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Fearful Myanmar Muslims shelter in monastery

By TODD PITMAN | Associated Press

• View Photo Associated Press/Gemunu Amarasinghe - Hundreds of Buddhists on motorcycles armed with sticks patrol in the streets of in Lashio, northern Shan State, Myanmar, Wednesday, May 29, 2013. Sectarian violence spread to a new region of Myanmar, with a mob burning shops in the northeastern town after unconfirmed rumors spread that a Muslim man had set fire to a Buddhist woman. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe)

 Some 1,200 Muslims are sheltering in a Buddhist monastery in Myanmar's northeastern town of Lashio, where troops are keeping order after two days of violence that saw one person killed and Muslim properties burned down.

Hari, a Muslim member of the interreligious Conflict Prevention Committee, said some of those sheltering Thursday had lost their homes, and others were just seeking safety.

The rioting began after a Muslim man splashed gasoline on a Buddhist woman and set her on fire. Buddhist mobs responded by burning down several Muslim-owned shops and a mosque and an Islamic orphanage. Roving motorcyclists on Wednesday continued the violence, leaving one person dead and four injured.

Deadly anti-Muslim violence that began last year in western Myanmar has undermined the credibility of reformist President Thein Sein's administration.