Kachin peace talks continue in Myitkyina

KIO Vice Chief of Staff Sumlut Gun Maw (left), Burmese government's Chief negotiator U Aung Min (middle) and Sumlut Gam of leader of KIO delegation (right).

Peace talks between Burma's government and the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) began yesterday in Myitkyina, one day after hundreds of Kachin well-wishers turned out to greet the KIO delegation's arrival in Myitkyina.


Chief government negotiator Aung Min and his team of advisers from the European Union (EU) funded Myanmar Peace Center sat down with their Kachin counterparts for several hours of talks which are expected to last until Thursday. The talks were also attended by a representative from China's government and the UN special envoy Vijay Nambiar.

Several senior military commanders also attended the talks including Lt-Gen Myint Soe head of the Bureau of Special Operations-1 which is responsible for overseeing military operations in Kachin State. According to Kachin sources familiar with the negotiations the KIO's demand for constitutional and political reform based on the 1947 Panglong agreement were not discussed and are unlikely to be addressed during the rest of the talks. The talks instead focused on ways to deescalate military tensions and the implementation of troop monitoring process.

The KIO delegation at the talks is led by Sumlut Gun Maw, the vice-chief of staff of the KIO's military wing, the Kachin Independence Army (KIA). Armed with an Apple I Pad, Gun Maw addressed his counterparts from the government with an upbeat speech that was duly recorded by a throng of Burmese journalists.

Representatives of the US and British governments were not in attendance as had been previously requested by the KIO. Their participation in the talks is reported to have been vetoed by the Chinese government.

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