The Shan State Progressive Party / Shan State Army (SSPP/SSA) denied Burmese government accusations that they are involved in fighting in the Kokang self-administered zone and said the government should withdraw its accusations.
The SSPP/SSA made their statements in a five-point open letter to the government dated 23 February.
One of the points said: “We are not involved in the Kokang battles. This political problem should not be solved by military methods instead it should be solved by respecting each other and using political dialogue to find the answers.”
Sao Khun Hseng general secretary of SSPP said: “We are trying not to break the ceasefire agreement that we have with the government. We hope to have political dialogue as soon as possible. These accusations are not true, under the current conditions [fighting between government forces and armed groups in Kokang] we have forbidden our forces from even carrying out ambushes on government forces which is why we have sent an open letter to the president asking him to withdraw this accusation.”
At a press conference in Naypyidaw on 22 February the government accused the SSPP/SSA, the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), the National Democratic Alliance Army (Eastern Shan State) (NDAA-ESS), the United Wa State Army (UWSA) and the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) of also being involved in the fighting in the Kokang region.
Sao Khun Hseng said that the government’s claims that the fighting in the Kokang area is a breach of national sovereignty and putting the area under martial law are distractions to divert interest away from other problems like the student protests, land ownership issues and the Let Pa Daung copper mine problem.
Translated by Aung Myat Soe English version written by Mark Inkey for BNI
