US accuses two of conspiracy to attack UN anti-junta envoy to Burma

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New York (AFP)

U.S. prosecutors said on Friday they indicted two Burmese citizens in a plot to attack the country’s ambassador to the UN Kyaw Moe Tun, a staunch supporter of the democracy movement who refused junta orders to resign.

In a plot allegedly foiled by U.S. investigators, the couple spoke of hiring attackers to force Kyaw Moe Tun to resign or, if he refused, to kill him, officials said.

The two men “conspired to seriously injure or kill Myanmar’s ambassador to the United Nations as part of a planned attack on a foreign official that was to take place on American soil,” said Audrey Strauss, the lawyer. of the Southern District of New York.

Jacqueline Maguire, acting deputy director of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation, said law enforcement had acted “swiftly and diligently” after learning last month of the potential assassination that was planned in the county. of Westchester, a suburb north of New York.

“Our laws apply to everyone in our country, and these men will now face the consequences of allegedly breaking those laws,” she said.

Suspects Phyo Hein Htut, 28, and Ye Hein Zaw, 20, were indicted in a federal court in Westchester on charges on which they could be sentenced to up to five years in prison.

Prosecutors said Phyo Hein Htut had been in contact with an arms dealer in Thailand who has connections with the military in Myanmar, who on February 1 overthrew the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi.

Phyo Hein Htut and the arms dealer discussed hiring assailants, according to a criminal complaint.

Ye Hein Zaw also discussed the plot and transferred $ 4,000 to Phyo Hein Htut via an app as a prepayment for the coup, he said.

Kyaw Moe Tun, who made headlines after the coup with three-fingered salutes to democracy protesters since his presidency of the UN as Myanmar’s representative, told AFP on Wednesday that there was a threat against him and that he would be given additional security.

More than 900 people have died in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, as the military seeks to quell protests against the coup, according to a local watch group.

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