MYITKYINA, Myanmar - Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has campaigned in restive Kachin state in northern Burma with a message of reconciliation.
Suu Kyi said in a speech Friday in the state capital Myitkyina that the country would not develop unless it had peace. Sporadic but sometimes fierce fighting has been waged in the state between government troops and ethnic Kachin rebels, who have long sought more autonomy and faced increased repression in the past year.
Suu Kyi told a cheering crowd of thousands that peace could be reached only through mutual understanding and not by fighting. She was campaigning for her National League for Democracy party, which is contesting all 48 seats at stake in an April 1 byelection.
