Aung San Suu Kyi loses her gloss for failing to denounce killings

Where is Suu Kyi's famous 'moral authority' as Muslim Rohingya homes are razed to the ground?

CHIANG MAI - The iconic international image of Burma's charismatic opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi is rapidly losing its lustre as she maintains her silence on the continuing violence in her country's westernmost Rakhine State.

The violence began in June, sparked by allegations that a Buddhist girl had been raped by Muslim men. After an uneasy lull, Buddhists again went on the rampage last week, killing more than 100 members of the Muslim Rohingya minority community, who have been suffering severe state persecution for decades.

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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.