Pope faces high-wire act as he lands in Myanmar

Pope Francis waves as he boards a plane for his pastoral visit to Myanmar and Bangladesh at Fiumicino international airport in Rome, Italy on November 26, 2017. -Reuters

YANGON: Pope Francis flew to Myanmar on Monday in one of his most sensitive trips yet, as religious tensions fester in the mainly Buddhist nation that has bristled at global outrage over its treatment of Rohingya Muslims.

Myanmar’s military is accused of waging an ethnic cleansing campaign against the stateless Muslim minority, more than 600,000 of whom have fled a crackdown in northern Rakhine State for neighbouring Bangladesh over the past three months.