The Dalai Lama began a six-city US tour by strongly condemning inter-religious violence. He specifically included the recent conflict between Buddhists and Muslims in Myanmar. Speaking at the University of Maryland, the Tibetan Buddhist leader said such fighting, like that between Sunnis and Shiites in Iraq or Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland, is motivated by political and economic factors, not religion. He said all the major faith traditions have a message of peace.