The Restoration Council of Shan State/Shan State Army-South (SSA-S) will join the upcoming Third Ethnic Armed Organizations (EAO) conference in the Kachin State capital of Laiza, according to SSA-S sources. The SSA-S delegation will be led by Lt-Col Sai Ngeun, chief aide to SSA-S leader Lt-Gen Yawd Serk. The EOC conference will focus on the latest draft of the nationwide ceasefire agreement prepared by the NCCT, 16-member group which has been negotiating a ceasefire with Naypyidaw on behalf of armed ethnic groups
The SSA-S is one of three major ethnic organizations that aren’t represented on the Nationwide Ceasefire Coordination Team (NCCT). The other two groups not represented on the NCCT include the United Wa State Army (UWSA) and the National Democratic Alliance Army (NDDA), also known as Mong La. However, all three organizations have signed ceasefire agreements with Naypyidaw at both the state and union level.
The EOC summit is scheduled for July 28-29 and will be preceded by three days of meetings between NCCT members. The preliminary meeting between NCCT members is designed to sort out differences between the various members in order for the NCCT to present a united front to the government during the EOC summit, which will be observed by UN special representative Vijay Nambiar and Chinese representative Wang Yingfan.
“Both the UWSA and NDAA are not likely to attend the conference,” said a source on the Sino-Burmese border. “They said the invitation came too late for them to make any decision.”
The next round of talks between the Union Peacemaking Work Committee (UPWC)—which has been negotiating the nationwide ceasefire on behalf of the Burmese government—and the NCCT will be held in Rangoon on August 11-12, according to the government-established Myanmar Peace Center.
