Charges will be dropped against dozens of ethnic minority protesters who demonstrated against a statue of independence hero General Aung San and the authorities will hold talks with them, according to state media 13 February.

On Tuesday, a crowd of several thousand protestors took to the streets and police fired rubber bullets, tear gas and water cannon to disperse them in Loikaw, capital of the eastern state of Kayah.

Aung San brokered a 1947 pact among some of Myanmar's ethnic groups that is marked by an annual holiday on February 12, but the Karenni protesters say its promises were not implemented after the general's assassination that year.

According to the Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper, state officials had negotiated with protesters the previous day and agreed to revoke the charges against them. In return, the activists agreed to suspend their protests, adding negotiations would take place within a month, covering issues such as an inscription on the statue's pedestal.

Aung San is widely revered by the majority ethnic Bamar (Burmese) population as an independence hero for his role in the struggle against British colonial rule.

But the general, who was assassinated before independence in 1948, is viewed less favourably among many ethnic minority groups, who see him as a symbol of Bamar domination.

Additional reporting from AFP, Channel NewsAsia