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TEHRAN, April 25, YJC - The government of Myanmar says it will go to peace talks with ethnic groups next month in a fresh attempt to end decades of war in the country.
TEHRAN, Young Journalists Club (YJC) - Government spokesman Zaw Htay said on Tuesday that the talks would begin on May 24 and would last five days.
A surge in fighting over the past months caused the government to push back the talks from February. Tens of thousands of people have been displaced in renewed clashes between the army and insurgents on Myanmar's eastern borders.
Many blame Suu Kyi for intensified clashes and say she has been more supportive of the army and its traditional base of power in Myanmar. They are against a partial ceasefire deal first touted by the former military-backed government in 2015, which requires ethnic groups to lay down their arms before talks. The rebels are more in favor of a federal power arrangement.
"If we can lay out the basic agreement on a federal system, I can say it would help a lot,” said Khun Okka, an ethnic negotiator, adding that the talks would be a major opportunity to introduce the issue of federal system and how it could look like in the future.
Some groups have even called for international mediation, saying the army cannot be part of a general agreement as it continues to target minorities with impunity, Presstv reported.
Daung Khar, a spokesman for the China-backed United Wa State Army and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), said Suu Kyi’s efforts for peace would be lost "as long as the intentional attacks to the ethnic groups are still going on."
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