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Friday, 11 October 2013

Kachin Peace Talks Close Without Cease-Fire Pact

Kachin Peace Talks Close Without Cease-Fire Pact


myanmar-kio-talks-oct-2013.jpg
KIO and Myanmar government peace negotiators leave the building after talks in Myitkyina on Oct. 8, 2013.
 RFA
The Myanmar government and ethnic Kachin rebels failed to nail down a permanent cease-fire accord after their latest round of peace talks ended Thursday, instead signing a new agreement aimed at reducing hostilities and laying the groundwork for political dialogue.

The deal between the government and the Kachin Independent Organization (KIO) ironed out new rules for teams monitoring clashes and arrangements for the resettlement of civilians displaced by fighting but stopped short of declaring a full ceasefire.

The seven-point deal, however, goes a step further than past agreements with government plans to link the Kachin rebels to a comprehensive nationwide cease-fire accord that includes all of the countryтАЩs armed ethnic groups.

As the KIO-government talks ended in the Kachin state capital Myitkyina, a key alliance of 11 of MyanmarтАЩs ethnic armed groups including the KIO met in northern Thailand to discuss their strategy in upcoming talks for a nationwide ceasefire agreement.

Aung Min, the minister leading the governmentтАЩs peace efforts, told RFAтАЩs Myanmar Service that he was тАЬoptimisticтАЭ about forging the nationwide agreement.

тАЬAs the President has said, holding an all-inclusive political dialogue is the biggest goal for us and all organizations said they are moving toward this dialogue,тАЭ he said.

Talks 'successful,' 'open'

On the talks in Myitkyina, the highest-level meeting between the two sides since May, Aung Min said they were тАЬsuccessfulтАЭ while General Gwan Maw, deputy chief of staff of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), the KIOтАЩs military wing, said the two sides had been able to speak more тАЬopenlyтАЭ than before.

But a report by the Kachin News Group, which focuses on northern Myanmar's war-torn Kachin state, quoted those familiar with the talks as saying that the government team pushed very hard for the KIO to agree to a two-way ceasefire while the rebels were тАЬnot prepared to sign on to [it] at this time.тАЭ

тАЬThe goodwill created between the KIO and the government over the past few months has been somewhat dampened by recent fighting in northern Kachin state's Putao district,тАЭ the report said.

тАЬThe KIO is also highly suspicious of recent moves by the army to send large numbers of troop reinforcements to southern Kachin state.тАЭ

The Kachin is the only major one of the countryтАЩs armed ethnic groups that has not yet signed a cease-fire agreement with the government, which is racing to end decades of fighting to speed up political and economic reforms after decades of military rule.

More than 100,000 people have been displaced in the deadly violence since a 17-year cease-fire agreement between the two sides broke down in 2011.

Monitoring hostilities

A joint statement indicated that both the KIO and the government were in favor of moving forward with an agreement reached in May aimed at deescalating tensions.

Aung Min said the two sides, which had previously agreed to form a cease-fire monitoring committee, set down five basic policies and 18 rules for the formation of teams to keep track of hostilities.

He also said that they would work on resettling internally displaced persons through pilot projects in four villages.

In talks to forge a nationwide cease-fire pact, the Kachin and other rebel groups have insisted that political dialogue be a key component of any agreement, emphasizing greater ethnic rights and a federal system of government.

Political dialogue

The KIO delegationтАЩs spokesman Daung Kha said after the meeting Thursday that the Kachin side had made gains this week in getting government negotiators to back down from their insistence on making a nationwide cease-fire agreement a precondition for political dialogue.

тАЬThe government had said they would hold political dialogues after signing the nationwide cease-fire,тАЭ he said.

тАЬBut [now] with the KIO it seems that the government is working toward the nationwide cease-fire and political dialogue at the same time.тАЭ

He said the KIO was in less of a rush to reach a nationwide cease-fire agreement than Aung MinтАЩs team, which is under pressure to achieve the plan before 2015 elections and the end of President Thein SeinтАЩs first term.

тАЬThe government wants to work on the peace talks within its own time frame тАж but our ethnic groups want to work step by step to make each step secure,тАЭ he said.

KIO-hosted conference

Aung MinтАЩs team had hoped a comprehensive accord would be signed in July, but later postponed its goal to October and is now targeting November.

KIO leaders said at this weekтАЩs talks that before any government-organized nationwide cease-fire conference, they want to host their own meeting of armed ethnic groups to discuss how to respond to the governmentтАЩs plans.

They may do so at their capital Laiza at the end of October, they said.

Representatives from ten ethnic armed groups which attended ThursdayтАЩs talks as observers said they would join the meeting.

тАЬWe have requested that the government let us know the governmentтАЩs plans before signing a nationwide cease-fire agreement. Then the KIO will hold a conference with other ethnic armed groups,тАЭ Daung Kha said.

тАЬWe now are preparing to hold the conference.тАЭ

UNFC meets in Chiang Mai

Meanwhile in northern ThailandтАЩs Chiang Mai city, the United Nationalities Federal Council, an alliance of 11 ethnic armed groups including the KIO, at its one-day meeting Thursday also called for more information about the planned comprehensive peace agreement.

тАЬThe government has to announce its plans for the nationwide-cease-fire and also has to move its troops тАж. and order its army to follow the rules,тАЭ UNFC Secretary-general Naing Han Thar said.

тАЬWe will sign the nationwide cease-fire agreement if we can get what we request. If not, we wonтАЩt sign it,тАЭ he said. 

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