Myanmar gov't, ethnic groups to continue talks for ceasefire accord

Negotiators of the Myanmar government and ethnic armed groups agreed here on Thursday to continue discussions on remaining points of a draft nationwide ceasefire accord (NCA).

The remaining points yet to be finalized include invitation of domestic and foreign witnesses to be present for the formal signing of the NCA, senior adviser of the government's Myanmar Peace Center U Hla Man Shwe told a press conference after the first day of the 9th round of ceasefire talks resumed at the Myanmar Peace Center.

The talks on Friday will mainly focus on the issue of all- inclusive signing of the NCA, deputy leader of the ethnic armed groups' Senior Delegation (SD) said.

The government side expressed its hope on Thursday to seek ways for all-inclusive nationwide ceasefire pact signing.

The government's Union Peace Making Work Committee (UPWC) was led by Vice Chairman and Minister at the President's Office U Aung Min, while the ethnic side was headed by Naw Zipporah Sein.

The ceasefire talks were attended by UN and Chinese special envoys as observers.

The draft NCA was preliminarily signed between the government's UPWC and the ethnic groups' Nationwide Ceasefire Coordination Team (NCCT) late March after more than one year of negotiation.

The peace process began in November 2013 when UPWC and NCCT met in Myitgyina, Kachin state's capital, for the first time for the nationwide ceasefire talks, while the 8th round of talks took place in Yangon on July 22. Endi