Leadership Change Looms for Armed Group Key to Myanmar's Peace Process

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17 January 2017 10:01 WIB

Ethnic Wa performers dressed as United Wa State Army (UWSA) soldiers perform a traditional dance at Mongmao, Wa territory in north east Myanmar. Myanmar's strongest ethnic armed group is set for its biggest leadership shake-up in a quarter century, senior sources told Reuters, raising the prospect of a period of instability in a group that is key to Aung San Suu Kyi's signature peace process. REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun

17 Januari 2017 00:00 WIB

United Wa State Army (UWSA) soldiers march during a display for the media in Pansang, Wa territory in north east Myanmar. The United Wa State Army (UWSA) boasts some 30,000 soldiers who control a secretive, China-dominated statelet the size of Belgium in the remote hills on Myanmar's eastern border. REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun

17 Januari 2017 00:00 WIB

A United Wa State Army (UWSA) soldier holds a weapon while marching during a display for the media in Pansang, Wa territory in north east Myanmar. This year the group's political wing, the United Wa State Party (UWSP), is holding elections for the first time since 1992, with at least some of the old guard who have led the statelet since its 1989 formation set to stand down, three senior Wa officials said. REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun

17 Januari 2017 00:00 WIB

Ethnic Akha women march during a festival in a village outside Pansang, Wa territory in north east Myanmar. A second Wa official with direct knowledge of the matter described the vote as an "earth-shattering" event within the reclusive Wa State hierarchy. REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun

17 Januari 2017 00:00 WIB

A woman smokes in a market at Mongmao, Wa territory in north east Myanmar. The reshuffle could pose a new headache for Suu Kyi's nine-month-old civilian administration, already grappling with escalating clashes between government forces and other ethnic armed groups along the mountainous border with China and a military crackdown in the Muslim-majority northwest that has sent 65,000 people fleeing to neighbouring Bangladesh. REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun

17 Januari 2017 00:00 WIB

United Wa State Army (UWSA) soldiers march during a display for the media in Pansang, Wa territory in north east Myanmar. After sweeping to power following a November 2015 election, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Suu Kyi has made ending the ethnic conflicts that kept Myanmar in a state of perpetual civil war through decades of military rule a priority. REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun

17 Januari 2017 00:00 WIB