A man salvages items in the courtyard of a partially-destroyed mosque after sectarian violence spread through central Myanmar, in Gyobingauk. (Photo: Ye Aung Thu/AFP) Eric Randolph The National March 29, 2013 BANGKOK // He emanates the soft-spoken calm expected of a Buddhist monk, but the venom that Sayadaw Wirathu directs at Myanmar's Muslim population has led many to see him as one of the chief instigators of the violence that has convulsed the country in the past two weeks. Wirathu, a monk based in the northern city of Mandalay, has described himself as "the Burmese Bin Laden", even though he is stridently and noxiously anti-Muslim. The misnomer notwithstanding, Wirathu has become a key figure in a growing movement of extremist Buddhists who have taken advantage of increased freedom in Myanmar to foment communal tensions. A video that circulated on the internet this week shows Wirathu addressing a crowd and declaring, "We Buddhists let...