He arrived in the Rakhine state capital of Sittwe and was scheduled to travel to several more towns in the area, including Maungdaw to the north and Thandwe to the south, where Buddhist mobs started torching Muslim homes Sunday, a senior official in the president's office said.
He declined to be identified because he was not authorized to speak about the sensitive trip.
Sectarian clashes that began in Rakhine state in June 2012 have since morphed into an anti-Muslim campaign that has spread to towns and villages nationwide.
