Representatives from the Burmese government's Union Peace-Making Working Committee (UPWC) and their counterparts from the Nationwide Ceasefire Coordination Team (NCCT) will hold a seventh round of peace negotiations later this month.
This was decided last month by representatives from the NCCT and the Myanmar Peace Center (MPC), according to Pado Kywe Htu Win, an NCCT representative from the Karen National Union (KNU).
“We had negotiations for the 7th round of meetings between the UPWC and the NCCT”, Pado Kwe Htoo said. According to him the meeting will likely be held sometime between 12 and 16 March. According to Hla Maung Shwe a senior official with the MPC the meetings will be held at the MPC office in Rangoon.
“We have an agreement for the meeting to be held after 12 March” Hla Maung Shwe explained.
During a pre-talk meeting held last month in Chiang Mai MPC representatives informed their NCCT counterparts about the details of an agreement that the Thein Sein administration concluded last month with four armed groups. The Deed of Commitment for Peace and National Reconciliation was signed by the Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS), the Karen National Union (KNU), the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army (DKBA) and the KNU/KNLA Peace Council.
Most of the other NCCT members were however reluctant to sign on to this agreement which was ratified at a ceremony in Naypyidaw on 12 February, Union Day. It remains to be seen if the government's negotiating team led by Aung Min will be able to convince more organisations to sign on.
