Myanmar's PM dies
Globe and Mail / October 12, 2007

Prime Minister General Soe Win died Friday in a military hospital after a long illness, relatives and state media said. He was 59.

Gen. Soe Win, a reputedly ruthless member of the ruling military junta, was credited with overseeing a 2003 attack against democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi.

The fourth-ranking member of the junta, he had been ailing for months with what relatives said was acute leukemia.

Gen. Soe Win's death came as the junta continued its crackdown on democracy advocates that followed several weeks of rare protests in the tightly controlled country.

His departure was unlikely to cause a ripple in the regime's grip on power. Gen. Soe Win had little if any policy-making role as prime minister and was largely considered a figurehead for the junta.