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Myanmar's UN ambassador appeals to world body for action to end military coup - US News

Myanmar's UN Ambassador Kyaw Moe Tun, speaking for the country's elected civilian government ousted in a military coup on Feb 1, appealed to the United Nations on Friday (Feb 26) "to use any means necessary to take action against the Myanmar military" to restore democracy to the Southeast Asian country.

He addressed the 193-member UN General Assembly after Secretary-General Antonio Guterres' special envoy on Myanmar, Christine Schraner Burgener, warned that no country should recognise or legitimise the Myanmar junta and all efforts must be made to restore democracy."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 said to applause and praise from Western and Islamic counterparts.Schraner Burgener pushed for a collective "clear signal in support of democracy" as she sounded the alarm over the coup, urging "influential" countries to push the military to allow an independent assessment of the situation.

Myanmar has been in turmoil since the army seized power and detained civilian government leader Aung San Suu Kyi and much of her National League for Democracy (NLD) party after the military complained of fraud in a November election.

"Regrettably, the current regime has so far asked me to postpone any visit. It seems they want to continue making large-scale arrests and have been coercing people to testify against the NLD Government. This is cruel and inhumane," Schraner Burgener said.Guterres has pledged to mobilise enough international pressure "to make sure that this coup fails." The Security Council has voiced concern over the state of emergency, but stopped short of condemning the coup//CNA