- Title: Profile of Myanmar's leader Aung San Suu Kyi
- Date: 28th March 2017
- Summary: NAYPYITAW, MYANMAR (FILE - MAY 22, 2016) (REUTERS) ***WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** VARIOUS OF U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE JOHN KERRY AND SUU KYI MEETING AND TAKING A SEAT Myanmar's Suu Kyi cautioned against using "emotive terms" over the plight of her country's Rohingya Muslim population, as visiting U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry pressed the Nobel laureate on May 22 to promote respect for human rights. The United States has long supported Suu Kyi's role in championing democratic change in Myanmar, but was surprised in May when she suggested the new U.S. ambassador Scot Marciel refrain from using the term Rohingya for the persecuted Muslim minority. BEIJING, CHINA (FILE - AUGUST 19, 2016) (REUTERS) SUU KYI AND CHINESE PRESIDENT XI JINPING SHAKING HANDS AND POSING FOR PHOTO Myanmar's Suu Kyi meets Chinese President Xi Jinping on the third day of her visit to Beijing, her first major diplomatic foray after a new government took power in April. NAYPYITAW, MYANMAR (FILE - AUGUST 31, 2016) (REUTERS) INTERIOR OF PANGLONG MEETING VENUE SUU KYI BOWING TO AUDIENCE AUDIENCE CLAPPING VARIOUS OF SUU KYI SPEAKING AND SAYING (Burmese): "No peace process can succeed without the support of the people." Suu Kyi launches a major push to end decades of fighting between the military and myriad rebel groups with an appeal on August 31 to the country's ethnic minorities to overcome their differences to achieve peace. YANGON, MYANMAR (FILE - SEPTEMBER 5, 2016) (REUTERS) ENTRANCE TO NATIONAL RECONCILIATION AND PEACE CENTER (NRPC) SIGN READING (Burmese/English): "NATIONAL RECONCILIATION AND PEACE CENTER (NRPC)" FORMER U.N. SECRETARY GENERAL AND THE CURRENT CHAIRMAN OF THE ADVISORY COMMISSION ON RAKHINE STATE, KOFI ANNAN, AND SUU KYI TAKING A SEAT IN MEETING ROOM ANNAN AND SUU KYI TALKING Suu Kyi meets former U.N. chief Kofi Annan on September 5 to launch the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State, hoping to bring peace and development to the restive Rakhine State where violence between Buddhists and minority Rohingya Muslims has cast a pall over the Southeast Asian country's democratic transition.
- Embargoed: 11th April 2017 04:09
- Keywords: Aung San Suu Kyi profile file Myanmar military democracy National League for Democracy NLD government one year
- Location: YANGON, MANDALAY, NAYPYITAW, TOUNGUP TOWNSHIP, RAKHINE, MYANMAR / BANGKOK, MAE LA, THAILAND / OSLO, NORWAY / BEIJING, CHINA / WASHINGTON, D.C., NEW YORK, UNITED STATES
- City: YANGON, MANDALAY, NAYPYITAW, TOUNGUP TOWNSHIP, RAKHINE, MYANMAR / BANGKOK, MAE LA, THAILAND / OSLO, NORWAY / BEIJING, CHINA / WASHINGTON, D.C., NEW YORK, UNITED STATES
- Country: Burma (Myanmar)
- Topics: Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA00E69VI6H1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: THIS EDIT CONTAINS MATERIAL THAT WAS ORIGINALLY 4:3
It is almost one year since Myanmar's pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy (NLD) party came to power after decades of military rule.
The Nobel laureate was hailed as an icon of resistance to oppression, who gave up her home and family life in England to become one of the world's most famous political prisoners.
"The Lady", as Suu Kyi was affectionately known by millions of her compatriots, showed steely determination in standing up to the generals who ruled the former Burma with an iron fist following a 1962 coup.
Her continued struggle to lead her country down a democratic path at great personal cost drew comparisons to South Africa's Nelson Mandela and India's Mahatma Gandhi.
But one year after her party was sworn into office, initial enthusiasm after a landslide election win for her NLD and a smooth transfer of power would appear to have squandered.
Suu Kyi now faces a raft of problems, the most prominent of which centres around United Nations allegations that Myanmar soldiers, under the watch of Suu Kyi, have committed crimes against humanity.
Around 75,000 members of the stateless Rohingya Muslim minority have fled to Bangladesh to escape what the UN experts described as an indiscriminate campaign of violence by Myanmar troops and police.
Suu Kyi's support for the operation and her rejection of most allegations have strained Myanmar's relations with the West.
Mired in complex peace talks, Suu Kyi has taken her eye off the economy, investors say, meaning a sluggish pace of reforms, slower growth and a sharp drop in foreign direct investment.
Several fresh conflicts have also erupted since Suu Kyi took power, displacing about 160,000 more people, according to UN data.
Suu Kyi was born in Yangon, then called Rangoon, on June 19, 1945. Her father, national hero General Aung San, who led Myanmar to the brink of independence from British rule, was assassinated by rivals when she was just two-years-old.
She lived much of her life abroad before returning to the family home on Yangon's Inya Lake in April 1988 to care for her ailing mother. - Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
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