Myanmar envoy appeals to UN to stop coup as police break up protests

The envoy's opposition to the country's military coup took other members of the UN by surprise

An envoy for Myanmar's ousted government called on the UN to use "any means necessary" to stop a military coup on Friday, as police cracked down on anti-junta protesters with rubber bullets and stun grenades.

The South-East Asian country has been in crisis since the army seized power on February 1 and detained government leader Aung San Suu Kyi and much of her party leadership after the military complained of fraud in a November election her party won. The election commission said the vote was fair.

Speaking on behalf of Ms Suu Kyi's government, Myanmar's UN ambassador appealed to the UN "to use any means necessary to take action against the Myanmar military and to provide safety and security for the people of Myanmar".

"We need further strongest possible action from the international community to immediately end the military coup, to stop oppressing the innocent people, to return the state power to the people and to restore the democracy," Kyaw Moe Tun told the 193-member UN General Assembly, receiving applause as he finished.

Reuters was not immediately able to reach the army for comment.

The UN special envoy on Myanmar, Christine Schraner Burgener, pushed the world body for a collective "clear signal in support of democracy" and told the General Assembly no country should recognise or legitimise the junta.

Uncertainty grew over Ms Suu Kyi's status on Friday as the independent Myanmar Now website quoted senior officials of her National League for Democracy party as saying she had been moved this week from house arrest to an undisclosed location.

Protesters who have taken to the streets daily for over three weeks demand the release of Ms Suu Kyi and recognition of last year's election.

In the country's largest city, Yangon, riot police fired rubber bullets, stun grenades and shots into the air to send protesters scattering. At least one person was wounded, a witness said.

Several people were detained, witnesses said, among them a Japanese journalist who was held briefly.

Domestic media and witnesses reported a similar confrontation in Mandalay where police also fired rubber bullets. An emergency service worker said children were hurt and the media published pictures of two with minor injuries as well as of one man with a bloody leg wound. It was not clear how they were hurt.

Police also broke up protests in the capital, Naypyitaw, the central town of Magwe and in the western hill town of Hakha, according to witnesses and social media posts.

Military chief Gen Min Aung Hlaing says authorities were using minimal force. Nevertheless, at least three protesters have died. The army says a policeman was also killed.

Ms Suu Kyi, 75, has been detained incommunicado in Naypyitaw since the coup.

The Myanmar Now website said she had been moved from her home in the capital, quoting a senior National League for Democracy source as saying: "We don’t know where she’s being kept any more."

A lawyer for Ms Suu Kyi, Khin Maung Zaw, told Reuters he had heard the same from party officials but could not confirm it. Authorities did not respond to requests for comment.

Khin Maung Zaw earlier complained he was not able to prepare properly for her next hearing, on Monday, because he had no access to Ms Suu Kyi.

"I need instructions from her on how to conduct our defence at the court ... I'm concerned that there will be a loss of rights to access to justice and access to legal counsel," he said.

Ms Suu Kyi, the daughter of Myanmar's independence hero, spent nearly 15 years under house arrest under previous juntas. She faces charges of illegally importing six walkie-talkie radios and of violating a natural disaster law by breaching coronavirus protocols.