Yangon, October 3 -- The 9-member delegation representing the Union
government of Thein Sein and the 15-member delegation of United Wa
State Party ( UWSP ) has held first round of peace talks in Lashio,
the northern city of Shan State, last Saturday, state-owned TV
announced at 6 pm ( MST ) this evening.
According to TV, in this first round of peace talks, leader of the
UWSP delegation U Xaio Min Lian pledged that the UWSP as well as the
area they control in Shan State would never break away from the Union.
The TV further said matters such as education and health for the Wa
people, reopening of liaison offices, elimination of drugs and
development of border areas and construction of economic
infrastructures in Wa areas were also discussed in the first round of
talks.
“Following the talks, both sides signed the agreements at this round
of talks,” the TV said.
The TV however did not mention anything on the thorny problem of the
government’s demand for transforming the Wa army into border guard
force ( BGF ), which has been one of the main reasons for causing
tension between the government and the UWSP.
The 9-member Union government delegation was led by U Aung Thaung,
elected member of parliament and former Minister for Industry ( 1 )
while the 15-member UWSP delegation was led by Vice-President U Xaio
Min Lian.
UWSP maintains military wing, which has nearly 40,000 armed force and
as such it is the strongest armed organization among ethnic national
armed forces.
It appears that Thein Sein government, which is now engaged in armed
clashes with the Kachin Independent Army ( KIA ), Shan State Army (
SSA ) and Karen National Union ( KNU ), is currently giving top
priority to achieving peace with the 40,000 UWSA.
http://www.bdcburma.org
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