Pope heads into Rohingya diplomatic minefield

VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis plunges into a diplomatic minefield next week with visits to under-fire Myanmar and neighboring Bangladesh amid mounting outrage over the plight of persecuted Rohingya Muslims.

Some 620,000 Rohingya, more than half their total number, have fled from Myanmar's Rakhine state to Bangladesh since August as a result of violence that the UN and the United States have described as ethnic cleansing.