Burma’s intelligence chief, after meeting a Wa delegation in Tangyan, a town 83-miles south of Lashio last week, reportedly said that “the days of armed peace” were over, according to a source close to the Wa leadership.
 
Burma’s ruling junta has been on an uneasy truce with most of the armed opposition groups since 1989.
 
Military Affairs Security Head Lt-Gen Ye Myint had also laid down new conditions:

• The Wa must present a full inventory of strength, weapons and units
• They must also present a list of those who are going to retire
• The Burma Army will “assist” in the reorganization of the Wa forces
• It will also be responsible for their upkeep

Wa State Government Vice President and head of the Wa delegation, Xiao Minliang, had replied that he would not be able to give a prompt response, but would do so after consultations among Wa leaders. “You have until the end of June (to reply),” Ye Myint said. “We would like to complete the reorganization within 6 months,” he added.
 
The delegation arrived back in Panghsang on April 28, according to the source, who spoke to SHAN on Saturday, May 1, 2009.
 
Sources from Shan State Army (SSA) North and National Democratic Alliance Army (NDAA) also conceded that they had met junta authorities, but declined to give details. “The only thing peculiar is that they (the generals) are no longer insisting that we ‘exchange arms for peace,’” the MNDAA source told SHAN.
 
Meanwhile, Kantarawaddy Times reported that Ye Myint met representatives from the Karenni Nationalities Peoples Liberation Front (KNPLF) in Loikaw on April 27.
 
The group was informed:

• To register its men, weapons and units with the Burma Army
• The Burma Army would be responsible for their salaries starting from the end of June

“I think the groups will wait and see what the Wa response is before giving their own,” said a border watcher to SHAN. “The Wa in turn will wait and see what China’s response is to the new conditions,” he added.
 
Earlier, a senior Chinese official was reported to have told one of the ceasefire leaders that the groups need not surrender their arms.