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Myanmar gov't, armed groups resume peace talks

Xinhua, March 17, 2015 Adjust font size:

Peace negotiators of Myanmar's government and ethnic armed groups resumed their peace talks in Yangon Tuesday in an effort to finalize their draft nationwide ceasefire accord, sources with the Myanmar Peace Center said.

The 7th round of peace talks between Myanmar government's Union Peace-Making Work Committee (UPWC) and 16 ethnic armed groups' Nationwide Ceasefire Coordination Team (NCCT), which began at the Myanmar Peace Center, will touch on the remaining eight hard points out of 104, the sources said.

The UPWC side is led by its Vice Chairman U Aung Min, while the NCCT side is headed by U Naing Han Tha.

A day before the resumption of the peace talks, Myanmar President U Thein Sein, Vice President Sai Mauk Kham and Commander- in-Chief of the Defense Service Senior-General Min Aung Hlaing met separately for the first time with a special delegation of the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) in Nay Pyi Taw, led by its General Secretary Dr. La Ja and its army's Deputy Chief of Staff Major-General Guan Maw to discuss peace efforts in the country.

During that meeting, the KIO forwarded a peace proposal, signed by its chairman, to the president, reaffirming its commitment to the ongoing peace process until success.

The last 6th round of nationwide ceasefire talks, held in September last year, approved the fourth draft of the ceasefire agreement.

The present 7th round of peace talks between the two sides, which was originally set for mid-January, was delayed until by fresh clashes between the government forces and the KIO in the month. Endi