Government Agrees to Meet Northern Alliance as a Group
Government Agrees to Meet Northern Alliance as a Group
The Irrawaddy, 05 Feb 2019
URL: https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/government-agrees-meet-northern-alliance-group.html
YANGON—the government has agreed to meet the Northern Alliance, a coalition of four ethnic armed groups, as a single entity for peace talks, according to U Hsan Awng of the Peace-talk Creation Group (PCG), a Kachin-based organization that helps to broker meetings between the government, Myanmar Army and Kachin Independence Army (KIA).
Previously, the government would only negotiate with the members bilaterally, and consistently rejected the four groups’ request to hold talks with the government as a coalition.
The Northern Alliance consists of the Arakan Army (AA), the KIA, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) and the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA).
“The date has not been set yet. But I am sure they will meet this month. I heard that the government agreed to meet them collectively,” U Hsan Awng said.
The government’s National Reconciliation and Peace Center (NRPC) and the Northern Alliance are currently choosing a date for the meeting and deciding which delegates to send.Colonel Kyaw Han of the AA said he had not been informed of the government’s proposal for peace talks.
Previously, the government would only negotiate with the members bilaterally, and consistently rejected the four groups’ request to hold talks with the government as a coalition.
The Northern Alliance consists of the Arakan Army (AA), the KIA, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) and the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA).
“The date has not been set yet. But I am sure they will meet this month. I heard that the government agreed to meet them collectively,” U Hsan Awng said.
The government’s National Reconciliation and Peace Center (NRPC) and the Northern Alliance are currently choosing a date for the meeting and deciding which delegates to send.Colonel Kyaw Han of the AA said he had not been informed of the government’s proposal for peace talks.