LONDON – Myanmar’s ambassador to Britain, Kyaw Zwar Minn, was shut down outside his own embassy on Wednesday, apparently in retaliation for criticizing the country’s army that took power in February and a bloody crackdown on protesters since. launched pro-democracy.
In a statement, the British Office for Foreign Affairs, Commonwealth and Development said it was “seeking further information” following the delivery, which attracted a small crowd of protesters outside the embassy in Myanmar in London.
“I am excluded,” the ambassador told Reuters news agency, citing the actions of diplomatic colleagues who had prevented him from entering the building as a “kind of coup in central London”.
Diplomatic sources confirmed that he was excluded from the embassy, and British media reports suggested that the ambassador’s deputy, Chit Win, had taken control of the building with the help of a military attaché.
Last month, Mr. Kyaw Zwar Minn breaks the ranks with the military rulers of Myanmar by issuing a statement calling for the release of civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint. “Diplomacy is the only answer and answer to the current stalemate,” he wrote in comments that remained on the embassy’s website on Wednesday night.
Myanmar’s state broadcaster later said that Kyaw Zwar Minn would be recalled for making an unauthorized statement. But British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab praised “his courage and patriotism to stand up for what is right.”
“We join his call for the immediate release of Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint, and for a return to democratic rule,” Raab added.
The US and British governments announced financial sanctions against Myanmar’s military leadership and demanded that democracy be restored. The Biden government has also suspended a trade treaty with Myanmar following recent actions by the Tatmadaw, the country’s army, during the bloody suppression of protests by civilians.
Since February, thousands have been injured and more than 550 killed in the protests, including numerous young protesters.
Mr. Kyaw Zwar Minn was not the first Myanmar diplomat to express concern about the military takeover. In February, the country’s ambassador to the United Nations, Kyaw Moe Tun, criticized the country’s military rulers before the UN General Assembly. The regime then said it no longer represented the country.
London Metropolitan Police confirmed on Wednesday that a protest had taken place outside the embassy in Myanmar and that officers were at the scene to maintain order, but said no arrests had been made.