Myanmar arrests bombing suspect

YANGON, March 8 Kyodo

Myanmar authorities have arrested a suspect responsible for last week's small bombings in central Myanmar town of Taungoo, state-run newspaper New Light of Myanmar reported Wednesday.

Saw Gay The Mu, a 24-year-old Karen man, identified as a private from ethnic rebel group Karen National Union, was arrested on the evening of March 2, the same day the two bombs -- one near a high school and the other near a state-owned power transformer -- exploded at Taungoo, the paper said.

The authorities are conducting further investigations on the case, the report added without providing any details.

Two small bombs exploded separately in Taungoo in central Myanmar, about 240 kilometers north of Yangon, on March 2, but no one was injured.

It was the sixth bombing incident in the country this year. All of the explosions were caused by small bombs.

The KNU, which has fought for independence or greater autonomy for more than five decades, is the largest armed ethnic group to hold out on signing a cease-fire with Myanmar's ruling generals.

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