Myanmar’s Kachin rebels are set to reopen their liaison office to facilitate talks with the government two years after fighting shut the site down, peace mediators said Monday, in a sign that talks to forge a cease-fire are still on track despite fresh clashes.
The Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) is ready to reopen the office in the Kachin state capital Myitkyina within the week, according to San Aung, a member of the government-Kachin Peace Coordination Group.
The KIO has already selected the members of a team that will be working with the government’s peace working committee, he said.
The revival of the office, which was shut down in 2011 after a 17-year peace agreement between Myanmar troops and Kachin rebels broke down, came after the two sides signed a preliminary cease-fire agreement in May aimed at ending hostilities.
“The members of Technical Team will work on preparing for discussions with the government … and political talks will be held in this office,” San Aung told RFA’s Myanmar Service Monday.
He said the Myanmar government had already been informed about the composition of the KIO team, which will include Colonel Gaw Lula Aung, Colonel Sin Wa, Colonel Kun Naung, Sergeant Daung Kha and 10 others.
The office will be the same one the KIO had used from 1994 until fighting resumed two years ago.
Cease-fire talks
In the seven-point cease-fire agreement reached at the end of May, the two sides had agreed to continue holding talks, work on preventing further fighting, and resettle displaced persons.
But Kachin rebels, who say a political settlement is key to ending hostilities, have said Myanmar troops have fought with the KIA more than 20 times since signing the agreement.
Last week, the Myanmar military fired mortars at positions held by the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) in four villages near the border with China in Kachin state, forcing civilians to flee, residents said.
Thein Sein has signed cease-fire agreements with most of Myanmar’s armed ethnic groups, but the KIO had held out on peace talks until recently.
An estimated 100,000 people have been displaced by fighting since fighting resumed in 2011.
Earlier this month, the United Nations said it had been allowed to deliver emergency aid in Kachin rebel-held territory for the first time in nearly a year.
Reported by Ye Htet for RFA’s Myanmar Service. Translated by Khet Mar. Written in English by Rachel Vandenbrink.