Myanmar bombings spark reform fears A mysterious spate of bombings across Myanmar has sparked fears of a campaign to disrupt the country's internal reforms, international rehabilitation and foreign investment drive. Both the government and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Tuesday condemned at least half a dozen blasts reported over the past few days, including at one of Yangon's leading business hotels. The explosions underscore the security challenges still facing Myanmar as it prepares to chair the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and host the Southeast Asian games in December, two events symbolic of its international reintegration after years of pariah status and sanctions. Michael Williams, a distinguished visiting fellow at Chatham House, the London-based think-tank, said that the bombings were "unnerving," even if they were apparently aimed so far at causing "mischief" rather than massive destruction. "If we were to have further blasts causing injuries and fatalities, that could trigger a reassessment [of the security situation] not only by western countries but also within Asean," he said. Police said they arrested three people after a home-made time-bomb caused an explosion and injured a US citizen on Monday night at Yangon's Traders Hotel, which is heavily patronised by foreign business people and government officials on visits to a nation that is opening up to the world after decades of brutal and insular dictatorship. Police said another bomb exploded in a town 200km north of Yangon on Friday, two more in the city over the weekend, and another pair in the Mandalay region early on Tuesday. At least two people were killed in the blasts, Myanmar media said, with targets including a bus stop, a lorry and a guest house. Ms Suu Kyi, the Nobel peace laureate who now heads the opposition in parliament, called on the authorities to "urgently expose the perpetrators" of the bombings. "These are deliberate acts to create panic, but the people should be cautious not to fall into the trap,"" she told reporters in Naypyidaw, Myanmar's capital. Ye Htut, a Myanmar presidential spokesperson, told Radio Free Asia that the bombings may have been perpetrated by "someone or some organisation" who wants to "make the international community misunderstand the situation of stability and peace" in the country. No one has claimed responsibility for the blasts, which come as international companies such as those in a British delegation led by the Lord Mayor of London last week weigh up whether to invest in a country of an estimated 60m hobbled by chronic underdevelopment. One businessman in Yangon played down the attacks, saying the atmosphere downtown was normal on Tuesday afternoon, apart from tighter security around Traders. "You shouldn't ignore this," he said. But it's also not as drastic as people might think. Unexplained and often unreported blasts caused by small improvised explosive devices were common during the years when opposition groups and ethnic activists battled the ruling military junta, which finally allowed a loosening of curbs on dissent and foreign investment after President Thein Sein's administration took power in 2011. While the relaxation of the generals" grip has been widely welcomed domestically and internationally, many sources of internal conflict still remain in Myanmar. Activists say some political dissidents are still being harassed or prevented from returning from foreign exile, while the authorities are pushing for a ceasefire to long-running battles with various regionally- and ethnically-based opposition groups.