Myanmar bans flights through April
“It is not a coup, but just an act of retaining the power to prevent others from misusing it,” a monk, Tipitaka Thitsar Pwintlin, told the pro-military crowd, urging them to thank the army for protecting the nation and its majority Buddhist religion
Supporters of Myanmar's military rallied in the nation's largest city as it moved to suspend all flights through April, raising fresh concerns about the army's crackdown a day after it seized power in a coup and detained senior government officials and activists.
The rally in the commercial capital Yangon is the first since de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her colleagues were taken in early morning raids on Monday, reports Bloomberg.
"It is not a coup, but just an act of retaining the power to prevent others from misusing it," a monk, Tipitaka Thitsar Pwintlin, told the pro-military crowd, urging them to thank the army for protecting the nation and its majority Buddhist religion.
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The military on Tuesday instructed airlines to suspend all flights until April 30 - an extension of travel restrictions put in place by the previous government to contain the spread of Covid-19 - and reopened the country's stock exchange for trading from Wednesday.
President Joe Biden said the US could reinstate sanctions on Myanmar if the military doesn't "immediately relinquish the power they have seized" and release activists and officials.
"The United States removed sanctions on Burma over the past decade based on progress toward democracy," Biden said Monday in a statement that called on the generals to release activists and officials, lift restrictions on telecommunications and refrain from violence.
"The reversal of that progress will necessitate an immediate review of our sanction laws and authorities, followed by appropriate action."
The military pledged to hold elections after a 12-month state of emergency and formally replaced Suu Kyi as foreign minister when it installed 11 new ministers to cabinet posts late Monday.
A state-run television broadcast announced the new foreign minister as Suu Kyi's predecessor, Wunna Maung Lwin, while Win Shein, who previously held the post of finance and planning minister, was reappointed to the position.
