(Updates with detail on violence, warrants for prominent
opponents)
* Junta orders wireless broadband halt
* Protesters look for new ways to communicate
* Suu Kyi, allies charged under state secrets law
* Flower "strikes" held to remember dead
April 2 (Reuters) - Opponents of military rule in Myanmar
marched and laid bouquets of flowers on Friday while trying to
find alternative ways to organise their campaign of dissent
after the authorities cut off most users from the internet.
Protests have taken place almost daily since the military
overthrew the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi on Feb. 1.
Hundreds of civilians have been killed in a crackdown by
security forces that has drawn international condemnation.
On Friday, security forces opened fire at a rally near
Myanmar's second city Mandalay, wounding four people, two
critically, according to three domestic media organisations.
In the town of Tamu on the Indian border, a policemen who
supported the democracy movement killed five policemen in a
grenade attack on a police station before soldiers killed him,
the Myanmar Now news portal reported.
Across the country, demonstrators left bouquets of flowers ,
many with messages of defiance, at places associated with
activists killed by the security forces.
The authorities, who had already shut down mobile data in a
bid to stifle opposition to the ruling military junta, ordered
internet providers from Friday to cut wireless broadband,
depriving most customers of access.
In response, pro-democracy groups shared radio frequencies,
offline apps that work without a data connection, and tips for
using SMS messages as an alternative to data services to
communicate.
Protest leader Khin Sadar called in a Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) post in
anticipation of the internet blackout for people to join as many
"guerrilla protests" as possible, referring quick demonstrations
in unusual paces that break up when security forces appear.
"Let's listen to the radio again. Let's make phone calls to
each other too," Khin Sadar said.
The military did not announce or explain its order to
providers to cut wireless broadband. Internet was available only
on fixed lines, rare in Myanmar where most people connect
through wireless networks.
A spokesman for the junta did not answer telephone calls
seeking comment.
Despite the internet shutdown, users were still able to
upload pictures of marches, "flower strikes" and a funeral of a
slain protester.
An image shared widely on social media showed a bird's eye
view of hundreds of flickering candles on a dark road, spelling
out the words "we will never surrender".
People held up roses while making three-finger salutes, a
symbol of resistance. One arrangement of dandelions and red
roses on a lakeside walkway read: "Myanmar is bleeding".
'MEDIATE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE'
More than 540 people have been killed in the uprising, many
of them when troops fired on crowds, according to the
Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) advocacy group, which
tracks casualties and detentions.
The junta has said those killed instigated violence. The
military says it staged the coup because an election in November
- won by Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy - was rigged
and the election commission failed to heed its complaints. The
commission has dismissed that assertion.
Suu Kyi, a longtime democracy campaigner who won the Nobel
Peace Prize in 1991, is in detention.
She and four allies have been charged with violating a
colonial-era official secrets act, her chief lawyer said on
Thursday, the most serious charge against her. Violations are
punishable by up to 14 years in prison.
The security forces have also arrested numerous suspected
opponents of the coup. Myanmar Now said five women who spoke to
a visiting CNN news crew on the streets of Yangon this week had
been taken away by security men.
Authorities have issued warrants for 18 show business
celebrities, social media "influencers" and two journalists
under a law against material intended to cause a member of the
armed forces to mutiny or disregard their duty, state media
reported. All of them are known to oppose military rule.
Western countries have condemned the coup and some have
imposed limited sanctions. But neither China nor India, which
compete for influence, have denounced Suu Kyi's overthrow.
Myanmar's neighbours in the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN) have traditionally been reluctant to criticise
their fellow member under a principle of non-interference. But
there is growing dismay with a country that has for decades
raised international concerns over its domestic repression.
Several Southeast Asian foreign ministers met separately
this week with a senior official in China, which is a major
investor in Myanmar and one of the few countries able to
influence the generals, to seek its backing for a bid to find a
path out of the crisis.
"China...supports the convening of a special meeting of
ASEAN leaders to mediate as soon as possible," the Chinese
government's top diplomat, Wang Yi, said after talks with
Malaysian foreign minister Hishammuddin Hussein.