Fighting resurged in Rakhine state in early December between government forces and the rebel Arakan Army, which wants greater autonomy for Rakhine, where the mainly Buddhist Rakhine ethnic group makes up the majority.

Suu Kyi is being pilloried by diplomats and human rights activists after a judge in Myanmar sentenced two Reuters journalists to jail for seven years. 

An armed band of Rohingya militants killed an estimated 99 Hindu villagers in a single day of carnage in Myanmar's Rakhine state, according to an Amnesty International investigation.