Yangon (AFP)

Burmese generals on Thursday ordered internet providers to block access to Facebook, a vital communications tool in Burma, three days after their coup against the civilian government of Aung San Suu Kyi, while calls to resist the putsch were spreading.

The army abruptly ended the country's fragile democratic transition on Monday, establishing a state of emergency for one year and arresting Aung San Suu Kyi and other officials of his party, the National League for Democracy (LND ).

The 75-year-old ex-leader, who has since been held in solitary confinement, has been charged with violating an obscure trade rule.

Several hundred army supporters gathered in Naypyidaw, the capital, on Thursday.

“We no longer want national traitors sold to foreign countries,” “Tatmadaw (the armed forces) loves people,” read the signs.

In the streets, no major demonstration has taken place since the coup, fear of reprisals remaining strong in the country which has lived, since its independence in 1948, under a military dictatorship for almost 50 years.

But the signs of resistance were increasing.

A small rally was held in Mandalay (center), demonstrators carrying signs: "People's protest against the military coup!".

Four people were arrested, according to local media.

AFP has not been able to confirm these arrests with the authorities at this stage.

In Yangon, at nightfall, locals honked their horns and banged on buckets and pans for the third night in a row, some chanting: "Long live Mother Suu!"

Kyi.

On social networks, lawyers wore a red ribbon, in the colors of the NLD, and made the three-fingered salute, a gesture of resistance adopted by the pro-democrats in Hong Kong or Thailand.

Health professionals also took part in the protest, refusing to go to work.

In response, the military announced that people could seek treatment in military hospitals.

Groups calling for "civil disobedience" have sprung up on Facebook, the gateway to the Internet for a large part of the population.

"We have the digital power (...) to oppose the junta," said activist Thinzar Shunlei Yi.

The platform said its services were "disrupted".

Norwegian company Telnor, one of the country's main telecommunications providers, confirmed that authorities had issued an order to "temporarily block" the network.

We cut the connection, but "we do not believe this measure is in accordance with international law."

The military has issued a warning against any publication or speech that would encourage riots or an unstable situation.

- "Concern" of the Security Council -

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said he would do everything "to mobilize all key players and the international community to put enough pressure on Burma to ensure that (the) coup d ' State fails ".

The Security Council expressed in a statement Thursday its "deep concern" and called for "the release of all detainees".

This text, written by the United Kingdom, however no longer condemns the military coup, as envisaged in a first text during an emergency meeting on Tuesday.

China and Russia - which have a veto power in the Council - opposed this formulation, diplomats said.

China remains Burma's main support at the United Nations, where it thwarted any initiative during the Rohingya crisis.

The United States and the European Union are planning new sanctions on the country.

London has condemned the "detention and charge" of Aung San Suu Kyi.

- Personal ambition -

The United States is considering "targeted sanctions both against individuals and against military-controlled entities," said Jake Sullivan, Joe Biden's national security adviser.

The head of the Burmese army, Min Aung Hlaing, who now concentrates most of the powers, justified his putsch by evoking "enormous" frauds during the legislative elections of November won massively by the LND.

In reality, the generals feared that, despite a constitution that was very favorable to them, their influence would wane after Aung San Suu Kyi's victory, analysts say.

Min Aung Hlaing, an international outcast since the army's abuses against the Rohingyas, also overthrew the leader out of personal political ambition when he was close to retirement, according to these experts.

The 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner was indicted for breaking an import and export law, the NLD said, after authorities found unregistered walkie-talkies in her home.

Aung San Suu Kyi, daughter of a murdered independence hero, has been worshiped in her country since she took the lead in the democratic opposition to the junta in 1988, spending 15 years under house arrest.

On the other hand, his image was much tarnished internationally, with many voices condemning his passivity in the Rohingya crisis.

© 2021 AFP