Although there has been a drop off in fighting in past weeks, a cease-fire agreement between the government and the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) has proved difficult to move forward.
 
USDP Secretary No. 1 Aung Thaung and Thein Zaw, secretary No. 2, met with five members of the negotiation group in Myitkyina at the USDP office.
 
“We will give them [the representatives from the USDP] our report so they can forward it to the president,” negotiation group member Sin Wah Naw told Mizzima. 
 
Meanwhile, the KIO on Wednesday continued a two-day public forum at its headquarters in Laiza to gather public opinion on the recent outbreak of fighting. Most of the 130 attendees said that if the government could not show proof that it has ordered a unilateral cease-fire, the KIO should continue fighting, sources said.

“About 90 per cent of the attendees wanted the KIO to fight. But KIO chairman Zawng Hra said that if they fight, it will cause turmoil in the area. If the government offered to hold a political dialogue, the KIO should accept it. He said that the KIO would enter into a dialogue because the government is a legal government,” the source told Mizzima.
 
A Kachin who came from Rangoon to attend the meeting told Mizzima that young Kachin support the KIO’s political and military leaders and will work for the people of Kachin State.