Ethnic leaders in Myanmar to meet again for ceasefire deal with gov't

Leaders of 17 ethnic armed groups in Myanmar will gather again in Hlaingbwe, southeastern Kayin state, on Dec. 18 for a three-day conference ahead of their continued ceasefire deal with the government, the local Standard Times Daily reported Monday, quoting a senior leader of the Kayin National Union (KNU).

Hlaingbwe is the headquarters of the KNU.

The Hlaingbwe conference will be a follow-up of an earlier ethnic leaders'conference held in Laiza, northernmost Kachin state in October-November, in which the ethnic leaders signed an 11-point framework agreement. The framework had been presented to the first round of talks with the government in November in Myitgyina, the capital of Kachin state, for making a nationwide ceasefire deal.

The three-day Hlaingbwe conference will be followed by the second round of talks between the government's Central Peace- Making Work Committee and the ethnic armed groups' Nationwide Ceasefire Coordination Team reset for next January in Pha-an, the capital of Kayin state.

During the Myitgyina talks, in addition to the ethnic armed groups' presentation of their 11-point ceasefire framework agreement, the government's Central Peace-Making Work Committee also put forward its draft nationwide ceasefire accord for future signing.

That talks resulted in no immediate response to each other's proposals.