Military coup in Myanmar, Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest: Reports

A military coup was taking place in Myanmar early Monday and State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi was detained under house arrest reports said as communications were cut to the capitalPhone and internet access to Naypyitaw was lost and Suu Kyis National League for Democracy party could not be reachedMyanmar lawmakers were to gather Monday in the capital Naypyitaw for the first session of Parliament since last years election with tension lingering over recent comments by the military that were widely seen as threatening a coupOnline news portal Myanmar Now cited unidentified sources about the arrest of Suu Kyi and the NLDs chairperson around dawn and did not have further details Myanmar Visual Television and Myanmar Voice Radio posted on Facebook around 630 am that their programs were not available to broadcast regularlyThe United States opposes any attempt to alter the outcome of recent elections or impede Myanmars democratic transition and will take action against those responsible if these steps are not reversed said White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki reported AFPThe 75yearold Suu Kyi is by far the countrys most dominant politician and became the countrys leader after leading a decadeslong nonviolent struggle against military ruleSuu Kyis party captured 396 out of 476 seats in the combined lower and upper houses of Parliament in the November polls but the military holds 2537 of the total seats under the 2008 militarydrafted constitution and several key ministerial positions are also reserved for military appointeesThe military known as the Tatmadaw charged that there was massive voting fraud in the election though it has failed to provide proof The state Union Election Commission last week rejected its allegationsAmid the bickering over the allegations the military last Tuesday ramped up political tension when a spokesman at its weekly news conference responding to a reporters question declined to rule out the possibility of a coup Maj Gen Zaw Min Tun elaborated by saying the military would follow the laws in accordance with the constitutionUsing similar language CommanderinChief Senior Gen Min Aung Hlaing told senior officers in a speech Wednesday that the constitution could be revoked if the laws were not being properly enforced Adding to the concern was the unusual deployment of armored vehicles in the streets of several large citiesOn Saturday however the military denied it had threatened a coup accusing unnamed organizations and media of misrepresenting its position and taking the generals words out of contextOn Sunday it reiterated its denial this time blaming unspecified foreign embassies of misinterpreting the militarys position and calling on them not to make unwarranted assumptions about the situationUS officials at the National Security Council and the State Department said they were aware of the reports but could not confirm a coup and detentions had taken placeThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever