NEW YORK, 07 August 2021, (TON): Two Myanmar citizens have been arrested in New York state for plotting with an arms dealer in Thailand, who sells weapons to the Burmese military to kill or injure Myanmar’s ambassador to the United Nations.

The US attorney’s office for the southern district of New York said that Phyo Hein Htut, 28, and Ye Hein Zaw, 20, had each been charged with one count of conspiracy to assault and make a violent attack upon a foreign official, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.

Ambassador Kyaw Moe Tun, who represents Myanmar’s elected civilian government which was overthrown by the military in February. A threat had been made against him and US authorities had stepped up his security.

The ambassador did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the charges. Myanmar’s junta fired him in February, after he appealed for the international community “to use any means necessary” to take action against the Myanmar military which seized power from civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

For now, however, he remains the country’s UN envoy because the UN has not acknowledged the junta.

According to the legal complaint, Phyo Hein Htut told media investigators that the arms dealer in Thailand had contacted him online and offered him money to hire attackers to hurt the ambassador and force him to step down.