No agreement on ceasefire between Burmese government and KIO

Delegates from Burmese government and KIO held the Aug. 2-3 Lajayang meeting on a new ceasefire agreement.

No agreement has been reached yet on a new ceasefire between the military-backed Burmese government and the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), said a KIO official at the Laiza headquarters.

KIO officials say the two parties have agreed to negotiate a ceasefire bringing permanent peace, however, both sides cannot agree, so far.

On August 11, Col. Than Aung, lead negotiator for the Kachin State Government, sent a letter to KIA leaders in Laiza calling for a quick ceasefire.  

Lar Nan, Joint-General Secretary-2 of the KIO told the Thailand-based Kachin News Group, “Both sides have agreed to make a ceasefire agreement but more time and more negotiations are needed. We haven’t made a ceasefire with the Burmese army yet. We are currently negotiating.”

With the efforts of the Kachin Nationals Consultative Assembly (KNCA), delegates from both sides talked about a ceasefire agreement on June 30 and August 2-3.

During the meeting, a group of government delegates, led by Col. Than Aung, Minister of Security and Border Affairs of the Kachin State Government, discussed peace with KIO delegates led by Brig-Gen Gun Maw, Vice Chief of Staff of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA).

Meanwhile there are no signs of stopping the ongoing civil war in Kachin State and Northern Shan State, local military observers said.

The KIO, the leader of the ethnic armed and political alliance, the United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC), says it will accept political talks with the government through the alliance.