Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – Despite an ongoing dialogue between the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) and the Burmese government in Laja Yang village in Kachin State on Monday, the two sides failed to reach an agreement.
The main obstacle continues to be the KIO demand for the government to negotiate a nationwide cease-fire with all armed ethnic groups.The five KIO delegates led by Deputy Chief of Staff Brigadier General Gum Maw and three government delegates of the “peace making and negotiation group” led by Colonel Than Aung, the Minister for Security and Border affairs, held a two-and-half hour meeting in Laja Yang in Waimaw Township, a KIO-controlled area in the Kachin State.
Government delegates maintained their position of only wanting to negotiate a cease-fire in Kachin State, after which other agreements could be negotiated, said Colonel Zau Yaw, commander of KIO Brigade No. 4.
KIO joint secretary La Nang said that the two sides agreed to continue the face-to-face political dialogue.
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“The result of today’s meeting cannot make us sign. We need to hold more meetings. That depends on them. For us to sign, it depends on how much the government wants stability in the nation,” La Nang said.
The government delegates said that they would forward the results of the meeting to superiors, according to the KIO. Government delegates returned to Myitkyina, the capital of Kachin State, on Monday.
Operation Commander Colonel Tun Tun Ohn of the Northern Command and Major Naing Lin of the Military Affairs Department did not attend Monday’s meeting, or the previous meetings. The five-member government negotiating committee was formed on June 27 by Kachin State Chief Minister La John Ngan Hsai.
The government delegates and government security forces were met by KIO security forces halfway between Shwenyaungpin and Garya Yang villages.
Since July 28, the KIO has called on the Burmese government to stop launching offensives against ethnic armed groups in Kachin State and Shan State within 48 hours after signing a cease-fire agreement and to issue a statement saying the government will hold a political dialogue to achieve a nationwide cease-fire within 15 days.
A KIO letter sent to Burmese authorities said that the agreement should be written in English and Burmese and urged President Thein Sein to state his opinion about the 1947 Panglong Agreement, which gave equal rights and more autonomy to ethnic groups.
