Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They
AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e
BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German
Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who
By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an
Edition:
U.S.
Africa
Arabic
Argentina
Brazil
Canada
China
France
Germany
India
Italy
Japan
Latin America
Mexico
Russia
Spain
United Kingdom
Home
Business
Business Home
Economy
Technology
Media
Small Business
Legal
Deals
Earnings
Social Pulse
Business Video
The Freeland File
Markets
Markets Home
U.S. Markets
European Markets
Asian Markets
Global Market Data
Indices
M&A
Stocks
Bonds
Currencies
Commodities
Futures
Funds
peHUB
World
World Home
U.S.
Brazil
China
Euro Zone
Japan
Mexico
Russia
India Insight
World Video
Reuters Investigates
Decoder
Politics
Politics Home
Election 2012
Issues 2012
Candidates 2012
Tales from the Trail
Political Punchlines
Supreme Court
Politics Video
Tech
Technology Home
MediaFile
Science
Tech Video
Tech Tonic
Social Pulse
Opinion
Opinion Home
Chrystia Freeland
John Lloyd
Felix Salmon
Jack Shafer
David Rohde
Bernd Debusmann
Nader Mousavizadeh
Lucy P. Marcus
David Cay Johnston
Bethany McLean
Edward Hadas
Hugo Dixon
Ian Bremmer
Mohamed El-Erian
Lawrence Summers
Susan Glasser
The Great Debate
Steven Brill
Jack & Suzy Welch
Breakingviews
Equities
Credit
Private Equity
M&A
Macro & Markets
Politics
Breakingviews Video
Money
Money Home
Tax Break
Global Investing
MuniLand
Unstructured Finance
Linda Stern
Mark Miller
John Wasik
James Saft
Analyst Research
Alerts
Watchlist
Portfolio
Stock Screener
Fund Screener
Personal Finance Video
Money Clip
Investing 201
Life
Health
Sports
Arts
Faithworld
Business Traveler
Entertainment
Oddly Enough
Lifestyle Video
Pictures
Pictures Home
Reuters Photographers
Full Focus
Video
Reuters TV
Reuters News
Article
Comments (0)
Slideshow
Full Focus
Editor's choice
Our best photos from the last 24 hours. Full Article
Images of January
Best photos of the year 2011
Follow Reuters
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
YouTube
Read
Apple's China legal battle over iPad spreads to U.S.
23 Feb 2012
Chavez going to Cuba on Friday for cancer surgery
23 Feb 2012
WikiLeaks suspect Manning defers plea, court-martial begins
23 Feb 2012
Neutrinos may still have broken light barrier - or not
23 Feb 2012
Whitney Houston Open Casket Photo Graces National Enquirer Cover
22 Feb 2012
Discussed
179
Santorum says Obama agenda not ”based on Bible”
148
Romney’s struggles fuel talk of brokered convention
127
Iran stops oil sales to British, French companies
Watched
Jim Rogers: U.S. Presidential favorites clueless on economy
Thu, Feb 23 2012
Bolivia’s disabled clash with police in La Paz
Thu, Feb 23 2012
Mona Lisa double painted simultaneously
Tue, Feb 21 2012
In Myanmar's Kachin hills, Suu Kyi stirs hopes of peace
Tweet
Share this
Email
Print
Related News
Insight: India's Wild East unprepared for new Myanmar
Wed, Feb 22 2012
Special Report: Myanmar declares war on opium
Tue, Feb 21 2012
Myanmar says will consider ASEAN poll observers
Tue, Feb 21 2012
Myanmar lifts rally ban after Suu Kyi's party complains
Mon, Feb 20 2012
Exclusive:Myanmar peace can be reached within 3 months: minister
Wed, Feb 15 2012
Analysis & Opinion
Excitement and democracy come to Burma
NO FLIES ON US
Related Topics
World »
1 of 2. Myanmar democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi speaks at Mogaung township about 65 km (40 miles) from Myitkyina, northern Myanmar, February 23, 2012. Nobel Peace Prize laureate Suu Kyi, 66, is standing as a candidate in what is seen as a partial endorsement of the fledgling democratic system now in place in Myanmar after decades of authoritarian military rule.
Credit: Reuters/Soe Zeya Tun
By a Reuters staff reporter
MYITKYINA, Myanmar |
Fri Feb 24, 2012 2:25am EST
MYITKYINA, Myanmar (Reuters) - Developing Myanmar will be impossible without peace in restive areas of the country, opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi said on Friday in a region where fighting has raged since June between the army and ethnic Kachin rebels.
Suu Kyi, the 66-year-old Nobel Peace laureate, is seen as pivotal to Myanmar's nascent transition to democracy after five decades of military rule, and some believe she is the only figure who can unify one of Asia's most ethnically diverse countries and resolve the conflict in Kachin state.
"Development is impossible without peace," she told cheering supporters in the state capital, Myitkyina, where she is seeking to build support for her National League for Democracy (NLD) party ahead of April 1 parliamentary by-elections.
The symbolism of the Nobel Peace laureate's visit to Kachin state goes well beyond the election.
The conflict in the Kachin hills near the Chinese border represents one of the last hurdles between Myanmar and a largely sanctions-free relationship with the West.
"The ethnic minorities believe that she is probably the best person available to be part of the reconciliation process," said a Western diplomat. "She's got the respect of the ethnic minorities."
The government, under President Thein Sein, has released hundreds of political prisoners, re-engaged with Suu Kyi after she was kept under house arrest for much of the past two decades, and appears to want free and fair by-elections a year after a nominally civilian parliament took office.
This week, the government reacted with uncharacteristic speed to a complaint from the NLD about campaigning regulations, which they swiftly changed.
The United States and European Union, which maintain economic sanctions on Myanmar in response to human rights violations, are openly discussing lifting the measures if progress toward democracy and human rights continues.
"Everything else is going to plan except the situation in Kachin state," said a Myanmar-based aid consultant who declined to be identified.
HOLDING OUT
In Kachin state, many see Suu Kyi as their last hope.
At a Buddhist monastery sheltering villagers who fled the fighting, Than Nu, has a message for the long-detained opposition leader affectionately known as "Auntie Suu."
"We want to tell Auntie Suu that we want her to bring a peace agreement as quickly as she can," Than Nu, 46, said.
At a rally on Thursday in the town of Mogaung, about 40 miles outside Myitkyina, Suu Kyi excited the crowd with a plea for peace and unity in the country also known as Burma.
"The lack of peace in Kachin state is a sad condition not only for Kachin but also for the whole country," she told supporters packed on to a dusty soccer pitch.
The Kachin rebels, many of whom are Christian, are the last of Myanmar's many ethnic minority factions battling the army. Eight months of fighting have forced as many as 60,000 people into nearly 80 camps, like the one where Than Nu and her family were living, according to aid group estimates.
The new civilian government has reached ceasefires with other armed groups including Karen rebels based near the border with Thailand, and the Shan in the northeast.
But the Kachin are holding out for more than a ceasefire. They say they gained little in the way of autonomy from a 1994 ceasefire deal that collapsed in June. Several rounds of peace talks with the new government have been inconclusive.
"The government doesn't want to talk politics, just ceasefire and development, but that is meaningless for the ethnic people," said a prominent Kachin Christian leader in Myitkyina, who declined to be identified. "All the ethnic people want a federal system," he said in his church office.
And this is where some pin their hopes on Suu Kyi. Sixty-five years ago this month, when she was not yet two years old, her father, independence leader General Aung San, signed a deal with the Kachin and two other ethnic groups that granted "full autonomy" in internal administration.
But the deal, known as the Panglong Agreement, died when Aung San was assassinated in Yangon five months later.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Suu Kyi is running for a seat in parliament herself in a district near Myanmar's biggest city, Yangon, and is virtually guaranteed victory. There is talk she might take up a government post, perhaps leading ethnic reconciliation efforts.
"This is an unfinished legacy of her father," said the Western diplomat. "I think she recognizes that it is going to be a central challenge for Burma."
Indeed, the significance is not lost.
"If we want to develop our country, firstly we must have internal peace. The basis of internal peace is understanding each other, trusting each other, respecting each other. In short, this is the 'Panglong Spirit'. I believe that we must have domestic peace with the 'Panglong Spirit'," she said.
What exactly that means in practice or how it will play out is unclear. But in Kachin state, it was a welcome message.
"Peace is the main thing our country needs," said Sai Khon, a 23-year-old Kachin woman at one of the rallies.
But, for now, fighting goes on.
Thein Sein has called several times for the army to stop attacking the rebels but in an apparent sign of limits to his power, the clashes continue.
Ultimately, reconciliation with minorities could hinge on change to the constitution, drawn up under army supervision, which is not clear on any autonomy under a federal system.
"The fighting could go on a long time," said the Kachin Christian leader. "There is a little bit of hope in Suu Kyi. If she takes a leadership role we will see a change. The Myanmar issue is not democracy. The Myanmar issue is ethnic affairs."
(Editing by Jason Szep and Robert Birsel)
World
Related Quotes and News
Company
Price
Related News
Tweet this
Link this
Share this
Digg this
Email
Reprints
We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/
Comments (0)
Be the first to comment on reuters.com.
Add yours using the box above.
Edition:
U.S.
Africa
Arabic
Argentina
Brazil
Canada
China
France
Germany
India
Italy
Japan
Latin America
Mexico
Russia
Spain
United Kingdom
Back to top
Reuters.com
Business
Markets
World
Politics
Technology
Opinion
Money
Pictures
Videos
Site Index
Legal
Bankruptcy Law
California Legal
New York Legal
Securities Law
Support & Contact
Support
Corrections
Advertise With Us
Connect with Reuters
Twitter
Facebook
LinkedIn
RSS
Podcast
Newsletters
Mobile
About
Privacy Policy
Terms of Use
Copyright
Our Flagship financial information platform incorporating Reuters Insider
An ultra-low latency infrastructure for electronic trading and data distribution
A connected approach to governance, risk and compliance
Our next generation legal research platform
Our global tax workstation
Thomsonreuters.com
About Thomson Reuters
Investor Relations
Careers
Contact Us
Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.
NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.