Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – The Union Peace Implementation Committee led by President Office Minister Aung Min and the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) will meet for two days starting Oct. 30 in Ruili, China, to resume peace talks, according to reports.
Minister Aung Min informed the KIO of the date by letter this week, Kachin Peace Committee member Sant Aung told Mizzima.
“We hope this talk will bear some fruitful results,” said Sant Aung.
Peace talks between the two sides have been blocked for about four months, with both sides unable to agree to a meeting location.
Previous talks included Kachin Independence Army (KIA) Vice Chief of Staff Brigadier General Gwam Mau and the government’s armed forces deputy commander in chief General Soe Win.
It is not known if General Soe Win will be included in the government’s peace delegation, said KIO officials.
At a press conference on Sunday in Naypyitaw, President Thein Sein said that despite a government order to stop all military offensives issued in December 2011, the Kachin war was still raging. He blamed the KIO for not issuing a similar order to its troops.
“They have not issued yet such an order for stopping offensives and ceasing fire,” he said. “They ambushed our troops and planted mines on the roads used by our troops while they were travelling for administrative purposes such as going for training, issuing rations, etc. So our troops at the grassroots level resisted them in self-defence.”
There are about 90,000 displaced persons as a result of the fighting in Kachine State, said a member of the Kachin refugee committee.
