VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Aung San Suu Kyi has not been seen since her detention nearly two weeks ago. (Photo: AFP/Sai Aung Main)

Opposition to Myanmar's new military regime intensified on Saturday (Feb 13) as spontaneous neighbourhood watch groups mobilised to thwart arrests of anti-coup activists and the UN demanded the release of ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi.Since taking Aung San Suu Kyi and her top allies into custody, troops have stepped up arrests of civil servants, doctors and others joining strikes demanding the generals relinquish power.

Crowds defied overnight curfews to mass on the streets as night fell, hours after finishing a seventh straight day of rallies, following rumours that police were preparing to launch a fresh wave of arrests.

One group swarmed a hospital in the city of Pathein on rumours that a popular local doctor would be taken, chanting a Buddhist prayer urging protection from harm.

"If I have problems, I will ask for your help," doctor Than Min Htut told the group who had come to aid him, flashing the three-finger salute that has come to symbolise resistance to the coup.

Than Min Htut spoke to AFP on Saturday to confirm he was still free and would continue to participate in a civil disobedience campaign opposing military rule.

More than 320 people have been arrested since last week's coup, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners monitoring group.

An emergency session of UN Human Rights Council in Geneva called for the new regime to release all "arbitrarily detained" persons and hand power back to Aung San Suu Kyi's administration.

The UN deputy rights chief Nada al-Nashif warned Myanmar during the Friday meeting that "the world is watching" events unfold in the country//CNA