Coup Leader Forms Burma Government : 59 More, Mostly Looters, Reported Slain by Troops

Coup leader Gen. Saw Maung formed a military-dominated government today and the official media reported that his troops killed 59 people, most of them in clashes with looters.

One witness reported gunfire in downtown Rangoon today.

On Monday, troops shot and killed at least 150 people in quelling widespread opposition to Saw Maung’s rule. More than 200 people have been reported killed since he seized power Sunday.

Opposition leaders issued a joint statement calling for talks with Saw Maung to resolve the crisis.

Held Two Posts

State-run Radio Rangoon said Saw Maung was both the defense and foreign affairs ministers in the new government. He was defense minister and armed forces commander when he seized power Sunday from civilian President Maung Maung.

No president or prime minister was named today, and there was no word on Maung Maung’s fate.

Only one of the nine Cabinet ministers named was a civilian, Minister of Health Pe Thein. At least six ministers were among the 18 senior officers who carried out the coup with Saw Maung.

The broadcast said the military commanders in each of the country’s seven states and seven divisions also would serve as the top government representatives in those areas.

Looters Killed

State radio reported five incidents today in which security forces killed looters and other civilians.

Troops dispersed a crowd of 50 people looting a warehouse eight miles north of downtown Rangoon at 4 a.m., killing eight people, the radio said. Sixteen people died when troops tried to stop more than 200 people from looting a warehouse in the Thamaing campus of Rangoon University, it said.

Security forces shot and killed 16 people looting the Fisheries Department head office in downtown Rangoon in the early morning, and five people died as troops broke up looting at a biscuit543580515capital, the radio said.

Attack on Truck

Troops killed another 14 people when a military truck on patrol in east Rangoon was attacked, it said.

Witnesses reported that one person was shot and killed as soldiers halted looting at a market in the city.

Sporadic clashes also were reported in Mandalay in central Burma, but no details were available. Telephone communications were out after the Communications Department’s microwave dish was damaged in the morning, reportedly by some kind of rocket.

Bloody protests and general strikes began Aug. 8, toppling hard-line President Sein Lwin four days later.