The 4th round of talks between the government’s Peace Making Committee and the Arakan Liberation Party (ALP) has failed to reach an agreement. The talk was held in Chiang Mai, Thailand, on September 9.
In order to reach union level ceasefire agreement, the government’s Peace-making Work Committee led my Minister Aung Min and ALP delegation led by Vice Chairman Khaing Soe Naing Aung had a preliminary discussions for about half an hour.
“We got nothing from today’s discussion. In all of the previous meetings, we have expressed our demands. But they told us to wait until Rakhine State is stable and peaceful,” said Khaing Soe Naing Aung.
He said that in the three previous meetings with the government’s delegation, ALP urged the government to hold union level peace talks, to open more liaison offices, and to undertake development initiatives. They also discussed deployment of troops and business affairs.
Hla Maung Shwe, Adviser of the Myanmar Peace Center, told Mizzima that although no agreement has been reached, the ALP would need to have discussions with the technical team of the Peace-making Work Committee ahead of union-level peace talks.
“The ALP has called for union-level talks. But the Peace-making Work Committee led by Minister Aung Min has told them to talk with our technical team first,” he told Mizzima.
The Rakhine-state-level ceasefire agreement between the ALP and the Rakhine State government was signed in April 2012.
