Ceasefire will be discussed in meeting with Burmese government, says KNPP

IMNA – The Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP) and the peace agency of the Burmese government will meet again in the first week of March to discuss issues related to a ceasefire agreement, according to KNPP.

“We’ll mainly negotiate to get an agreement on the military issue. We want the government to sign a ceasefire agreement. Like other [armed] groups, it was announced after the previous meeting that we would sign [an agreement]. However, the signing of a ceasefire agreement can occur only after reaching agreement on the military issue,” said Khu Oo Yel, Secretary 1 of KNPP.

Besides the ceasefire issue, KNPP representatives will discuss in detail the issues of domestic Karenni people who are living in hardship, land confiscations, specifying control areas, accommodation of Karenni army units, livelihood and transportation, and the issue of opening liaison offices, according to Khu Oo Yel.

He continued, “The issue of land confiscation will be discussed again. In the political discussion of the previous week, it was reported that land confiscations and related projects in Karenni areas should be suspended.”

The KNPP will again meet the peace agency of the government in Loi Kaw, capital of Karenni State, in the first week of March.

The assertion of Minister U Aung Min that the meeting would occur on March 1 was not decided during the previous negotiations, and it was only a one-sided declaration from the government, said Khu Oo Yel.

The peace agency of the government led by U Aung Min and the KNPP led by Secretary 1 Khu Oo Yel, Commander-in-Chief General Be Htoo, Secretary 2 U Aung San Myint, and Central Committee Member Pa Lu Yel met in Chiang Mai, Thailand, on February 6.

The first meeting of government and KNPP representatives occurred in Mae Sai, Thailand, on November 19, 2011.

During the initial meeting, discussions on negotiating the ceasefire issue, forming the communication teams of both sides, the opening of liaison offices, the crossing of limited areas without weapons, the development of negotiations with the central government, and specification of the time and place of negotiations were presented by the representatives of the government.

Possible ceasefire agreements between the KNPP and the Burmese government have been discussed since the era of State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) and the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), but there has never been success, and hostilities have continually broken out.