Burma prison bombing leaves at least 8 dead
Updated 1:30 pm, Monday, April 8, 2013
A prisoner is led out of the maximum security Biyangon prison in Monywa on Thursday, April 2, 2013. About 80 people, including Burmese leader Aung San Suu Kyi, remain in jail after a prison blast on Sunday, but it was not clear if they were the perpetrators of the massive attack. Among the dead is a U.S. citizen who was attending a University of Maryland graduate school session, relatives said. The U.S. Embassy in Yangon said the victim was a member of the Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s party, the National League for Democracy.
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A U.S. citizen was killed on Sunday in a bomb blast at a prison in Myanmar, the embassy said in a statement. The man, identified by relatives as Robert Simons, a 29-year old citizen of the United States, had recently moved to Myanmar, according to the statement.
“The U.S. government condemns in the strongest terms the tragic death of a U.S. citizen this weekend,” according to the statement. “The U.S. Embassy in Yangon, where Mr. Simons was visiting, offered condolences to Mr. Simons’ family. The U.S. government also offered assistance to the Simons family to help them with their emotional and financial distress.”
Aung San Suu Kyi and her party, the National League for Democracy, have repeatedly stated since the start of the Myanmar’s transition to democracy in 2011 that human rights would be the top priority of their transition, and that violence would not be tolerated.
Her party won the country’s recent general election in a landslide, but has come under increasing criticism from some of her own fellow members of her party and other politicians for their reluctance to condemn violence and their support for the government.
The U.S. Embassy in Yangon, where Mr. Simons was visiting, offered condolences to Mr. Simons’ family. The U.S. government also offered assistance to the Simons family to help them with their emotional and financial distress.
Aung San Suu Kyi and her party, the National League for Democracy, have repeatedly stated since the start of the Myanmar’s transition to democracy in 2011 that
