The Myanmar Peace Center (MPC) issued a statement today that established a palpable hope that an official ceasefirebetween the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) and the national government may be close at hand.
The statement announced that after three days of peace talks in the city of Myitkyina, KIO and government representatives have agreed on the conditions of a five-point ceasefire. These terms include convening a meeting of the leaders of ethnic armed groups, forming a joint monitoring committee to oversee the de-escalation of conflictsand creating resettlement and rehabilitation programs for war refugees and internally displaced persons.
The KIO and the government’s Union Peace-making Work Committee have held over sixteen peace talks since June 2011. This is the first time that they have reached such a comprehensive agreement.
The KIO also pledged to petition for a nationwide ceasefire. However, the organization did not specify whether or not it would actually sign such a treaty.
Present at the talks on 10 October were eight KIO delegates,including KIO leader Sumlut Gum and Major General Guan Maw. A total of seventeen representatives from the government, including Union Peace-making Work Committee Vice-Chairman U Aung Min, Kachin State Chief Minister Lajun Ngun Sai and several members of the Myanmar Peace Center also attended.
United Nations Special Envoy to Myanmar Vijay Nambiar and a special envoy from the People’s Republic of China were also in attendance as observers.
