The military-backed Burmese government and the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) are in the process of signing a ceasefire agreement, sources from both sides said.
The ceasefire agreement is going to be signed between the Kachin State government and the KIO, said sources close to both sides.
If the government side is ready, the ceasefire agreement will be officially signed in Lajayang Village, on Myitkyina-Bhamo Road, said the KIO officials at the Laiza headquarters, five miles east of Lajayang.
According to KIO officials, the signing ceremony was delayed because the KIO cannot accept the participation of the government delegates who will sign the agreement, said KIO officials in Laiza.
The signing ceremony will proceed if the government sends delegates who can be accepted by the KIO, added KIO officials.
Last week, the KIO received a reply letter from the Burmese president, ex-general Thein Sein, regarding the ceasefire proposal of the KIO, officers in Laiza said. Thein Sein’s letter was not publicly announced by the KIO.
Along with mediators from the Kachin Nationals Consultative Assembly (KNCA), delegates from both sides met three times after the new war broke out on June 9.
Both sides corresponded through letters about renewing the ceasefire pact after the meetings, said sources.
The Burmese military-backed Kachin State government sent a letter by fax to the KIO in Laiza yesterday, regarding the final stage of the ceasefire negotiation and the KIO’s reply letter was sent by courier today, KIO officials in Laiza said.
During the Laiza public meeting on July 12-13, Gunhtang Gam Shawng, Chief of Staff of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), the military-wing of the KIO, reassured Kachin public leaders, who rejected a renewed ceasefire, that the KIO/KIA would accept a ceasefire for up to six months to facilitate intensive political negotiations with the government- but said it can end any time if there are no immediate political talks.
