YANGON; Myanmar's police chief claimed Friday that authorities had foiled a plot to bomb the main city Yangon during a visit by UN chief Ban Ki Moon early last month and had arrested the culprit.

Khin Yee told reporters that a 30-year-old man known by three aliases was arrested at a market on July 2 with three detonators, wiring and explosive material hidden under his clothes.

According to authorities, Htay Aung, also known as Aung Myat and Aung Paing, had been trained and sent by exile "terrorist" groups.

Ban's visit on July 3-4 was partly an attempt to secure the release of detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and more than 2,100 other political prisoners, but it was largely perceived as a failure as he was not allowed to meet her in custody.

"The terrorist group planned to create unrest or an explosion during the visit of UN Secretary General Mr Ban Ki Moon and honourable guests, as well as during trial dates of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi," Khin Yee said.

"It was found that the "Vigorous Burmese Student Warriors" planned to increase its terrorist explosive acts if Daw Aung San Suu Kyi got a guilty verdict," he added.

The police chief said the group also planned to ambush police vehicles and had organised for Htay Aung to be trained by an exile group in the Thai border town of Mae Sot.

Suu Kyi is awaiting a verdict in her internationally-condemned trial on charges relating to an incident when an American man swam to her lakeside home uninvited in May.

Myanmar's ruling junta has kept Suu Kyi in detention for nearly 14 of the past 20 years since it refused to recognise her National League for Democracy (NLD) party's landslide victory in elections in 1990.

Myanmar, which has been ruled by the military since 1962, has been regularly rocked by small bomb blasts in and around Yangon in recent months, usually blamed on armed exile groups or ethnic rebels.

Khin Yee said that police had arrested a total of 15 people, including Htay Aung, for bomb-related activities in 2009.