Suu Kyi faces test at peace meeting

The five-day talks will bring hundreds of ethnic minority rebel leaders to the capital

Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi faces what could be the toughest test of her leadership yet when she opens a major ethnic peace conference Wednesday aimed at ending wars that have blighted the country since its independence.

The five-day talks will bring hundreds of ethnic minority rebel leaders to the capital, along with military top brass and international delegates such as UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

The conference is Suu Kyi’s flagship effort to quell the long-running rebellions rumbling across Myanmar’s impoverished frontier states, fuelled in part by the illegal drugs, jade and timber trades.

Myanmar is home to more than 100 ethnic groups and many minorities harbour deep seated historical suspicions of the Bamar majority group — which includes Suu Kyi — complaining that they have endured decades of discrimination.

Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, has made ending the nearly 70 years of fighting the first priority of her newly minted government, which took over from the military in March after sweeping the first free election in generations.

Shaky ceasefire

The 71-year-old is hoping to expand a shaky ceasefire signed last year between some rebel armies and the military-backed government.

This week’s conference will include both signatories to the ceasefire agreement and non-signatories, although some groups are still locked in intense fighting with government forces and their role in the talks remains unclear.

The conference has been hailed as an important first step and one loaded with symbolism in a nation emerging from a dark military past.

AFP Soldiers escort Maute group member Hassim Balawag Maute alias Apple Jehad to a military vehicle in Marawi City. He along with 22 others were freed on Saturday by their comrades.