Yangon bomber jailed for life

Yangon bomber jailed for life

YANGON — A court on Friday sentenced a man linked to the 2013 bombing at one of Myanmar's top hotels to life imprisonment plus five years of hard labour.

The October 2013 blast at the Traders Hotel in Yangon ripped apart a guestroom and wounded a 43-year-old American woman.

The court convicted Saw Myint Lwin, 26, on three charges related to the bombing. He was one of three men who were arrested. The others were acquitted and the alleged mastermind, who police said is a member of the Karen National Union ethnic rebel group, is still at large.

Police said investigations found that Saw Myint Lwin was paid to carry out the bombing by a businessman tied to the rebels, who was unhappy with reforms as the country moved from decades of military rule to an open economy.

Police said Saw Myint Lwin checked into a ninth floor room at the hotel, attached a small bomb to the back of the toilet and set the timer to go off within 48 hours.

When it detonated, a family of four had moved into the room. The American woman's two young children and husband were not injured.

Small bombings occurred frequently in Myanmar during 50 years of military rule. The government typically blamed the blasts on dissidents and ethnic insurgents. Such attacks have been less common since the nominally civilian government of President Thein Sein took office in 2011 and started implementing political and economic reforms.

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