Myanmar’s coup leaders face pressure from G7, EU

YANGON: Myanmar’s military leaders came under renewed pressure on Tuesday as the world’s wealthiest nations condemned the junta for responding to anti-coup demonstrators “with violence”, a rebuke on the heels of further sanctions from the US and European Union.

“Use of live ammunition against unarmed people is unacceptable,” the foreign ministers of the G7 group of rich democraciesCanada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Britain, the US together with the EU - said in a statement.

The condemnation came after the overnight blacklisting of another two members of the regime by the US - air force chief Maung Maung Kyaw and fellow junta member Moe Myint Tun after announcing targeted sanctions against other top generals earlier this month. Hours before, the EU approved sanctions targeting Myanmar’s military and their economic interests, with foreign policy chief Josep Borrell saying financial support to the government reform programmes is “withheld”.

Authorities have gradually ratcheted up their use of force against a massive and largely peaceful civil disobedience campaign demanding the return of ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Three anti-coup protesters have been killed in demonstrations so far, while a man patrolling his Yangon neighbourhood against night arrests was also shot dead on the weekend.

Protesters against the coup were back on the streets of cities and towns on Tuesday, a day after a call for a general strike shuttered shops and brought huge numbers out to demonstrate. In Mandalay, the country’s second-biggest city, a funeral was held for 37-year-old Thet Naing Win, one of two protesters shot dead by security forces on Saturday.

Amid pressure from the West, the junta leader has called for energetic efforts to revive an ailing economy, state media reported on Tuesday. Gen Min Aung Hlaing, in a meeting with his ruling council on Monday, called for state spending and imports to be cut and exports increased. “The council needs to put its energy into reviving the country’s ailing economy. Economic remedy measures must be taken,” state media quoted him a saying.