SITTWE,
MYANMAR - North-Western Myanmar was
tense yesterday, after sectarian violence engulfed its largest city over the
weekend, with rival mobs of Rohingya Muslims and Rakhine Buddhists torching
houses, and police firing into the air to disperse crowds.
At
least eight people were killed and many wounded, said the authorities, in the
worst communal violence since a reformist government replaced a junta last year
and vowed to forge unity in one of Asia's most ethnically diverse countries.
"We
have not had any sleep for the last five days," said Ms Ma Ohn May, a
42-year-old textile-shop owner in the coastal port of Sittwe, adding that
residents were holed up and bracing themselves for further ethnic clashes.
The
fighting erupted last Friday in the Rakhine state's town of Maungdaw, but has
spread to the capital Sittwe and villages nearby, prompting the government to
declare on Sunday a state of emergency and impose a dawn-to-dusk curfew.
On
Sunday, Reuters saw residents of a mainly Rakhine village near Sittwe set
ablaze houses which they said were Muslim-owned.
Foreign-aid
workers have begun pulling out, aid sources said.
Plumes
of black smoke rose over parts of Sittwe, a port town of mainly wooden houses
where Buddhists and Muslims have long lived in uneasy proximity. Some Buddhists
were seen carrying bamboo stakes and other makeshift weapons.
Mr Zaw
Htay, director of the President's Office, said: "We have now ordered
troops to protect the airport and the Rakhine villages under attack in
Sittwe."
The
unrest undermines the image of ethnic unity and stability that helped persuade
the United States and Europe to suspend economic sanctions this year, while
increasing curfews could threaten tourism and foreign investment - rewards for
emerging from nearly half a century of army rule.
The
region's Rohingya Muslims are seen by the government as illegal immigrants from
Bangladesh and are not officially recognised as one of the country's national
ethnic minorities.
Although
some are recent settlers, many have lived in Myanmar for generations.
The
government's position has rendered the Rohingya people effectively stateless,
and rights groups said that they have long suffered discrimination.
Mr Phil
Robertson, the deputy Asia director for Human Rights Watch, said: "It's a
tinderbox. These people feel like they're trapped in a box, surrounded by
enemies, and there is an extremely high level of frustration.
AFP/Reuters
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