Myanmar neighbors press for Suu Kyi release
Myanmar police opened fire and used water cannon to disperse protests against a military coup on Tuesday (March 2).
As foreign ministers of neighboring countries - ASEAN members - held talks with the junta, via video call, and pressed it to release ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi and stop what Singapore called its "disastrous" use of "lethal" force.
Police fired live ammunition to disperse a crowd in the northwestern town of Kale, where four people were wounded. Protesters threw things at advancing police, a witness said.
Hundreds of protesters, many in hard hats and clutching makeshift shields, also gathered in the main city of Yangon, chanting slogans against military rule.
Some set up barricades, and police used stun grenades and tear gas.
Supporters of democracy have criticized Tuesday's intervention by ASEAN, which has a policy of non-interference in each others' affairs.
A committee of ousted Myanmar lawmakers declared the junta a "terrorist" group and said engaging with it could give it legitimacy.
At least six journalists have been arrested since the coup one month ago.
"Help, don't shoot me," says this Democratic Voice of Burma reporter, who live-streamed police firing near his apartment on Monday night before they seized him.
The ouster has drawn condemnation and sanctions from the United States and other Western countries.
Nobel Peace laureate Suu Kyi appeared at a court hearing via video link on Monday and looked in good health, one of her lawyers said.
She hasn't been seen in public since the coup.
