Rangoon - (AFP) - The Burmese authorities are detaining the former British ambassador to Burma, Vicki Bowman, a diplomatic source told AFP Thursday.

Vicki Bowman, who was her country's ambassador to Burma between 2002 and 2006, was arrested on Wednesday in Rangoon, the country's economic capital, which has been witnessing violent conflict since the February 1, 2021 coup, according to this source, who asked not to be identified.

Prior to assuming this position, Bowman was a Diplomat with the rank of Second Secretary at the British Embassy from 1990 to 1993.

"We are concerned about the detention of a British woman in Myanmar ," a British embassy spokesman told AFP. "We are in contact with the local authorities and providing consular assistance," he added.

The diplomatic source said that Boman's husband, the well-known artist Htin Lin, was also detained. Local media reported that Bowman and her husband have been transferred to Insein Prison in Rangoon and will be charged with immigration violations.

The law stipulates a five-year prison sentence for each such charge.

A spokesman for the military group did not respond to AFP's requests for comment.

Bowman is a manager at the Myanmar Center for Responsible Business and is fluent in Burmese.

Htin Lin was arrested in 1998 and imprisoned on charges of opposing the ruling military council at the time. After his release in 2004, he caught the attention of then-Ambassador Bowman through a series of paintings he made while in prison using contraband.

She persuaded him to let her take the paintings for his own safety, and they married in 2006.

Relations between the UK and Burma have been tense since the 2021 coup.

Earlier this year, the military council criticized Britain's recent downgrade of its mission level in the country, describing the decision as "unacceptable".

The British government imposed sanctions on many companies and individuals associated with the military in the aftermath of the military takeover.