Petrol bomb thrown at Suu Kyi’s compound

A MAN threw a petrol bomb at the lakeside Yangon compound of Myanmar’s leader Aung San Suu Kyi yesterday, officials said, a rare attack on a national figurehead who enjoys strong domestic support but has drawn global outcry over her reticence to speak up for the Rohingya.

There was little damage caused by the attack, Kyi Toe, an official from her National League for Democracy party wrote in a Facebook posting.

“Nothing was destroyed or burned . . . Our respected security forces are continuing their work so they can arrest the culprit,” he added.

But the attack is symbolic – Suu Kyi was held for long years at the house by the former junta, occasionally leaning over the famous gates in appearances that galavanised the democracy movement.

Government spokesman Zaw Htay confirmed the attack, without speculating on motives. But he circulated a photo on his Facebook page of a suspect.

The democracy heroine has lost much of her lustre in the eyes of the international community over her perceived failure to speak up on behalf of Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslim community.

Nearly 700,000 Rohingya have fled a brutal military crackdown in northern Rakhine state into refugee camps in Bangladesh since August, bringing with them testimony of murder, rape and arson.

But many inside Myanmar regard the Rohingya as illegal “Bengali” immigrants. Suu Kyi, who swept to power after elections in 2015, is still widely seen as a heroine by the majorityBuddhist population, who fondly dub her “The Lady”.

Suu Kyi was in the capital Naypyidaw at the time of the attack where she addressed parliament to mark the second anniversary of her NLD government coming to power.