Burma unrest: Death sentences in Rakhine murder case

.A government official in Burma says the death toll from weeks of ethnic violence in the west of the country is now 80.The series of attacks between Muslims and Buddhists appear to have been sparked by the rape and murder of a woman
in Arakan state.The official says about 71 people died in more than a week of clashes, in addition to 10 Muslims killed on June 3 by a Buddhist mob seeking revenge for the rape and murder of the woman.The United Nations World Food Program says it has provided emergency aid to more than 66,000 people in the past week.Burma officials and many Burmese, including the mostly Buddhist ethnic community in Arakan, consider the Rohingya to be illegal immigrants from neighbouring Bangladesh, and refer to them as "Bengalis".

Two men have been sentenced to death in a case that sparked violent clashes between Muslims and Buddhists in Burma, lawyers have told the BBC. The men were convicted of raping and killing a Buddhist woman in Rakhine state last month. 

A third suspect who died in jail was given a posthumous conviction.

At least 50 people died in revenge attacks and riots that followed the incident, and thousands have been displaced. 

Analysts say it is unlikely that the men will be put to death, as no prisoners have been executed in Burma since before 1988.

Following the woman's murder, a bus carrying Muslims was attacked and 10 people were killed, prompting more unrest in several towns and villages in Rakhine. 

The violence has led to hundreds of Muslim refugees from the Rohingya minority trying to enter neighbouring Bangladesh by boat.

But they have been turned away by coast guards and border security, with Bangladeshi authorities saying on Monday that another group of about 150 had been denied entry. 

President Thein Sein declared a state of emergency in Rakhine on 10 June.

Activists have criticised the state of emergency, saying it hands control of Rakhine state to the military. 

The pressure group Human Rights Watch says the Burmese army has a history of brutality against both Buddhists and Muslims. 

Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has warned that the strife would continue without "the rule of law"...