Bangkok - A group of heavily armed Burmese rebel fighters stormed Rangoon's embassy in Bangkok yesterday, seizing more than 30 hostages, including a dozen foreigners. To the accompaniment of gunfire, some 12 gunmen brandishing AK-47s and grenade launchers scaled the spiked wall of the Burmese embassy to secure the compound. They then presented the Thai authorities with a list of political demands.
Police said the hostages included three French nationals, two Malaysians, a Canadian, an American, a Japanese and a Singaporean. The other hostages were 16 Thai embassy workers and Burmese diplomats and their families.
With army anti-terrorist units deployed around the embassy, the gunmen and police maintained an eerie, day-long standoff. The Prime Minister, Mr Chuan Leekpai, visited the scene in the early evening. An early report that one of the Thai embassy staff had been killed trying to escape was unconfirmed last night.