A government source with knowledge of the talks confirmed
that a delegation from the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) met negotiators in
the Chinese border town of Ruili to try to thrash out truce terms and end
fighting that has displaced an estimated 50,000 people since June 2011.
A deal with the Kachins would clear a major hurdle for
the new civilian government in its drive toward "everlasting peace"
after decades of on-off fighting in the ethnically diverse, resource-rich
country.
Western nations have made a successful peace process with
separatist groups operating in the country one of their main demands for
lifting sanctions.
Preliminary cease-fires have been reached with most of
the 16 armed ethnic groups or political organizations that have responded to
President Thein Sein's appeal last August for all sides to start dialogue.
The government secured its 12th cease-fire on Wednesday
with the Kayah Nationalities Progressive Party (KNPP) in Loikaw, the capital of
eastern Kayah State, a mediator told Reuters.
The peace process has three stages; cease-fire, political
negotiations, then a parliamentary conference to ratify agreements. The
government has promised to resettle refugees and bring development and foreign
investment to ethnic areas.
The fighting in Kachin State is one of the biggest
obstacles for the government's ongoing reform drive. Thein Sein and the armed
forces chief have instructed troops not to attack the Kachins but fighting
continues unabated and it is unclear which side is driving the conflict.
The main sticking point in the six previous rounds of
talks has been the Kachins' insistence that "self determination" be
part of the cease-fire agreement, but the government says the issue can only be
discussed at the second stage of the process.
Kachin State is also of strategic importance to China and
sustained conflict could impact its plans to use the region as a conduit in
transporting energy to its southwest provinces.
Construction of twin oil and gas pipeline from the Bay of
Bengal, through Kachin State, to China's Yunnan province is already underway
and the region is home to several hydropower projects exporting electricity
mainly to China.
