The next round of meetings of the United Nationalities Federation Council (UNFC), an alliance of Burma’s armed ethnic groups, won’t happen until January. Originally the meeting was supposed to take place in December in territory controlled by the Karen National Union (KNU).
UNFC joint Secretary Col. Khun Okka was quoted by the Daily Eleven newspaper on Thursday as saying the meeting had been delayed but would happen from Jan. 5- 15.
A previous meeting involving UNFC groups and several other prominent ethnic armed groups took place in late October at the Kachin Independence Organizaton’s (KIO) Laiza headquarters. The conference, which involved representatives of 17 of Burma's armed ethnic groups, concluded with a statement that all but one of the groups attending were signatures to. The declaration outlined the various groups’ willingness for a national ceasefire if certain conditions were met. The Shan State Army (SSA) did not agree to the Laiza declaration for unknown reasons.
The armed rebel groups are also expected to meet with the government’s negotiating team in Karen state shortly after the meeting in the KNU area. This meeting was also originally expected to happen in December but has been postponed till January.
