THURSDAY, March 28, 2024
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Wa army invited to Myanmar's peace talks

Wa army invited to Myanmar's peace talks

YANGON - Lower House MP Soe Htay, representing Kawkareik Township for the National League for Democracy (NLD), has confirmed that the party has informally invited the United Wa State Army (UWSA) to join the efforts in holding a 21st-century Panglong Confe

Soe Htay just completed his five-day visit to the Wa region on his personal mission to gather information that can help implement the peace process. During his visit, he met Aung Myint, a Wa leader.
“Aung San Suu Kyi instructed us to do our tasks actively but she did not give us direct instructions,” Soe Htay said.
Aung Myint of the UWSA said:  “We welcome the new government with its democratic mandate. We have sent messages of support."
The group said it had agreed to a ceasefire with the previous government but had refused to sign the peace deal last October.
State Counsellor Suu Kyi met the Ceasefire Joint Monitoring Committee in Nay Pyi Taw on April 27 to call for non-members of the peace process to be included.
She said: "We cannot do one task and then another. We will have to do them at the same time. We won’t delay the 21st-century Panglong conference. We want to start it in one to two months."
The Panglong Agreement was reached in Panglong, southern Shan State, between General Aung San and the Shan, Kachin, and Chin peoples on February 12, 1947. The agreement accepted "full autonomy in internal administration for the frontier areas" and envisioned a federal union. It is celebrated in Myanmar as Union Day each February 12. 
 
Rebel groups meet in Thailand
Leaders of the Karen National Union (KNU) and Restoration Council for Shan State (RCSS) met in Chiang Mai on April 30 for peace negotiations, according to Major-General Zaw Izzat Foe of the KNU.
KNU’s delegation was led by its chairman General Saw Mutu Say Poe and RCSS’s delegation was led by its chairman, Lieutenant-General Yawd Serk.
Zaw Izzat Foe said: “We held a workshop on federal issues and discussed peace.”
The RCSS was unavailable for comment.
The eight armed groups which signed last October’s nationwide ceasefire agreement set up a steering team in March and appointed Saw Mutu Say Poe as its leader and Yawd Serk as its deputy.
The team was established to meet non-signatories and the government, while providing directions when urgent decisions were made, said Salai Lian Mone, vice chairman of Chin National Front.
RCSS has said it would work with all other armed groups and political parties to solve current disputes in a peaceful way and establish a federation.

 

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