According to locals, the deputy ambassador and a military liaison locked him up and accepted the post of ambassador on behalf of the military rulers.
The Myanmar military staged a coup on February 1 after government leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s Democratic Party won the November election. The military has arrested members of the civilian government, accusing Aung San Suu Kyi and her party of electoral fraud.
Ambassador to London Kyaw Swar Min has recently called for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi from the military junta. On Wednesday, the ambassador told Reuters news agency he was locked up. “It’s a kind of conspiracy in the center of London,” he said shortly before the embassy building. “You can see they occupied my building.” The ambassador said he was in consultation with the British Foreign Office.
Four diplomatic sources said that Deputy Ambassador Sid had taken charge of the embassy and that he and the military liaison had expelled the ambassador. The embassy spoke to protesters in front of the embassy building. When Kyaw Swar Min called for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi last month, British Foreign Secretary Dominic Robb praised his courage.
“This is my building. I have to go inside. That is why I am waiting here, ”the ambassador told reporters. The British Foreign Office said it was currently investigating the situation at the Myanmar embassy.
Kiaw Swar Min is not the first Myanmar ambassador to clash with the military junta. UN Ambassador Kiao Mo Tun has spoken out against the change of military regime. He called for international sanctions against the military regime. When the military wanted to replace him, Kiao Mo Tun refused to step down, saying he would represent Myanmar’s democratically elected government.
