United Nations: Former Secretary General Kofi Annan told the UN Security Council that violence against Myanmar's Rohingya must stop and that all of the refugees who fled to Bangladesh must be allowed to return to live in dignity.
Speaking in his capacity as head of the advisory commission on Rakhine state which has been the scene ethnic strife pitting the country's Buddhist majority against the Rohingya Muslims, Annan said the international community must work with the civilian government and the military to address the root causes of the violence.
The long simmering tensions in Rakhine state reached a boiling point on Aug. 25 when insurgents attacked government security forces who responded with a violent crackdown on Rohingya villages forcing a mass exodus.
The violence has shocked and surprised international supporters of Myanmar's leader Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Ky, who expected her to forcefully denounce the violence. Instead she has remained largely silent or even appeared to support the actions of the military against the minority Rohingya.
British Ambassador Matthew Rycroft, however, said he believed Suu Ky had now come around to supporting the suggestions in Annan's report.
While the Security Council is considering a resolution in response to Annan's report it remains unclear whether the international community is prepared to levy sanctions against Myanmar and Annan himself told reporters that should the government fail to act on his suggestions there was no plan B.
Michael Astor of American Television News reports from the Security Council at the United Nations.