Int'l powers raise alarm ahead of Mynamar polls
The United States, Japan and other major powers yesterday raised fears that rising religious tensions in Myanmar could spark "division and conflict" as campaigning begins for historic elections.
Myanmar goes to the polls on November 8 in what many hope will be its freest vote in generations after decades of army rule, with Aung San Suu Kyi's opposition party widely tipped to make huge gains.
But religious tensions are spiking in the Buddhist-majority country, which has seen sporadic outbursts of often deadly religious unrest in recent years, with minority Muslims facing increasing political exclusion as the influence of nationalist monks grows.
"We, as international partners invested in the success of this country and these elections, are concerned about the prospect of religion being used as a tool of division and conflict during the campaign season," the statement said.
It was signed by the embassies of Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Norway, Japan, Sweden, Britain and the US.
In March Myanmar revoked temporary identification documents -- a move affecting hundreds of thousands of Rohingya, who have since been stripped of voting rights after parliament banned people without full citizenship from voting.
Suu Kyi has accused opponents of "using religion" against her NLD party.
But neither her opposition or the ruling party has put forward any Muslim candidates for the polls, despite the minority making up some four percent of the population.
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