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A controversial Buddhist cleric from Myanmar has announced he is linking up with hardline monks in Sri Lanka, alleging that their religion is under threat from Muslim extremists.
The Mandalay-based monk Wirathu, addressing a convention in Colombo of the Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) or Buddhist Force, said they would work together to protect their common religion.
The BBS has been accused of instigating hate attacks against minority Muslims and Christians in mainly Buddhist Sri Lanka.
"To protect and defend the threatened Buddhist the world over, my 969 movement will join hands with the BBS," the Myanmar monk said at a 5,000-seat stadium packed with monks and their lay supporters.

Three local bodyguards accompanied Wirathu as he walked onstage for his speech.
He said Muslim extremists had tried to scuttle his visit to Sri Lanka, which shares close cultural and religious links with Myanmar.
"I am thankful to the president [Mahinda Rajapaksa] for granting me a visa in spite of attempts by Muslim extremists to prevent my visit," he said. "Buddhists are facing a serious threat today from jihadist groups," the monk said, without giving details. "The patience of Buddhists is seen as a weakness.
BBS has been linked to stepped-up attacks against minority Muslims and Christians in the past two years.
"Buddhist temples have been destroyed. There is a jihad against Buddhist monks. Media organisations, along with world powers, are using technology to carry out a campaign against Buddhists," he added.
The group has denied involvement, but some of their members have been seen on videos posted on social media websites while engaged in violence against minority religious places as well as businesses.
The government has denied allegations that it provided tacit support to the BBS.

Sri Lanka suffered its worst religious violence in decades in June when riots broke out in the resorts of Aluthgama and Beruwala, leaving four people dead.
Politically, Rajapaksa's credibility among Muslims stands to erode further after his government allowed Wirathu to visit Sri Lanka despite opposition from Muslim groups, including his own allies.
The Muslim Council of Sri Lanka had earlier warned the authorities that allowing Wirathu to visit "would pose a serious threat to peace in our beloved motherland".
Rajapaksa is already under criticism for not taking action against Buddhist monks whose inflammatory speeches are blamed for the anti-Muslim violence in June that saw many shops and homes set on fire .
BBS leader, Buddhist monk Galagodaatte Gnanasara, has been compared to Wirathu, who has been accused of ratcheting up tensions between Buddhists and Muslims in his own country.
Gnanasara has described both of them as "peaceful monks with no blood on our hands".
In Myanmar, clashes between Buddhists and Muslims have left at least 250 people dead and tens of thousands displaced since fighting broke out in the western state of Rakhine in 2012.
Buddhist monks were accused of instigating and sometimes actively participating in the violence.
Additional reporting by Associated Press


Radical Myanmar monk seeks alliance with Buddhists in Sri Lanka

Myanmar monk Ashin Wirathu (Second left) is presented a souvenir during the Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) or Buddhist Force convention in Colombo. Photo: AFP

Sri Lankan Buddhist monks listen to the hardline Myanmese cleric Wirathu at a convention in Colombo. Photo: AP

Muslims from Myanmar seek refuge in Bangladesh after being driven out by Buddhists. Photo: AP

Sri Lankan Muslims demonstrate against the radical Bodu Bala Sena at a camp near Colombo. Photo: AFP

Wirathu

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Radical cleric, allowed to visit Colombo despite objections, stokes fears of increased repression of minority Christian and Muslim populations


A controversial Buddhist cleric from Myanmar has announced he is linking up with hardline monks in Sri Lanka, alleging that their religion is under threat from Muslim extremists.
