Burmese officials have denied there was any coup in their military-ruled country.
Burmese Foreign Minister U Nyan Win, who is attending a conference in Thailand, told reporters there Friday that rumors of a leadership change in Rangoon are untrue. Minister U Nyan Win has been taking part in a meeting in Phuket about a possible tsunami warning system for the Indian Ocean region.
Earlier Friday, Thailand's Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said political tension had risen in Burma, but other Burmese officials, taking part in the Phuket meeting say every country has Cabinet change, and that everything is normal in Rangoon.
Talk of a power shift in the Burmese junta apparently was triggered by the death last week of Lieutenant Colonel Bo Win Tun, the personal assistant to General Maung Aye, Burma's second in command. There is no confirmation of rumors that the aide either killed himself or died in a shootout while protecting his boss.
Information for this report is provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.