Rangoon - The Information Minister has refused to accept the resignation letter of the head of the junta's press scrutiny office, according to an official.

Major Tint Swe, the Director with the Government's Office of Press Scrutiny, which censors the contents of all print publications in Burma , submitted his resignation to the ministry on July 31, 2008.

Brigadier General Kyaw Hsan, the Minister for of Information, refused to accept his resignation letter.

One of the major reasons why the director has done so is, that most leading weeklies have been found, since the devastation following last May's Nargis Cyclone, which left more than 138,000 people dead or missing, failing intentionally to observe the instructions of the censor board.

The official who requested not to be named said more than half a dozen journals, including the prominent weeklies 7 Day News, News Watch, the First Music and among others, were recently ordered to sign assertion letters that they would comply with the instructions.

"It is a normal thing that a journal will have to sign a petition letter if and when its publisher fails to observe the dos and don'ts prescribed by the notorious censor board. However, several journals have been defying the board's irregular norms," said the official.

It is known among local journalists that Maj Tint Swe (44) has an attitude towards the greater development of the local print media, though there is a cluster of constraints, a thing particularly prevalent in the domestic political impasse.

"When you write about government departments, it needs to be correct. If you exaggerate or have misconceptions while writing, there will be a problem," Maj Tint Swe once told local journalists. "We only allow news that will not have a negative effect on the state or national welfare."

He was a former editor with a government publication known as Sit Pyinnyar Journal (Military Affairs Journal) and took up his present position in late 2004, when his predecessor Maj Aye Tun, was forced to retire when the National Intelligence Bureau headed by former General Khin Nyunt became defunct.

A Rangoon-based editor said local media circles are worried lest another censor boss comes up with more suppressive measures over mitigating the already-limited operations of local journals.

There are about 170 publications of which 120 are weeklies.

Most publishers of journals said the capacity of the censor board lags much behind the growth of local publishing industry.