Two assistants of US Ambassador to Myanmar Derek Mitchell traveled to Kachin State capital Myitkyina this week to meet leaders of Kachin civic groups following peace talks between the Myanmar government and the Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO).
Mang Seng Tu, a member of the Kachin Lawyer’s Group which participated in last weeks’ negotiations in the state capital, said that the American envoys’ visit indicates “they are still watching over the peace negotiations even though they did not participate at the meeting, and that they will always be in it [the process].”
PCG Representative San Aung said the US envoys met with the Kachin Consultative Assembly, the Kachin Baptist Convention, the Peace-talk Creation Group (PCG) and Shan social organizations.
US Embassy spokesman Mike Quinlan confirmed to Mizzima on Friday that the meetings had taken place and said that the parties discussed a full range of issues including the ongoing government-KIO peace talks.
News agencies have reported that the US, the UK and the UN were excluded from the talks at the insistence of China, a claim the Chinese Embassy in Yangon has refuted.
