Myanmar army restores calm in riot-hit town

Toll crosses 32,over 9,000 displaced

MYANMARS army took control of a ruined central city on Saturday,imposing a tense calm after several days of clashes between Buddhists and Muslims left piles of corpses in the streets and buildings ablaze in the worst sectarian bloodshed to hit the Southeast Asian nation this year.

Truckloads of soldiers patrolled Meikhtila,taking up positions at intersections and banks as authorities delivered food and water to thousands of displaced Muslims who fled. Some residents,who had cowered indoors since the mayhem began Wednesday,emerged from their homes to inspect the destruction in which at least 32 people died.

President Thein Sein,a former general who vowed to bring democracy to Myanmar after half a century of military rule,imposed a state of emergency in the region Friday. The unrest was the first of its kind in the country since two similar bouts of bloodshed shook western Rakhine state last year,and its spread underscores both the immense challenges of reform and the governments failure to rein in anti-Muslim sentiment in a predominantly Buddhist nation. Even monks have armed themselves and staged anti-Muslim rallies,taking advantage of newfound freedom.

It was not immediately clear which side bore the brunt of the latest unrest,but at least five mosques were torched,and terrified Muslims,who make up about 30 per cent of Meikhtilas 100,000 inhabitants,have stayed off the streets as their shops and homes burned and Buddhist mobs carrying machetes and hammers tried to stop firefighters from dousing the flames.

Calm has been restored after troops took charge of security, said Win Htein,an opposition lawmaker from Meikhtila. So far,nearly 9,000 Muslim people have been relocated at a stadium and a police station for their safety.

Residents said rescue workers and volunteers were arriving from other towns to help,and local Buddhists gave food and water to displaced Muslims. Some Buddhists sought shelter at monasteries.

Little appeared to be left of some palm tree-lined neighborhoods,though,where the legs of victims could be seen poking out from smouldering masses of twisted debris and ash. Broken glass,destroyed motorcycles and overturned tables littered roads beside rows of burned-out homes and shops,evidence of the widespread chaos that swept the town.