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Second round of peace talks between the KIO/KIA and the Myanmar government
Posted by: PNA
Post Date: 14 March 2013
Continuing peace efforts that started in
early February, representatives of the Central Peace Making Group of the
Myanmar government and the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) held a second
round of political talks in Ruili, China on March 11. The two sides, met for
renewed peace talks in the Chinese border town to resolve a prolonged ethnic
conflict that re-erupted in June 2011.
The peace talks were mediated by the
Chinese government. The President Office Minister Aung Min headed the Myanmar
side with bureau of special operation Lieutenant General Myint Soe of the
Ministry of Defense. The Kachin State
minister for border security Colonel Than Aung was also in attendance.
Peace representatives of the KIO and KIA
were there to support efforts. U Swan Lut
Gam was present as well as KIA deputy commander in chief Major General S. Guam
Maw, Colonel Zaw Yaw, Colonel La Phine La, Colonel Khun Naung, Salankabar Khun
Naung, Colonel Zaw Taung, Lieutenant Colonel Naw Bu, Major Sinn Khaw and U Naw
Htwaie.
Deputy Chief of Staff Zhao Zhongdan of
the UWSP/UWSA and his spokesman Aung Myint were scheduled to attend, but were
unable to because they were not granted visas by the Chinese government.
The general objective of the talks was to
foster trust building in hopes of strengthening relations between the two.
Several representatives involved agreed on the importance of conducting
the political dialogue phase by phase in
order to render positive results.
The peace talks between the two sides on
the Chinese border, on 4 February aimed to reduce tension, improve
communication and establish a surveillance system with the goal of achieving a
ceasefire agreement.
During the recent talks, both sides
released a five-point joint statement which stipulated that they agree to make
efforts for an affirmed ceasefire, to negotiate matters and to open
coordination offices as necessary. Both sides also agreed to hold the next
peace talks before April 10.
The government announced a unilateral
ceasefire with the KIA, on Jan.18 in preparation for the political dialogue.
Violence continues to ensue, though implementation of the national order.
Recently, reports accused government
forces of attaching KIO/ KIA areas. Lieutenant General Myint Soe a senior
official with Burma's Defense Ministry denied allegations that jet fighters
conducted airstrikes on Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) positions near
Pangwa last week.
Located north east of the Kachin state
capital Myitkyina, the Pangwa region is the former stronghold of the now
officially defunct New Democratic Army Kachin (NDAK), a militia group whose
troops were adsorbed by the government's border force in 2010.
The talks were met with much
apprehension, as several groups were concerned with the effectiveness of
discussion and the stipulations that would be set during the talks. In reports
that surfaced in late February, aid workers in Myanmar’s northern Kachin State,
expressed some reservations in realizing the goals of the discourse.
La Rip, coordinator of Relief Action Network
for IDPs and Refugees (RANIR), cited the
recent lull in fighting near the 2,000km Burmese-Chinese border, but also
commented on the possibility of fighting erupting at any moment.
At present, there are no international UN
agencies or international NGOs in KIO-controlled areas. However, the UN and a
few other international NGOs are active in government-controlled areas.
Continued fighting has upset several
within the area and drawn international attention to the issue. Fighting
escalated last December as decisive results could not come out while Lieutenant
General Myint Soe and Major General Guan Maw from KIO/KIA as two key persons
were absent at the meeting in the Chinese border town Ruili on October 30 last
year. Recently, the Union Peace Working Committee and the United Nationalities
Federal Council (UNFC), an alliance of 11 armed ethnic groups, held a second
round of peace talks in Chiang Mai, Thailand on February 20.
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