Wa barred from KIO peace talks

Mar. 11-12 Ruili Talk: Burmese Lt-Gen Myint Soe (left), commander of military offensive operation in Kachin regions and KIA Vice Chief of Staff Maj-Gen Gun Maw

 Two representatives of the United Wa State Army (UWSA) who were invited to attend peace talks between the Burmese government and Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) in China on Monday were blocked by Chinese authorities from going. A successor to the largely defunct Burmese Communist Party (BCP) the UWSA is Burma's strongest armed ethnic group with an estimated strength of more than 30,000 troops.

The UWSA's Deputy Chief of Staff Zhao Zhongdan and the group's spokesman Aung Myint were supposed to attend the peace talks as observes however Chinese authorities who also took part in the talks did not grant them permission to travel to Ruili, a bustling town on the Chinese Burma border, Weekly Eleven reported yesterday.

Sumlut Gam, head of the KIO's education department led his group’s delegation to the talks. He was joined by the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) vice chief of staff Major General Gum Maw. The government delegation was led by former general Aung Min, who now serves as President Thein Sein's chief negotiator. Accompanying Aung Min at the talks was a group of senior military officials including Lieutenant General Myint Soe, northern command chief Brigadier General Tun Tun Naung and the Kachin State minister for border security Colonel Than Aung.

A number of representatives of other ethnic armed groups that have already signed ceasefires with the government attended the talks as observers. This includes David Tharkabaw of the Karen National Union (KNU), Khun Okka of the Pa-O National Liberation Organization (PNLO) and Brigadier-General Sai Lu of the Shan State Army South. Aik Shar La and Kham Maung of the Mong La based National Democratic Alliance Army (NDAA) also attended as did New Mon State Party (NMSP) chief Nai Htaw. Nai Htaw also serves as chairman of the of United Nationalities Federal council (UNFC) a coalition group representing most of Burma's armed ethnic groups.

The meeting lasted until nearly 1 am on Monday night.  A joint statement released following the completion of the meeting indicates that there were no major breakthroughs at the talks. Both sides did agree to meet again and do their best to lessen tensions. According to the joint statement both also sides agreed in principle to a monitoring mechanism, though no details were provided as to what this entails. Representatives of the KIO and Burma's government have met more than a dozen times since the Kachin conflict resumed in June 2011.

In the lead up to the talks KIO sources reported that the army was sending large numbers of troop reinforcements to front line positions across Kachin state. Leaving many observers to conclude that the army is planning a large scale offensive against the KIO before the rainy season begins.

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