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No meddling allowed, Myanmar says

NAYPYITAW, Myanmar, April 18 (UPI) -- There's no need for outside parties to investigate Myanmar's security issues, a government spokesman said Thursday.

Organization of Islamic Cooperation Secretary-General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu said Sunday the Myanmar government wasn't addressing violence between Buddhists and the minority Muslim community very well.

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"Violence against Myanmar Muslims is unacceptable and must not continue," he said.

The European Union is to examine sanctions against Myanmar given political gains made since general elections in 2010. Rights groups said religious violence in recent months suggests the government wasn't serious about reforms, however.

Myanmar government spokesman Ye Htut told Thai newspaper The Irrawaddy that national security was an internal affair.

"I believe there is no reason for an international organization to intervene," he said.

He stressed there was no formal request sent by the OIC to the government to send a delegation to the country, however.

Religious violence in Myanmar since 2012 left nearly 200 people dead and displaced an estimated 127,000 people.

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