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Sayar Kyaung, the chairman of Kanbawza Bank and the Myanmar Billion Group.

 

Gen Thura Shwe Mann

 

Gen Thura Shwe Mann played a key role in purging Burma’s prime minister and head of the Office of the Chief of Military Intelligence Gen Khin Nyunt in October.

 

“In the military everybody is liable for their failure to abide by the law. Nobody is above the law,” he declared in a speech accusing Khin Nyunt and his followers of corruption and failing to obey orders.

 

Shwe Mann became the third-ranking member of the junta following Khin Nyunt’s removal from power. He is believed to be the right-hand man of the junta leader Sr-Gen Than Shwe.

 

At a relatively youthful 57, Shwe Mann is the youngest member of the triumvirate, and it’s expected that he will move into top place on the retirement of his two fellow leaders, 71-year-old Than Shwe and Deputy Sr-Gen Maung Aye, who is 67.

 

Shwe Mann had an assured military career, but little is known about any business connections. One of his sons is married to the daughter of business tycoon Zaykabar Khin Shwe.

 

Lt-Gen Soe Win (new Prime Minister)

 

Soe Win is the junta’s new prime minister, succeeding Gen Khin Nyunt, who was sacked in October. Apart from taking over as prime minister, Soe Win also assumed responsibility for many national committees.

 

He brings to the job a reputation no better than Khin Nyunt’s—both men were notoriously ruthless in putting down the 1988 pro-democracy uprising. Soe Win is remembered for ordering troops to fire on Rangoon General Hospital, where demonstrators were staging a protest.