Irrawaddy-Apr 25
Myanmar’s junta leader Min Aung Hlaing has invited the leaders of ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) for talks to end armed conflict in the country. Observers said only a few EAOs would attend. In his televised address on the junta’s mouthpiece Myawady TV on Friday, Min Aung Hlaing proposed face-to-face talks with EAO leaders.
However, the invitation for peace talks excludes the country’s shadow National Unity Government (NUG) and its armed wing, the people’s defense forces (PDFs), as Min Aung Hlaing has previously refused to talk to either group. The Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP), which is engaged in heavy fighting with junta troops in Kayah State, rejected the invitation. Padoh Saw Taw Nee, the Karen National Union’s (KNU) head of foreign affairs, said the regime must first withdraw its troops from Karen State and leave Myanmar’s politics before the KNU will hold talks. Colonel Naw Bu, spokesman for the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), which is also fighting the regime, said the central executive committee of the KIA’s political wing, the Kachin Independence Organization, has not decided whether to attend peace talks, but he said dialogue with the regime was pointless. Colonel Khun Okkar, the patron of the Pa-O National Liberation Organization (PNLO), said the group’s committee will meet on Monday to discuss whether to meet the junta boss. By inviting EAOs for dialogue, the junta chief has admitted that he is losing, said Bo Nagar, the leader of the Myanmar Royal Dragon Army resistance group in Pale Township, Sagaing Region. Read more at: https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/ethnic-armed-groups-reject-myanmar-junta-chiefs-peace-talks.html
