KNU chairman walks out of UNFC conference

Duwa Bawmwang Laraw, head of Foregin Affairs of UNFC and a KIO representative was interviewed byn www.kachinnews.com editor Naw Din on Aug. 30, 2014.

A meeting of representatives from the United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC), the coalition of Burma's ethnic armed groups was thrown into confusion on Sunday, when the Chairman of the Karen National Union (KNU) and several of his of subordinates walked out of the proceedings at 11 AM.

Although the KNU has yet to formally leave the UNFC, the KNU's representatives departure from the conference appears to be the result of serious internal differences inside the KNU, Burma's oldest armed ethnic group. The KNU's chairman Mutu Say Poe and his supporters in the group are known to have major differences with the UNFC over the alliance's cautious approach to signing the proposed national ceasefire which President Thein Sein and his chief negotiator Minister Aung Min have been pushing Burma's various armed groups to sign before the end of the year.

Others in the KNU most notably those from the group's 5th brigade and the KNU's former vice president David Thackabaw are known to be in favour of the UNFC's stance. David Tharckabaw, who currently serves as deputy chairman of the UNFC continued to participate in the meeting as did his KNU colleagues Padoh Mahn Mahn and Zipporah Sein.

On Monday the Mutu Say Poe faction released a letter which appeared to suggest they were suspending their membership in the UNFC however those KNU representatives who continued to take part in the meeting have said they want to stay with the alliance.

Some 65 years after the KNU first took up arms against Burma's central government in 1949, the KNU which is one of the oldest non state armed groups in the world, appears to be on the verge of a major split between Mutu Say Poe and his allies who favour signing the national ceasefire and those who don't.

The Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), is the largest member of the UNFC members and the KIO's leadership have been strong supporters of the alliance. The ongoing conflict in Kachin state between the Burma's military and the KIO has been a major focus for the UNFC which also includes the New Mon State Part, the Pa-O National Organization, the Chin National Front, the Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP), the Shan State Army-North (SSPP) and several smaller organizations.

The UNFC's conference formally began on Thursday, but internal UNFC meetings were put on hold for two days while the group held talks with representatives from various political parties and civil society organizations which included representatives from the National League for Democracy (NLD) and representatives from the '88 student group including former political prisoner Ko Ko Gyi. It was expected that the UNFC's internal talks which resumed on Sunday would continue until the middle of this week.

Officially formed in 2011 the UNFC is the latest incarnation of a previous armed alliances that involved both the KIO and the KNU. The last alliance between the KIO and the KNU ended in the early 1990's when the KIO entered into negotiations with the central government which untimely led to a ceasefire.