Myanmar president resigns

YANGON, Mar 21 (AFP): Myanmar's President Htin Kyaw resigned suddenly on Wednesday leaving the country's de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi without a close confidant and political ally as she faces rising international opprobrium over the Rakhine crisis.

The president, an old school friend of Suu Kyi, served as her proxy in an office she was barred from occupying under Myanmar's military-drafted constitution.

His role was largely ceremonial with Suu Kyi calling the shots within her civilian administration, under the self-appointed title of State Counsellor.

But he was nonetheless the country's head of state and a key domestic ally for Suu Kyi within her party.

Myanmar's Vice President Myint Swe, a retired general close to the former junta leader Than Shwe, will temporarily move into the role until a new president is in place, according to the constitution.

Observers say this will likely make some inside Suu Kyi's ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) party queasy as, in theory, decisions could be pushed through - or held back - in this time.