Malaysian PM leads protest against 'genocide' of Rohingya

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, center, holds hands with other leaders during a protest against the persecution of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar, at a stadium in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Sunday, Dec. 4, 2016. Najib led a protest rally Sunday against what he called a genocide of Myanmar’s Muslim Rohingya minority and urged the international community to help halt the atrocities. (AP Photo/Lim Huey Teng) (The Associated Press)

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, center, speaks to the crowd during a protest against the persecution of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar, at a stadium in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Sunday, Dec. 4, 2016. Najib led a protest rally against what he called a genocide of Myanmar’s Muslim Rohingya minority and urged the international community to help halt the atrocities. (AP Photo/Lim Huey Teng) (The Associated Press)

Thousands of Malaysian Muslims gather to protest against Myanmar government at a stadium in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Sunday, Dec. 4, 2016. Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak led a protest rally against what he called a genocide of Myanmar’s Muslim Rohingya minority and urged the international community to help halt the atrocities. (AP Photo/Lim Huey Teng) (The Associated Press)

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has led a protest rally against what he called a "genocide" of Muslim Rohingya minority in Myanmar.

Najib says Sunday's rally at a stadium Kuala Lumpur in Muslim-majority Malaysia sends a strong message to Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her government that "enough is enough" as he vowed to fight for the rights of the Rohingya.

He said: "The world cannot stand by and watch genocide taking place."

The plight of Rohingya in predominantly-Buddhist Myanmar has galvanized Muslims in Southeast Asia and beyond.

Some critics accuse Najib, who is grappling with a financial scandal, of using the rally to win the support of the country's Muslim Malays ahead of general elections due in 2018.