TWO Myanmar citizens have been charged over an alleged plot to assassinate the country’s ambassador to the United Nations, Kyaw Moe Tun, who has refused orders by the military junta to quit.

Phyo Hein Htut, 28, and Ye Hein Zaw, 20, face up to five years in a US prison after being charged in a federal court in Westchester on Friday.

US spooks are believed to have foiled the conspiracy last month and the pair have admitted involvement in the alleged plot to force Mr Kyaw to resign or be killed.

New York attorney Audrey Strauss said the two men planned an “attack on a foreign official that was to take place on American soil.”

Federal Bureau of Investigations acting assistant director Jacqueline Maguire praised security service for acting “quickly and diligently.”

Myanmar was plunged into turmoil when the military seized power in a coup on February 1, citing unfounded allegations of fraud in November’s elections, which were won by Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD).

She, along with other leading NLD figures, face lengthy prison sentences. More than 900 people have been killed during anti-military protests, according to monitoring groups.