Friday, November 10, 2017

Ethnic armed groups close to signing ceasefire



November 9, 2017
Representatives from the Union Government’s Peace Commission and the United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC) said yesterday there was a strong possibility that the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) would soon be signed and a truce agreed upon that would potentially end decades of fighting.

The UNFC is a coalition representing opposition groups that are campaigning for the rights of Myanmar’s ethnic minorities.
“We openly discussed specifically military issues in the meeting, and the situation is close to the one that both sides expected,” said U Zaw Htay, a representative of the Peace Commission.
“The results from the meeting will be submitted to the leaders of both sides. Following that, we will meet again in one or two weeks to finalise the negotiation. The time for crossing the finishing line is drawing near,” he added.
The two-day meeting focused on issues related with the Joint Monitoring Committee, including location of military camps, measures to be taken during the transition period and the role of foreign experts in the joint monitoring sector.
Khu Oo Ral, leader of the Delegation for Political Negotiation (DPN), said his side needs to discuss usages in the agreement and they are also expected to be agreed upon in the upcoming meeting.
“We believe that NCA would be signed after the outcomes of the meeting have been submitted to the leaders of both sides,” he said. The two sides have met seven times over the past 15 months, seeking ways for all to sign the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement. The meeting was attended by Dr. Tin Myo Win, U Thein Zaw, Lt-Gen Yar Pyae, Lt-Gen Min Naung, Lt-Gen Tin Maung Win, Deputy Attorney-General U Win Myint, U Naing Ngan Lin and members of the Peace Commission while DPN side was led by Khu Oo Ral, leader of the delegation, and U Nai Aung Ma Ngay, deputy leader, and members. Among the observers were leaders of the signatories to NCA including Pado Saw Khwe Htoo Win and Yebaw Than Ge.

Zaw Gyi
Ref; The Global New Light of Myanmar

No comments:

Post a Comment