JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) - Several thousand people marched in Indonesia's capital on Wednesday, calling on the government of the world's most populous Muslim nation to put more pressure on Myanmar to halt the persecution of its Rohingya Muslim minority.

The demonstration was the largest in a series of protests this week by Indonesians against Myanmar's government and its leader, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. It was organized by the Islamic Defenders Front, a vigilante group, but also joined by mainstream Muslim groups.

The U.N. says about 125,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled to Bangladesh after a military crackdown in Myanmar's Rakhine state. The government of the predominantly Buddhist country says the crackdown is in response to attacks on police and paramilitary posts.

The Indonesian government risks a backlash from Muslim voters if its response to the crisis is perceived as insufficiently robust. But its room for maneuver is limited by a consensus among Southeast Asian nations of avoiding open criticism of each other.

Indonesia's foreign minister met with Suu Kyi and the head of Myanmar's armed forces on Monday. She said she pressed them to immediately end all violence in Rakhine and promised Indonesia would respond to the crisis with humanitarian aid.

Sobri Lubis, a protest organizer from the Islamic Defenders Front, called for Indonesia to expel Myanmar's ambassador, the United Nations to impose sanctions on Myanmar and for Sui Kyi's Nobel Prize to be revoked.

"The world does not care so we are gathering here to show the world that the Rohingya are not alone. Indonesian Muslims will stand and fight to defend them from injustice and brutality," he said.

Demonstrators were met with a show of force by police, who blocked streets around Myanmar's already cordoned-off embassy in Jakarta with vehicles and barriers. Jakarta police spokesman Argo Yuwono estimated about 5,000 people had joined the protest.

Elsewhere in Indonesia, schoolchildren in Bandung and civil servants in Ambon held mass prayers while hundreds protested in Medan, Indonesia's third-largest city. </s> YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — Several thousand pro-military and nationalist demonstrators marched through Yangon on Sunday, voicing their support for Myanmar's armed forces and government while condemning foreign involvement in the country's affairs.

The march led to a stage lined with portraits of Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, where speakers addressed a flag-waving crowd and condemned the international community's involvement in Myanmar, claiming groups would "fight back" against international bodies who have called for the investigation and prosecution of the country's top generals.

"We, the people of Myanmar, strongly denounce and condemn any intervention or intrusion by the foreign countries, international communities and various organizations which unrightfully manipulate our nation and our Myanmar armed forces," proclaimed one of the speakers of the event, reading from a prepared statement.

Nationalist monk Wirathu also gave a speech calling for the international community to stay out of Myanmar's national affairs.

"The day the International Criminal Court comes to our country, that's the day R2P (responsibility to protect) comes to our country. That'll be the day that Wirathu picks up a gun," Wirathu said.

A United Nations fact-finding mission reported last month that Myanmar's military systematically killed thousands of Rohingya Muslim civilians, burned hundreds of their villages and engaged in ethnic cleansing and mass rape. It called for top generals to be investigated and prosecuted for genocide.

Myanmar government spokesman Zaw Htay was unable to be reached for comment Sunday.

This story has been corrected to show that "R2P" refers to "responsibility to protect." </s> Several thousand people marched in Indonesia's capital on Wednesday, calling on the government of the world's most populous Muslim nation to put more pressure on Myanmar to halt the persecution of its Rohingya Muslim minority.

The demonstration was the largest in a series of protests this week by Indonesians against Myanmar's government and its leader, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. It was organized by the Islamic Defenders Front, a vigilante group, but also joined by mainstream Muslim groups.

The U.N. says about 125,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled to Bangladesh after a military crackdown in Myanmar's Rakhine state. The government of the predominantly Buddhist country says the crackdown is in response to attacks on police and paramilitary posts.

The Indonesian government risks a backlash from Muslim voters if its response to the crisis is perceived as insufficiently robust. But its room for maneuver is limited by a consensus among Southeast Asian nations of avoiding open criticism of each other.

Indonesia's foreign minister met with Suu Kyi and the head of Myanmar's armed forces on Monday. She said she pressed them to immediately end all violence in Rakhine and promised Indonesia would respond to the crisis with humanitarian aid.

Sobri Lubis, a protest organizer from the Islamic Defenders Front, called for Indonesia to expel Myanmar's ambassador, the United Nations to impose sanctions on Myanmar and for Sui Kyi's Nobel Prize to be revoked.

"The world does not care so we are gathering here to show the world that the Rohingya are not alone. Indonesian Muslims will stand and fight to defend them from injustice and brutality," he said.

Demonstrators were met with a show of force by police, who blocked streets around Myanmar's already cordoned-off embassy in Jakarta with vehicles and barriers. Jakarta police spokesman Argo Yuwono estimated about 5,000 people had joined the protest.

Elsewhere in Indonesia, schoolchildren in Bandung and civil servants in Ambon held mass prayers while hundreds protested in Medan, Indonesia's third-largest city. </s> The conflict in Rakhine has sent hundreds of Rohingya Muslims fleeing to neighboring Bangladesh and poses a serious challenge to leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who swept to power last year on promises of national reconciliation.

At least 86 people are reported to have been killed in escalating violence that has displaced about 30,000 in the region's most serious bloodshed since hundreds were killed in communal clashes in 2012.

The Malaysian foreign ministry called on all parties involved to refrain from actions that could aggravate the situation.

"Malaysia also calls on the government of Myanmar to take all the necessary actions to address the alleged ethnic cleansing in the northern Rakhine State," it said in a statement.

"The ministry will summon the ambassador of Myanmar to convey the government of Malaysia’s concern over this issue," it added, without giving a timeframe.

Hundreds of Rohingya Muslims marched in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur, condemning the bloody crackdown on the persecuted minority and slamming Nobel Peace Prize winner Suu Kyi for her inaction.

Protesters demanded humanitarian aid for Rakhine, and urged that the military seize all attackers.

"The Myanmar government says the claims are all fabricated but they are not fabricated," Rohingya community leader Muhammed Noor told reporters, referring to reports of incidents of killing, rapes of wives and daughters and home burnings.

"This movement has to continue, to pressure the government to stop the killing."

This week, Muslim-majority Malaysia it was considering pulling out from a regional soccer tournament co-hosted by Myanmar in protest against the crackdown. But it later decided to continue.

Protests were also held simultaneously in Bangkok, the capital of neighboring Thailand, and in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta.

Protesters in Jakarta called for the Nobel panel to cancel its award to Suu Kyi.

Indonesia is "ready and willing" to help Myanmar initiate dialogue, its foreign minister, Retno Marsudi, said this week.

Many among the Buddhist majority in Myanmar view its 1.1 million Rohingya as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.

Persecution and poverty led thousands of Rohingya to flee Myanmar following the violence between Buddhists and Muslims there four years ago. Many of them were smuggled or trafficked to Thailand, Malaysia and beyond. </s> Hundreds of Indonesians, angered over the persecution of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar, protested Thursday outside the Myanmar Embassy in the Indonesian capital.

Jakarta police spokesman Awi Setiyono said at least 200 people joined the demonstration. They marched in three groups to the embassy, which was guarded by dozens of police, and staged a noisy but peaceful protest.

The protesters held big banners that read, "Stop Muslim genocide in Myanmar," and shouted "Save Rohingya."

Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, is a strong supporter of the Rohingya cause in predominantly-Buddhist Myanmar.

An anti-Myanmar protest is also planned Friday by a youth group in Muslim-majority Malaysia, and the country's sports minister has called for Malaysia to withdraw from a Southeast Asian football tournament that Myanmar will participate in.

The Myanmar government does not recognize the Rohingya as citizens, though they have lived in the country for generations. Persecution of Rohinyga has escalated in the past several years and they face violence instigated by Buddhist hardl-iners and institutionalized discrimination.

High-definition satellite images analyzed by Human Rights Watch show the destruction this month of 1,250 buildings in five Rohingya villages in Rakhine state, where the military is carrying out counter-insurgency operations.

Ko Ko Linn, an activist of the Arakan Rohingya National Organization, has said that more than 100 people have been killed and more than 1,000 homes destroyed in the crackdown.

The claims are impossible to verify, as is the government's account of events, because of restrictions on journalists and aid workers entering the region.

Myanmar's presidential spokesman Zaw Htay accused Human Rights Watch of exaggeration after the release of an initial set of satellite imagery that showed 430 destroyed buildings in three villages.

Indonesian extremists responded to sectarian violence in Myanmar that killed scores of people in 2013 with a plot to bomb the Myanmar Embassy. More than a dozen militants were sentenced to prison for involvement in the plot. </s> FILE - In this Nov. 25, 2016, file photo, a Muslim woman wears a mask of Myanmar's Foreign Minister Aung San Suu Kyi during a rally against the persecution of Rohingya Muslims, outside the Embassy of Myanmar in Jakarta, Indonesia. It’s a scene straight out of Myanmar’s dark past: a military offensive waged beyond world view that forces ethnic minority villagers from the smoldering ruins of their homes. The U.S. government, a key sponsor of Myanmar’s democratic transition, says a security crackdown that has displaced tens of thousands Rohingya Muslims and left an unknown number dead risks radicalizing a downtrodden people and stoking religious tensions in Southeast Asia. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) — It's a scene straight out of Myanmar's dark past: a military offensive waged beyond world view that forces ethnic minority villagers from the smoldering ruins of their homes.

The U.S. government, a key sponsor of Myanmar's democratic transition, says a security crackdown that has displaced tens of thousands of Rohingya Muslims and left an unknown number dead risks radicalizing a downtrodden people and stoking religious tensions in Southeast Asia.

The military moved in after armed attacks by unknown assailants on police posts along the border with Bangladesh in October. The attacks in Rakhine State were a possible sign that a small number of Rohingya were starting to fight back against persecution by majority Buddhists who view them as illegal immigrants although many have lived in Myanmar for generations.

The top U.S. diplomat for East Asia, Daniel Russel, is critical of the military's heavy-handed approach and says the escalation of violence risks inciting jihadist extremism in the country also known as Burma. He is also calling on neighboring countries, such as Muslim-majority Malaysia and Indonesia, to resist the urge to stage protests that could further stir religious passions.

Assistant Secretary of State Russel told The Associated Press that, "if mishandled, Rakhine State could be infected and infested by jihadism which already plagues neighboring Bangladesh and other countries."

The plight of the Rohingya, once characterized by the U.N. as the world's most friendless people, has attracted the attention of Muslim extremists since a spike in intercommunal violence in Rakhine in 2012 that left hundreds dead and forced more than 100,000 into squalid camps.

The Somali-born student who launched a car-and-knife attack at Ohio State University this week reportedly protested on his Facebook page about the killing of minority Muslims in Myanmar. And last weekend, Indonesian authorities arrested two militants who were allegedly planning to attack the Myanmar Embassy in Jakarta.

It has also raised hackles in the political mainstream. Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak, facing domestic pressure over an investment fund scandal, is reportedly planning to attend a protest in his religiously moderate country this weekend condemning the military operation in Myanmar.

Daniel Sullivan at the advocacy group Refugees International said increasing numbers of Rohingya are fleeing across the land border to Bangladesh, and the spike in violence could set off another exodus by sea.

Tens of thousands of Rohingya have fled by rickety boats in recent years to countries like Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia, but those routes have been blocked since a crisis in 2015 when thousands were stranded at sea.

The U.S. and other nations have called for an independent investigation into the latest violence in Rakhine. Estimates of the death toll range between dozens and several hundred. Human Rights Watch said Nov. 21 that satellite imagery showed at least 1,250 buildings have been destroyed.

With journalists barred from the affected area, it's been near-impossible to substantiate reports of rapes and killings by Myanmar soldiers — the kind of conduct that has long blighted the military's reputation in ethnic conflicts.

Adama Dieng, U.N. special adviser on the prevention of genocide, said this week that if reports of excessive use of force in Rakhine were true, "the lives of thousands of people are at risk."

Former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan was appointed by Myanmar's civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi in August to find ways to help resolve the communal tensions. On a fact-finding visit Friday, he said that security operations must not impede humanitarian access.

That's been a repeated demand from the international community, including the United States, but it's made little impact.

The U.N. World Food Program said Friday that since Oct. 9 it has been able to deliver food or cash to only 20,000 of the 152,000 people who usually receive assistance, and to about 7,000 newly-displaced people.

The Obama administration has diminished leverage. It was instrumental in ending the former pariah state's diplomatic isolation as it shifted from five decades of military rule but the last U.S. sanctions were lifted in October.

The military's crackdown in Rakhine has also exposed the limits of Suu Kyi's power. The Nobel laureate's party won elections a year ago, but the military still controls key levers of government power, including access to sensitive border regions. Human rights activists who once lionized Suu Kyi now criticize her for failing to defend the stateless Rohingya, but Russel defended her. "We all should have confidence in her judgment and not fall prey to the idea that she does not get it and she does not care. She does get it, and she does care," he said. Associated Press writer Michael Astor at the United Nations contributed to this report. </s> A Muslim woman wears a mask of Myanmar's Foreign Minister Aung San Suu Kyi during a rally against the persecution of Rohingya Muslims, outside the Embassy of Myanmar in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Nov. 25, 2016.

WASHINGTON — It's a scene straight out of Myanmar's dark past: a military offensive waged beyond world view that forces ethnic minority villagers from the smoldering ruins of their homes.

The U.S. government, a key sponsor of Myanmar's democratic transition, says a security crackdown that has displaced tens of thousands Rohingya Muslims and left an unknown number dead risks radicalizing a downtrodden people and stoking religious tensions in Southeast Asia.

The military moved in after armed attacks by unknown assailants on police posts along the border with Bangladesh in October. The attacks in Rakhine State were a possible sign that a small number of Rohingya were starting to fight back against persecution by majority Buddhists who view them as illegal immigrants although many have lived in Myanmar for generations.

The top U.S. diplomat for East Asia, Daniel Russel, is critical of the military's heavy-handed approach and says the escalation of violence risks inciting jihadist extremism in the country also known as Burma. He is also calling on neighboring countries, such as Muslim-majority Malaysia and Indonesia, to resist the urge to stage protests that could further stir religious passions.

Assistant Secretary of State Russel told The Associated Press that, "if mishandled, Rakhine State could be infected and infested by jihadism which already plagues neighboring Bangladesh and other countries."

The plight of the Rohingya, once characterized by the U.N. as the world's most friendless people, has attracted the attention of Muslim extremists since a spike in intercommunal violence in Rakhine in 2012 that left hundreds dead and forced more than 100,000 into squalid camps.

The Somali-born student who launched a car-and-knife attack at Ohio State University this week reportedly protested on his Facebook page about the killing of minority Muslims in Myanmar. And last weekend, Indonesian authorities arrested two militants who were allegedly planning to attack the Myanmar Embassy in Jakarta.

It has also raised hackles in the political mainstream. Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak, facing domestic pressure over an investment fund scandal, is reportedly planning to attend a protest in his religiously moderate country this weekend condemning the military operation in Myanmar.

Daniel Sullivan at the advocacy group Refugees International said increasing numbers of Rohingya are fleeing across the land border to Bangladesh, and the spike in violence could set off another exodus by sea.

Tens of thousands of Rohingya have fled by rickety boats in recent years to countries like Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia, but those routes have been blocked since a crisis in 2015 when thousands were stranded at sea.

The U.S. and other nations have called for an independent investigation into the latest violence in Rakhine. Estimates of the death toll range between dozens and several hundred. Human Rights Watch said Nov. 21 that satellite imagery showed at least 1,250 buildings have been destroyed.

With journalists barred from the affected area, it's been near-impossible to substantiate reports of rapes and killings by Myanmar soldiers — the kind of conduct that has long blighted the military's reputation in ethnic conflicts.

Adama Dieng, U.N. special adviser on the prevention of genocide, said this week that if reports of excessive use of force in Rakhine were true, "the lives of thousands of people are at risk."

Former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan was appointed by Myanmar's civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi in August to find ways to help resolve the communal tensions. On a fact-finding visit Friday, he said that security operations must not impede humanitarian access.

That's been a repeated demand from the international community, including the United States, but it's made little impact.

The U.N. World Food Program said Friday that since Oct. 9 it has been able to deliver food or cash to only 20,000 of the 152,000 people who usually receive assistance, and to about 7,000 newly-displaced people.

The Obama administration has diminished leverage. It was instrumental in ending the former pariah state's diplomatic isolation as it shifted from five decades of military rule but the last U.S. sanctions were lifted in October.

The military's crackdown in Rakhine has also exposed the limits of Suu Kyi's power. The Nobel laureate's party won elections a year ago, but the military still controls key levers of government power, including access to sensitive border regions.

Human rights activists who once lionized Suu Kyi now criticize her for failing to defend the stateless Rohingya, but Russel defended her.

"We all should have confidence in her judgment and not fall prey to the idea that she does not get it and she does not care. She does get it, and she does care," he said.

Associated Press writer Michael Astor at the United Nations contributed to this report. </s> Minister of the Office of State Counselor of Myanmar Kyaw Tint Swe arrives in the capital tonight to discuss the Rohingya issue with Bangladesh authorities.

State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi is sending the minister as her representative to Dhaka for discussing the Rohingya issue with Bangladesh government amid growing international pressure on Myanmar following exodus of over five lakhs of its nationals in Bangladesh.

During his visit, the Myanmar minister will hold meeting with Bangladesh Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali tomorrow.

The Myanmar minister will not visit Cox’s Bazar to see the plight of Rohingya people, who were forcibly displaced by Myanmar government, although Dhaka earlier made a request to Naypyidaw in this regard.

Over half a million Rohingyas have taken shelter in Bangladesh since Aug 25 when the military crackdown began in the northern Rakhine State over alleged terrorist attacks on security outposts.

International pressure has been mounted on Myanmar for violence against Rohingya people in Rakhine state where another 250,000 faced the risk of displacement. </s> It's a scene straight out of Myanmar's dark past: a military offensive waged beyond world view that forces ethnic minority villagers from the smoldering ruins of their homes.

The U.S. government, a key sponsor of Myanmar's democratic transition, says a security crackdown that has displaced tens of thousands Rohingya Muslims and left an unknown number dead risks radicalizing a downtrodden people and stoking religious tensions in Southeast Asia.

The military moved in after armed attacks by unknown assailants on police posts along the border with Bangladesh in October. The attacks in Rakhine State were a possible sign that a small number of Rohingya were starting to fight back against persecution by majority Buddhists who view them as illegal immigrants although many have lived in Myanmar for generations.

The top U.S. diplomat for East Asia, Daniel Russel, is critical of the military's heavy-handed approach and says the escalation of violence risks inciting jihadist extremism in the country also known as Burma. He is also calling on neighboring countries, such as Muslim-majority Malaysia and Indonesia, to resist the urge to stage protests that could further stir religious passions.

Assistant Secretary of State Russel told The Associated Press that, "if mishandled, Rakhine State could be infected and infested by jihadism which already plagues neighboring Bangladesh and other countries."

The plight of the Rohingya, once characterized by the U.N. as the world's most friendless people, has attracted the attention of Muslim extremists since a spike in intercommunal violence in Rakhine in 2012 that left hundreds dead and forced more than 100,000 into squalid camps.

The Somali-born student who launched a car-and-knife attack at Ohio State University this week reportedly protested on his Facebook page about the killing of minority Muslims in Myanmar. And last weekend, Indonesian authorities arrested two militants who were allegedly planning to attack the Myanmar Embassy in Jakarta.

It has also raised hackles in the political mainstream. Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak, facing domestic pressure over an investment fund scandal, is reportedly planning to attend a protest in his religiously moderate country this weekend condemning the military operation in Myanmar.

Daniel Sullivan at the advocacy group Refugees International said increasing numbers of Rohingya are fleeing across the land border to Bangladesh, and the spike in violence could set off another exodus by sea.

Tens of thousands of Rohingya have fled by rickety boats in recent years to countries like Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia, but those routes have been blocked since a crisis in 2015 when thousands were stranded at sea.

The U.S. and other nations have called for an independent investigation into the latest violence in Rakhine. Estimates of the death toll range between dozens and several hundred. Human Rights Watch said Nov. 21 that satellite imagery showed at least 1,250 buildings have been destroyed.

With journalists barred from the affected area, it's been near-impossible to substantiate reports of rapes and killings by Myanmar soldiers — the kind of conduct that has long blighted the military's reputation in ethnic conflicts.

Adama Dieng, U.N. special adviser on the prevention of genocide, said this week that if reports of excessive use of force in Rakhine were true, "the lives of thousands of people are at risk."

Former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan was appointed by Myanmar's civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi in August to find ways to help resolve the communal tensions. On a fact-finding visit Friday, he said that security operations must not impede humanitarian access.

That's been a repeated demand from the international community, including the United States, but it's made little impact.

The U.N. World Food Program said Friday that since Oct. 9 it has been able to deliver food or cash to only 20,000 of the 152,000 people who usually receive assistance, and to about 7,000 newly-displaced people.

The Obama administration has diminished leverage. It was instrumental in ending the former pariah state's diplomatic isolation as it shifted from five decades of military rule but the last U.S. sanctions were lifted in October.

The military's crackdown in Rakhine has also exposed the limits of Suu Kyi's power. The Nobel laureate's party won elections a year ago, but the military still controls key levers of government power, including access to sensitive border regions.

Human rights activists who once lionized Suu Kyi now criticize her for failing to defend the stateless Rohingya, but Russel defended her.

"We all should have confidence in her judgment and not fall prey to the idea that she does not get it and she does not care. She does get it, and she does care," he said.
A few hundred pro-government protesters gather in Myanmar's commercial capital Yangon, condemning Rohingya militants as well as perceived foreign interference in the Rakhine conflict.