The Born-again Spy

Intelligence Feb'08
The Irrawaddy News
www.irrawaddy.org
February 1, 2008

Former Deputy Chief of Military Intelligence Maj-Gen Kyaw Win
Maj-Gen Kyaw Win, 63, a former deputy chief of military intelligence and once Burma’s No 2 spymaster, is now a consultant in the day-to-day operations of Burma’s security affairs and spying activities, say informed sources in Rangoon.

Sources say that the soft-spoken intellectual, a protégé of Snr-Gen Than Shwe, is believed to have been brought back into the fold for his vast experience and networking abilities, as well as to help transform the ailing intelligence services.

Kyaw Win joined military intelligence in the early 1990s and was actively involved in ceasefire negotiations with ethnic insurgents. He was also known to be one of the chief negotiators between opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and the government leaders. He was sacked along with former Prime Minister Khin Nyunt in 2004. However, he has enjoyed close and cordial relations with Than Shwe and escaped the purge that removed Khin Nyunt and his supporters.

However, at the same time, Kyaw Win has been denied a passport. Analysts believe junta leader Than Shwe and senior government officers suspect that Kyaw Win would seek political asylum if he left the country. Recently, however, the Ministry of Home Affairs allowed his wife to travel to Bangkok for medical treatment.

Kyaw Win has written several essays and articles under different pseudonyms and has published a book of his photographic work. Informed sources say he owns local businesses, including the manufacture of jeeps and operates an upmarket restaurant, “Signature Kandawgyi,” in Rangoon.