Burma’s State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi left Naypyidaw this morning en route to Bandar Seri Begawan, the capital of Brunei Darussalam, where she will attend lavish celebrations to mark the Golden Jubilee of the Sultan of Brunei.
The state counsellor, who is also Burma’s foreign minister, was accompanied by Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Kyaw Tin and other officials.
Members of the British and various Middle Eastern royal families are also attending the ceremony.
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Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah, 71, is the world’s second longest reigning monarch. He succeeded as sultan in October 1967.
Brunei is an oil-rich nation and, as absolute monarch, the sultan is one of the world’s richest people. His reign has not been without controversy though – in 2014 he enacted a series of tough Islamic laws across the country which, critics say, have stifled human rights and dissent.
