MORE PROTESTS IN MYANMAR AS JUNTA WARNS AGAINST HIDING OF ‘FUGITIVES’

YANGON: Hundreds of thousands of protesters took to the streets in Myanmar for a ninth day of anti-coup demonstrations on Sunday, as the new army rulers grappled to contain a strike by government workers that could cripple their ability to run the country.

The military regime warned the public not to harbour fugitive political activists after issuing arrest warrants for veteran democracy campaigners supporting massive nationwide anticoup protests.

Much of the country has been in uproar since last week when soldiers detained Aung San Suu Kyi and ousted her government, ending a decade-old fledgling democracy after generations of junta rule.

Security forces have stepped up arrests of doctors and others joining a civil disobedience movement that has seen huge crowds throng streets in big urban centres and isolated frontier villages alike.

Police are now hunting seven people who have lent vocal support to the protests, including some of the country’s most famous democracy activists.

“If you find any fugitives mentioned above or if you have information about them, report to the nearest police station,” said a notice in state media on Sunday.

“Those who receive them will (face) action in accordance with the law.”

Among the list of fugitives was Min Ko Naing, who spent more than a decade in prison for helping lead protests against an earlier dictatorship in 1988 while a university student.