BURMA: Seven Dead in Myanmar Buddhist-Muslim Riot

Updated June 9, 2012, 6:59 a.m. ET
Seven Dead in Myanmar Rioting
Associated Press
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303753904577455991867946990.html?mod=WSJEUROPE_hpp_MIDDLEThirdNews

YANGON, Myanmar—Security forces in western Myanmar opened fire on rioters who burned hundreds of homes in sectarian violence that killed at least seven people, state-controlled media reported Saturday, adding that calm had been restored.

It was not clear if any of the casualties were caused by the security forces.

There are longstanding tensions between Buddhist residents and Muslims, many of whom are considered to be illegal settlers from neighboring Bangladesh. Although the root of the problem is local, centering on resentment of the alleged cross-border outsiders, there is fear that the trouble could spread elsewhere because the split also runs along religious lines.

Saturday's television report announced that troops reinforced police in Maungdaw and Buthidaung townships in Rakhine state, and state-run newspaper Myanma Ahlin said security forces opened fire to restore order. A dusk-to-dawn curfew was applied and public gatherings of more than five people banned.

According to the television report, seven people were killed and 17 wounded in Friday's violence. It said 494 houses, 19 shops and a guest house were burned down.

Myanma Ahlin reported that about 1,000 "terrorists" were responsible for the rampage, which also included a storming of Maungdaw General Hospital. State media did not otherwise identify the rioters, but the area is 90% Muslim, and local residents contacted by phone said the mob's members were Muslims. The dead were evidently all Buddhists, judging by their names.

The TV report said, without further elaboration, that Myanmar naval forces are taking security measures along the nearby coast on the Bay of Bengal.

The amount and timeliness of the information released by state media is nearly unprecedented. Under the previous military regime, incidents such as this rioting usually went unreported or were referred to only in brief, cryptic fashion.

The elected though military-backed government of President Thein Sein has tried to reverse decades of repression, including by allowing a much freer flow of information.

The trigger for the latest round of violence came with the rape and murder last month of a young Buddhist girl, allegedly by three Muslim youths. Some anti-Muslim pamphlets were circulated about the rape, evidently inflaming local Buddhists. On June 3, a mob attacked a bus carrying Muslims from from a religious gathering in Rakhine's Taunggup town, killing 10.

Dozens of Muslims protested peacefully in front of a mosque in downtown Yangon on Tuesday, calling for justice for the 10 and complaining about what they called derogatory terminology used by state-run newspapers.

This past week the government announced a special committee to investigate the bus attack and another unrelated case of violence in Rakhine the same day. The establishment of such a committee also breaks with precedent.

The Myanma Ahlin newspaper reported Saturday that the three rape suspects have been put on trial.

The problems in Rakhine state have long been overshadowed by the conflicts in other border areas between the government and large ethnic minorities seeking greater autonomy. While Thein Sein's government has concluded cease-fires with several ethnic guerrilla groups, it still faces a bitter insurgency in the north by the Kachin ethnic minority