UN official’s claims of attack by Buddhist mob in Myanmar dismissed

Myanmar's government has disputed claims it failed to protect a top UN human rights envoy who said his vehicle was attacked by a 200-strong Buddhist mob during a visit to a city where religious violence flared earlier this year.

President Thein Sein's spokesman, Ye Htut, said UN official Tomas Ojea Quintana was never in any danger during his visit this week. He said members of the crowd approached Quintana's convoy in the central city of Meikhtila only to give him a letter and a T-shirt.

Quintana said his convoy was mobbed on Monday night as security forces looked on.

He said: "The fear I felt during this incident, being totally unprotected by the nearby police, gave me an insight into the fear residents would have felt when being chased down by violent mobs during violence last March ... when police allegedly stood by as angry mobs beat, stabbed and burned to death 43 people."

Quintana slammed the government for failing to do its job. "The state has failed to protect me," he said. But Ye Htut had another version of events.