Is Burma regime inciting Rakhine conflict to discredit Aung San Suu Kyi?

Conflict between Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims could force opposition leader to make an unpopular intervention

Aung San Suu Kyi

CHIANG MAI – As sectarian violence continues unabated in Burma's westernmost state of Arakan, suspicion is growing that the clashes between Buddhists and minority Muslims are part of a government plot to discredit the hugely popular opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and weaken the threat she poses to its military-backed power base.

"The violence is clearly well orchestrated and not as spontaneous as we are being led to believe," said Burma expert and author Bertil Lintner, whose latest book, Great Game East, is about to be published. The book deals with "the power play in the eastern border regions of the Indian subcontinent".

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Edward Loxton, a former Daily Telegraph correspondent in Europe, reports on events in Thailand, Burma and Laos from his base in Chiang Mai. He is currently working on a book on human trafficking in Southeast Asia.