MYANMAR: Radical Myanmar Buddhist monk unhurt in bomb blast

Record ID: 357678

  • Title: MYANMAR: Radical Myanmar Buddhist monk unhurt in bomb blast
  • Date: 22nd July 2013
  • Summary: YANGON, MYANMAR (FILE - JUNE 13, 2013) (REUTERS) MEETING ROOM WITH BANNER READING: "BUDDHA LEADERS CONFERENCE ON SOLVING CURRENT COMMUNAL CONFLICT" VARIOUS OF MONKS TAKING NOTES WHILE OTHER MONKS SPEAK (SOUNDBITE) (Burmese) MONK WIRATHU, MEMBER OF GROUP PROPOSING NATIONAL BUDDHIST PROTECTION LAW, SAYING: "This law is my dream. I've given speeches like this in different pla
  • Embargoed: 6th August 2013 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Myanmar
  • Country: Myanmar
  • Topics: Crime,Conflict,Religion
  • Reuters ID: LVA5E4WKV0XGJU4T4V51UZ3YKXV5
  • Story Text: A bomb exploded meters away from a radical Buddhist monk as he delivered a mass sermon in Myanmar, police said on Monday (July 22), the latest flare-up in tensions pitting Buddhists against minority Muslims.
    Wirathu, the prominent monk who heads a movement accused of stirring violence against Muslims, said he believed the blast on Sunday evening (July 21) in Myanmar's second city, Mandalay, was intended to silence him.
    The home-made bomb went off inside a parked car, according to police and witnesses. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.
    Wirathu was unharmed, despite being 40 feet from the blast, according to police. Five people were slightly injured, including a novice monk.
    Tensions have been smoldering between radical elements of Myanmar's Buddhist majority and Muslims. Bouts of religious violence have killed at least 237 people and displaced 150,000 in the past year, testing the resolve of a two-year-old quasi-civilian government.
    The device exploded during a ceremony conducted by Wirathu, who once called himself "the Burmese bin Laden". He is the chief proponent of a movement known as 969.
    The 969 movement has been accused of stirring anti-Muslim sentiment in a deeply Buddhist nation, where curbs on freedom of speech and assembly have eased since the end of military rule two years ago.
    A Reuters investigation last month showed 969 monks were providing a moral justification for a wave of anti-Muslim bloodshed that could derail Myanmar's nascent reforms.
    Government officials were unavailable for comment about Sunday's explosion.
    Buddhists make up about 90 percent of the estimated 60 million population of Myanmar.
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