Myanmar

(Reuters) --- Myanmar's pro-democracy unity government, formed to oppose the military junta that seized power nearly three months ago, on Wednesday ruled out talks on the crisis until all political prisoners are released.

The 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has been trying to find a path for Myanmar out of the bloody turmoil that followed the Feb. 1 coup and has called for an end to violence and talks between all sides.

(Reuters) --- Ethnic minority Karen insurgents attacked a Myanmar army outpost near the Thai border on Tuesday in some of the most intense clashes since a military coup nearly three months ago threw the country into crisis.

The Karen National Union (KNU), Myanmar's oldest rebel force, said it had captured the army camp on the west bank of the Salween river, which forms the border with Thailand.

The Myanmar military later hit back against the insurgents with air strikes, the KNU and Thai authorities said.

(Reuters) --- Activists opposed to Myanmar's military junta called on people to stop paying electricity bills and agricultural loans from Monday, and to keep their children away from school, scorning the top general's pledge at a regional summit to end the post-coup crisis.

Scattered protests took place in Myanmar's big cities on Sunday, a day after Senior General Min Aung Hlaing reached an agreement at a summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Indonesia.

(Reuters) --- Myanmar's pro-democracy activists sharply criticised an agreement between the country's junta chief and Southeast Asian leaders to end the nation's violent post-coup crisis and vowed on Sunday to continue their protest campaign.

Some scattered peaceful protests took place in Myanmar's big cities on Sunday, a day after the meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) with Senior General Min Aung Hlaing in Jakarta, Indonesia, reached a consensus to end the turmoil in the country, but gave no timeline.

(Reuters) --- Myanmar authorities detained a Japanese journalist in Yangon on Sunday evening, Japan's government said on Monday, adding that it was trying to seek his release.

BBC Burmese quoted a witness as saying freelance journalist Yuki Kitazumi was picked up from his home and taken into custody by troops on Sunday night. He was asked to raise both hands and was taken away in a car, it said.

Japan's government spokesman described the journalist as a man in his forties, without naming him.

Tokyo, Apr 19 (AP-PTI) Japan's government said on Monday it is asking Myanmar to release a Japanese journalist who was arrested by security forces in its largest city of Yangon the previous day.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato told reporters Monday that his government is asking Myanmar authorities to explain the arrest and provide other details while asking for his release as soon as possible.

(Reuters) --- Myanmar's neighbours have to negotiate with a newly formed government of national unity if they want to help resolve the turmoil triggered a by a Feb. 1 military coup and they should not recognise the junta, a unity government official said.

The 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has been trying to find a way out of the bloody crisis that has racked member Myanmar since the military ousted an elected government led by democracy champion Aung San Suu Kyi.

(Reuters) --- Myanmar junta chief Min Aung Hlaing will attend an Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Indonesia on April 24, a Thai foreign ministry spokesman said on Saturday, for his first known foreign trip since he staged a Feb. 1 coup.

Myanmar has been in upheaval since Min Aung Hlaing ousted an elected government led by democracy champion Aung San Suu Kyi, with security forces killing 728 people, according to an activist group tally, in an attempt to stamp out protests.

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — Myanmar’s junta on Saturday announced it pardoned and released more than 23,000 prisoners to mark the new year holiday, but it wasn’t immediately clear if they included pro-democracy activists who were detained in the wake of the February coup.

The release was announced on state broadcaster MRTV, which said that the military leader Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing pardoned the 23,047 prisoners, including 137 foreigners who will be deported from Myanmar. He also reduced sentences for others.

(Reuters) -Myanmar security forces arrested on Thursday one of the main leaders of the campaign against military rule after ramming him with a car as he led a motorbike protest rally, friends and colleagues said.

Opponents of a Feb. 1 coup that ousted an elected government led by Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi have kept up their campaign against the military this traditional New Year week with marches and various other displays of resistance.