Turnell said on Saturday he was being detained, the first known
arrest of a foreign national since the Feb. 1 military coup that
overthrew Suu Kyi’s elected government.
Amid concern about Turnell's welfare, Payne said Australia's
ambassador to Myanmar has now spoken with the economist.
"Our Ambassador and professor Turnell discussed his health,
welfare and the conditions in which he is being detained," Payne
said in an emailed statement.
Turnell is a professor of economics at Macquarie University in
Sydney and has been advising Suu Kyi on economic policy for
several years. Australia earlier this week called for his
immediate release.
Separately on Thursday, a close aide to ousted Myanmar leader
Suu Kyi was detained in a new wave of arrests following last
week's military coup, a party official said, as Washington moved
a step closer to imposing sanctions on the junta.
(Reporting by Colin Packham; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
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