Two arrested over plot to kill Myanmar UN ambassador

Daily US Times: Two citizens of Myanmar have been arrested in the United States for allegedly plotting to kill or injure Myanmar’s UN ambassador.

The US attorney’s office in New York said Ye Hein Zaw and Phyo Hein Htut had planned to hire attackers to force Kyaw Moe Tun to step down.

He is a vocal critic of Myanmar’s military dictators, who seized power in a coup on 1 February.

The junta later fired Mr Tun – but he continues to represent the country’s civilian government at the United Nations.

So far, Myanmar’s military has made no public comments on the issue.

Hundreds of people, including children, have been killed by the security forces in mass street protests in the country that erupted after the coup.

The military junta arrested the country’s elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi and members of her National League for Democracy (NLD) party.

In a statement on Friday, US Attorney Audrey Strauss said: “Phyo Hein Htut and Ye Hein Zaw plotted to seriously injure or kill Myanmar’s ambassador to the United Nations in a planned attack on a foreign official that was to take place on American soil.”

Earlier this year, the 28-year-old Mr Zaw is believed to have transferred $4,000 to 20-year-old Mr Htut through an app as advance payment for the planned attack.

The alleged plotters against the Myanmar ambassador are expected to appear in court in New York later on Friday.

You may read: IOC expels two coaches over Krystina Timanovskaya case