7 July 2009, was leaked to the public and there have been reports that Khin Nyunt and his wife have been able to travel outside their home on occasion, since March 2008.^[7] In December 2010, another 16-minute video of Khin Nyunt meeting with the Chief of Police Khin Yi and other senior police officers was circulated on YouTube.^[8]

His brother-in-law, Than Nyein, is one of the founders and chairman of National Democratic Force. Tin Htut, his son in law, has been in prison since October 2004. Khin Nyunt - now referred to by the Burmese media simply as "U" (Mr) - was released from house arrest on 12 January 2012 by the order of current president Thein Sein.^[9]

• 

  Khin Nyunt reviews a Vietnamese honour guard at the Presidential Palace in Hanoi, Vietnam, Monday 9 August 2004

• 

  Prime Minister Soe Win (Left) and Former Prime Minister Khin Nyunt (Right)

• 

  Khin Nyunt shortly after his release in 2012.

References[link]

External links[link]

• We Restored Order – Asiaweek interview with Khin Nyunt from 1999
• McGeown, Kate (19 October 2004). "Khin Nyunt's fall from grace". BBC News. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3756052.stm. Retrieved 30 June 2006. 
• Khin Nyunt's search/Information from Myanmar Search Engine

v t e Prime Ministers of Burma (Myanmar) U Nu Ba Swe U Nu Ne Win U Nu Ne Win[m] Sein Win[m] Maung Maung Kha[m] Tun Tin Saw Maung[m] Than Shwe[m] Khin Nyunt[m] Soe Win[m] Thein Sein[m] ^[m] military officeholders

In this Burmese name, Bo is an honorific.

Bo Mya (Burmese: ဘိုမြ [bò mja̰]; born Htee Moo Kee; 20 January 1927 – 23 December 2006) was a Karen rebel leader born in Papun District, which is in present-day Karen State, Myanmar. He was a long-standing chairman of the Karen National Union (KNU), a political organisation of the Karen people, from 1976 to 2000. He stepped down to become vice-chairman in 2004, and retired in 2004 from all public offices, due to poor health.

Bo Mya was among a significant number of Karens who joined the British — specifically in Bo Mya's case, Force 136 — during World War II, with whom he fought the Japanese from the East Dawna hills in 1944 to 1945.

After the Karens declared independence from Burma in 1949, Bo Mya quickly rose to a position of pre-eminence in the Karen movement, earning a reputation as a hard and ruthless operator. Based at Manerplaw ("victory field") close to the Thai-Burma border, the KNU under his control, and its military wing the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), was probably the most successful of the ethnic rebel organisations fighting Rangoon in the 1970s and 1980s.

But by the mid-1990s, the tide was turning against him. A devout Baptist Christian of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, Bo Mya had always risked antagonising elements from within the predominantly Karen Buddhist and animist KNLA ranks. Although his defenders say he treated both Christians and Buddhists equally, the fact that the top positions of the KNU were filled almost entirely by Christians seemed to confirm the impression that he promoted the minority Christians' interests at the expense of those of the Buddhists and animists.

In late 1994, a group of KNLA soldiers broke away from the main army and formed the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA). They allied themselves with the Burmese military, and led Burmese troops into Manerplaw in December 1994, leading to its capture — the biggest single setback to the Karens in their post-war history.

Since then, the KNU and KNLA's effectiveness has gradually diminished. This was demonstrated at the beginning of 2004 when Bo Mya travelled to Yangon (Rangoon), his first visit to the capital in 50 years, to hold peace talks with Khin Nyunt, who was Prime Minister at the time.

On 23 December 2006, Bo Mya died in a hospital in Mae Sot, Thailand, near the eastern border of Myanmar. He had heart disease and diabetes and was unable to walk for three years before his death.

References[link]

• Smith, Martin. Burma: Insurgency and the Politics of Ethnicity
• Paung, *Shah (2006-12-24). "Renowned Karen Rebel Leader Dead". The Irrawaddy. http://www.irrawaddy.org/aviewer.asp?a=6516&z=154. Retrieved 2006-12-25. ^{[dead link]}
• South, Ashley (2006-12). "Bo Mya-Life-long revolutionary". The Irrawaddy. Archived from the original on 2007-01-08. http://web.archive.org/web/20070108021951/http://www.irrawaddy.org/aviewer.asp?a=6462&z=102#bomya. Retrieved 2006-12-25. 
• "Myanmar rebel leader dies after long illness". Reuters. 2006-12-24. http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2006-12-24T064725Z_01_BKK29965_RTRUKOC_0_US-MYANMAR-REBELS-LEADER.xml. Retrieved 2006-12-25. 
• Saw Kapi (2006-12-25). "Obituary - Saw Bo Mya: A symbol of resistance". Mizzima News. http://mizzima.com/MizzimaNews/EdOp/December/25-Dec-2006-12.html. Retrieved 2006-12-26. ^{[dead link]}

Thein Sein သိန်းစိန်
President of Burma
Incumbent
Assumed office 30 March 2011
Vice President	Sai Mauk Kham
Preceded by	Than Shwe (Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council)
Prime Minister of Burma
In office 24 October 2007 – 30 March 2011 Acting: April 2007 – 24 October 2007
Leader	Than Shwe
Preceded by	Soe Win
Succeeded by	Position abolished
First Secretary of the State Peace and Development Council
In office 2004 – 24 October 2007
Preceded by	Khin Nyunt
Succeeded by	Tin Aung Myint Oo
Member of the Pyithu Hluttaw
In office 7 November 2010 – 30 March 2011
Succeeded by	Sanda Min
Constituency	Zabuthiri Township
Majority	65,620 (91.2%)
Personal details
Born	(1945-04-20) 20 April 1945 (age 67)[1] Kyounku, British Burma
Political party	Union Solidarity and Development Party (2010–present)
Other political affiliations	State Peace and Development Council (Before 2010)
Spouse(s)	Khin Khin Win
Alma mater	Defence Services Academy
Religion	Theravada Buddhism
Website	http://www.president-office.gov.mm
Military service
Service/branch	Myanmar Army
Years of service	1968–2010
Rank	General

This article contains Burmese script. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Burmese script.

Thein Sein (Burmese: သိန်းစိန် [θéɪɴ zèɪɴ]; born 20 April 1945) is a Burmese politician and former military figure who has been president of Burma (Myanmar) since March 2011. Previously, he was Prime Minister from 2007 until 2011. He is generally considered to be a moderate and reformist in the new government.^[2]

Early life[link]

Thein Sein was born in Kyonku, British Burma (now Myanmar), a small village in what is now Ngapudaw Township in the Irrawaddy delta to parents Maung Phyo (father) and Khin Nyunt (mother). He was the youngest of three children. His parents were landless, and his father made a living carrying cargo at the river jetty and weaving bamboo mats.^[3]

Political career[link]

Thein Sein graduated from the 9th intake of the Defense Services Academy in 1968.^[4]

Throughout Thein Sein's four-decade-long military career, he was considered a bureaucrat, not a combat soldier. In 1988, he served as a major for Sagaing Division's 55th Light Infantry Division and later served as a commander for Sagaing Division's 89th Infantry Battalion in Kalay Township. The following year, he studied at the Command and General Staff College in Kalaw, Shan State.

By 1991, he had returned to Yangon, after being promoted to the rank of colonel and 1st Grade General Staff Officer in the War Office. He was then promoted to Brigadier General, but remained at his position in the War Office, which marked the first time a Brigadier General was promoted to General Staff Officer.

In 1995, he was recruited as the commander of Yangon Division's Military Operations Command 4 in Hmawbi. A year later, in 1996, he was appointed to lead the new Triangle Regional Military Command in Kyaingtong, Shan State, serving this role for four years (1997–2001). While serving as Commander, he was known to be close to drug lords in the United Wa State Army and Lahu militia officials.^[5][6]

In 1997, he became a member of the State Peace and Development Council and was appointed as Secretary-2 in 2003.^[7][8] He was also promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General that year.^[9]

After Khin Nyunt was deposed in 2004, Thein Sein was promoted to Secretary-1.^[7]

Prime Minister[link]

Thein Sein was appointed in April 2007 by the nation's ruling military junta^[10] as interim prime minister, replacing Soe Win, who was undergoing medical treatment for leukemia.^[11][12] Thein Sein was formally appointed as Soe Win's permanent successor on 24 October 2007 after Soe Win's death on 12 October 2007.^[13]

Sein held the position of first secretary in the ruling State Peace and Development Council junta. He was the country's fourth-highest ranking general,^[14] and also served as the chairman of the government-sponsored National Convention Convening Commission.^[15] Thein Sein carried out high-level negotiations with Bangladesh and Cambodia.^[11][12]

In 2007, sometime after his official appointment as prime minister, he was promoted to the rank of General from Lieutenant General.^[16] On his first official visit outside Myanmar as prime minister, Thein Sein carried out high-level negotiations with Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia.^[17][18][19]

In the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis in May 2008, he led the National Disaster Preparedness Central Committee as chairman and was criticized for the government's systematic blocking of relief efforts.^[8]

Presidency[link]

On 29 April 2010, he retired from the military, along with 22 other military officials, to lead the Union Solidarity and Development Party as a civilian.^[20] During the 2010 general election, he was head of the Union Solidarity and Development Party, which contested in a controversial elections and won the overwhelming majority of seats in the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw. Thein Sein ran against National Unity Party candidate Kyaw Aye during the election, contesting a Pyithu Hluttaw seat to represent the constituents of Naypyidaw Union Territory's Zabuthiri Township. He purportedly won 91.2% of the votes (65,620).^[21]

On 4 February 2011, Sein was elected by the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw's Presidential Electoral College as the next president of Myanmar, becoming the country's first non-interim civilian president in 49 years. Tin Aung Myint Oo and Sai Mauk Kham were named as the new vice-presidents.^[22]

Sein was sworn in on 30 March 2011 alongside the two vice presidents and the newly elected parliament.^[23] In the first month of his presidency, he sought the support of ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan to support Burma's bid to chair the ASEAN Summit in 2014.^[24] As of July 2011, the government has formed a planning committee led by foreign affairs minister Wunna Maung Lwin.^[25]

Thein Sein is considered a moderate willing to engage with Aung San Suu Kyi; he had a high-profile meeting with her in Naypyidaw on 19 August 2011.^[26]

On 17 August 2011, he was quoted by the state newspaper, The New Light of Myanmar as saying:^[27]

Various news sources intrepreted his suggestion as an invitation for overseas Burmese citizens to return to their country of origin and help rebuild the Burmese economy.^[28]

United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton meets with Burma's President Thein Sein in Naypyitaw, 1 December 2011.

He suffers from heart disease and uses a pacemaker.^[29][30]

References[link]

v t e Heads of state of Burma (Myanmar) Sao Shwe Thaik Ba U Win Maung Ne Win1 San Yu1 Sein Lwin1 Aye Ko2 Maung Maung2 Saw Maung1 Than Shwe1 Thein Sein ^1 military officeholders ^2 acting officeholders

v t e Prime Ministers of Burma (Myanmar) U Nu Ba Swe U Nu Ne Win U Nu Ne Win[m] Sein Win[m] Maung Maung Kha[m] Tun Tin Saw Maung[m] Than Shwe[m] Khin Nyunt[m] Soe Win[m] Thein Sein[m] ^[m] military officeholders