KNU Meets with Karen State Govt for Ceasefire Today

12 January 2012: The Karen National Union (KNU) is to hold talks with Karen State government in Pa-an, Karen State today as a first step towards reaching a ceasefire deal.

The 19-member delegation led by General Mutu Say Poe and Padoh David Taw under the leadership of the KNU Committee for Emergency of Peace is set to meet with representatives of Burma’s new government.

In a statement released today, KNU said these talks are being initiated as preliminary discussions towards a ceasefire agreement, which would be a first step towards solving the longstanding political conflict between the ethnic nationalities and the Burmese government.

“The KNU believes that in order to achieve genuine peace and an end to the civil war in Burma, the underlying political conflict must be solved by political means, beginning with earnest dialogue,” added the statement.

Many believe in the possibility of signing a ceasefire deal between KNU and Burma’s government representatives at the end of the meeting this week following previous initial discussions held on three occasions late last year.

Speaking to Mizzima News yesterday, Pado Saw David Taw highlighted rehabilitation of the Karen people takes priority over any other matter such as development work.

Last week, the Chin National Front (CNF), another ethnic armed group that had fought against Burma’s successive regimes for 23 years, made a ceasefire agreement at a State-level meeting in Hakha, Chin State as a preliminary deal towards finding long-term solutions to political problems in the country.

Reporting by Thawng Zel Thang