Myanmar peace summit ends

Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi concluded a landmark summit with ethnic rebels yesterday, calling it the first step on what promises to be a tough road to peace.

The conference in the capital Naypyidaw was Suu Kyi's first big drive to end insurgencies that have rumbled across Myanmar's frontier states for nearly seven decades.

No resolution emerged from the four-day summit, which gave representatives from dozens of ethnic groups a chance to air grievances and outline their political aspirations.

Suu Kyi's biggest achievement was bringing new players to the table, including rebel armies that did not sign a shaky ceasefire brokered by the former military-backed government last year.

However three groups still actively clashing with troops did not attend the talks, and the powerful Wa -- a heavily armed militia based near the border with China -- stormed out on day two over what the government said was a misunderstanding.

"To achieve peace is very difficult," Suu Kyi told the conference hall filled with hundreds of delegates yesterday, the final day of the summit after it was decided a fifth was not needed.

Suu Kyi urged all sides to "look forward" as the peace process continues.

Myanmar's diverse patchwork of ethnic groups make up around a third of the population, but the government and military have long been dominated by members of the majority Bamar ethnicity, to which Suu Kyi belongs.

The peace summit comes almost 70 years after her independence hero father signed an agreement promising autonomy to major ethnic groups ahead of Myanmar's break from colonial ruler Britain.

But the deal collapsed after his assassination and was ignored by the junta that seized power, triggering uprisings that have simmered in the country's borderlands ever since.