Suu Kyi targeted

A crude petrol bomb was tossed yesterday morning into the residential compound of Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi, but she was not at home and damage was minor, officials said.

Suu Kyi was in the capital Naypyitaw when the incident took place, government spokesman Zaw Htay said.

Suu Kyi’s main residence and the target of the bomb is in the country’s biggest city, Yangon. The Nobel Peace Prize laureate lived there under house arrest for several years during military rule.

Zaw Htay said witnesses saw an unidentified man running away from the residence, after which police found an exploded bottle with gasoline traces inside the compound that had burned external water pipes. He did not speculate on possible motives.

Suu Kyi is hugely popular among Myanmar’s majority Buddhists, but has been heavily criticised abroad for failing to stake a stand against army abuses against the Muslim Rohingya minority.