“Our intention is to discuss politics. To what extent will they accept our demands? We will talk about our demands made in the previous meeting,” a senior KIO official told Mizzima, requesting anonymity.
 
Burmese President Thein Sein criticized the KIO approach to negotiations with the government during his speech to Parliament last week. The KIO said it would not accept the president’s idea of agreeing to a cease-fire and discussing political issues later.
 
The KIO official said: “ We haven’t contested in the elections so we need to discuss [issues] outside of Parliament. This is a disagreement.”

The majority of the armed groups which are now involved in discussing political issues with the government agreed first to a cease-fire. After regional-based political discussions, the next stage would be to take the discussions to the parliamentary level, President Thein Sein said.
 
In the political talks held on January 18 and 19, the KIO talked about national equality, regional autonomy and principles in the Panglong agreement, which outlined autonomy principles for ethnic groups.
 
The KIO has been pushing for an all-inclusive ethnic conference similar to the Panglong conference where a wide range of ethnic issues and political problems could be discussed with the government, including the release of prisoners on both sides and the rebuilding of villages affected by the long-running war among ethnic groups.
 
The KIO official also complained that in the president’s address to Parliament on March 1, he said he had ordered the military not to attack the KIO, but the fighting still continues in sporadic clashes.
 
 “If the president orders the commander in chief, the commander in chief will order his troops. It’s said that the army unquestioningly obey orders. If so, why didn’t the government troops obey the order? I think it [his words] are only for show,” the official said.
 
On March 3, according to the KIO, three government battalions entered a village between Sinbo and Shwegu in Mohnyin Township, Kachin State, and fighting broke with KIO Battalion No. 5.
 
In Kachin refugee matters, aid worker Dwe P Sar said a strong hailstorm last week at two refugee camps on the Sino-Burmese border in Waingmaw Township damaged tents in the camps, increasing refugees’ hardship. Refugees are in need of food, supplies and other material. The government has prevented international humanitarian agencies from providing aid to an estimated 50,000 displaced refugees along the border area.