Myanmar’s UK ambassador barred from entering London embassy

London, Apr 8 (efe-epa).- Myanmar’s ambassador to the United Kingdom, Kyaw Zwar Minn, had to spend Wednesday night in his car after his country’s military attaché refused him entry to his embassy and told him that he had been relieved of his duties.

Speaking to reporters on the street on Thursday morning, Minn called the incident on a “coup” in central London and said the military attaché had asked embassy staff to leave the building.

The ambassador said: “They are refusing me entry. They say they have received instructions from the (Myanmar) capital, so they are not going to let me in” to the embassy, located in the upscale Mayfair neighborhood of central London.

Minn last month called for the release of Myanmar’s pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who was detained on Feb. 1 in a military coup.

After learning of the incident, British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab condemned “the bullying actions of the Myanmar military regime” and paid tribute to Minn “for his courage”.

“The UK continues to call for an end to the coup and the appalling violence, and a swift restoration of democracy,” he said.

The Burmese ambassador was seen in his car, on which he has posted a photo of San Suu Kyi, and also talking to Scotland Yard policemen guarding the embassy in the street.

According to media reports, the embassy’s “number two”, Chit Win, has taken over as chargé d’affaires.

Nearly 600 civilians have been killed in the crackdown on protests in Myanmar, with over 2,600 people detained since the coup, according to data from the Association for Assistance to Political Prisoners of Burma (AAPP).

The military justified the coup on alleged fraud during November’s general elections, in which Suu Kyi’s party won a landslide following polls which international observers say were legitimate. EFE-EPA

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