In an interview with Associated Press in New York, Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin denied the charges that law enforcement or government troops failed to take necessary action.
Myanmar, a predominantly Buddhist nation of 60 million, is undergoing a mind-boggling political transformation after a half-century of brutal military rule.
But greater freedoms of expression have had a dark side, exposing deep-seated hatred toward Muslims that, fueled by radical monks, have ignited attacks first in western Rakhine state and then from Meikhtila in the country's center to Lashio near the Chinese border.
Under the new democratization, a poorly trained and ill-equipped police force—made up almost exclusively of Buddhists—is now tasked with dealing with sectarian violence, the army only stepping in at the invitation of civilian authorities or during states of emergency.
