Govt rebukes Najib over Rohingya defence

YANGON: Myanmar’s government lashed out at Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak yesterday, accusing him of using the Rohingya crisis unfolding in Rakhine state for his own “political interests”.

The premier of Muslim-majority Malaysia has been a vocal critic of Myanmar since violence erupted in the north of the state in October, when the army started hunting attackers behind deadly raids on police border posts.

Since then at least 66,000 Rohingya have fled to neighbouring Bangladesh alleging security forces are carrying out a campaign of rape, torture and mass killings Mr Najib has said amounts to “genocide”.

On Thursday he used a meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to call for an end to the “unspeakable cruelty” being unleashed against the Muslim minority. Myanmar denies the allegations of abuse of the Rohingya, instead blaming “fake news” for spreading unfounded accusations.

Mr Najib is “is using Myanmar for his own political interests, against the principles of Asean”, deputy director of Myanmar’s foreign ministry, Aye Aye Soe, said.

“They criticise us without hesitation based on news reports from different places, including news from unreliable sources, without discussing the issue like a good neighbour. We are deeply sorry about this.”