Britain on Thursday condemned “bullying” by the Myanmar junta after the country’s ambassador to London was ousted in an extraordinary diplomatic coup after calling for the release of civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Diplomats loyal to the Myanmar military authorities seized control of the embassy on Wednesday, leaving ambassador Kyaw Zwar Minn locked out in the street. The ambassador said the defence attache had taken over the mission in “a kind of coup”, two months after the military seized power in Myanmar. Daily protests demanding a return of democracy have rocked the country and brought a brutal response from the armed forces, with almost 600 civilians killed according to a local monitoring group. In a letter to the British foreign ministry from the Myanmar embassy, those in control of the embassy said that deputy ambassador Chit Win had taken over as charge d’affairs as of April 7. Kyaw Zwar Minn was recalled on March 9, the letter said. Kyaw Zwar Minn said through his spokesman that “he had full faith that the UK government will continue to demonstrate their rejection of the unlawful military regime”.
