News & Articles on Burma-Friday, 23 September, 2011-uzl

News & Articles on Burma
Friday, 23 September, 2011
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Myanmar's Suu Kyi wins international relations prize
KIA bans cement imports from China
Burma tells IMF of economic optimism
Irrawaddy Events Held around Rangoon
Mon State Chief Seeks Peace Talks
Suu Kyi Attends 'Save the Irrawaddy' Art Event
Burma's Economic Growth Rate Projected at 8.8 Percent: Minister
Myanmar stands firm on Myitsone dam
For Burma, An Asean Solution
Burma seeing ‘rapid’ reform: think tank
Seven Burmese soldiers killed, two injured in Mongkoe
SSPP/SSA wishes to have peace with regime
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Myanmar's Suu Kyi wins international relations prize
Published on Sep 23, 2011

LONDON (AFP) - Myanmar democracy campaigner Aung San Suu Kyi has won this year's Chatham House prize for her contribution to the improvement of international relations, the British think-tank said on Friday.

The 66-year-old's fight to bring political change to Myanmar, for which she has had to spend most of the last two decades under house arrest, had made her an international symbol of democracy and peaceful resistance, it said.

'Her consistently measured and non-violent approach towards ending military rule in Burma has served as a powerful example to all those struggling to bring about democratic and accountable systems of governance in their countries,' said Chatham House director Robin Niblett.

Ms Suu Kyi was freed in November but her movements are still restricted by the ruling military junta in Myanmar, also known as Burma. http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/SEAsia/Story/STIStory_715830.html
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KIA bans cement imports from China
Created on Tuesday, 20 September 2011 10:03
Published on Tuesday, 20 September 2011 17:09 , Written by KNG

Chinese trucks on Myitkyina-Kambaiti road in eastern Kachin State, Northern Burma.
The Kachin Independence Army (KIA) has banned the transporting of cement from the China border to Kachin State, Northern Burma, KIA officials said.

The ban is aimed to stop construction of a huge dam at Mali-N’Mai Zup (Myitsone in Burmese), the Confluence of the Irrawaddy River (Mali Hka Nu in Kachin). The dam site is also one of the historic birthplaces of Kachin civilization, said KIA officials at its Laiza headquarters.

A KIA officer told the Kachin News Group, “The Myitsone dam construction is a threat to the public. Chinese workers transport construction materials from the border. We mainly banned cement.”

Other construction materials including metal, pipe and limestone powder are also banned by the KIA, according to border traders.
lam 4 engHowever, passenger travel and food imports from China are not banned, added the traders.

A resident of Waingmaw on the Myitkyina-Kambaiti border trade route said, “It is no problem for travelers and food imports and exports. But, cement imports are completely banned.”

There are four major border trade routes with China in Kachin State--- Myitkyina to Laiza (KIA), Myitkyina to Kambaiti, Manmaw (Bhamo) to Loije and Manmaw to Nam Hkam.

Chinese cement has been banned from those routes since June 9th, the day the Burmese government started its offensive against the KIA at Sang Gang, near Taping (Dapein) Dam, in N’Mawk Township, in Manmaw district.

The state-owned China Power Investment Corporation (CPI) and the military-backed Burmese government have been constructing the dam at Myitsone since December, 2009, neglecting the people of Kachin State.

On March 16, the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), the political wing of the KIA, sent an open letter to Chinese President Hu Jintao, requesting him to stop construction of the Irrawaddy Myitsone dam because it will lead to civil in Burma.

Despite the KIA’s cement ban and the ongoing civil war in Kachin State, China is continuing construction of the Myitsone Dam as well as transporting construction equipment, according to the Kachin Development Networking Group (KDNG). http://kachinnews.com/news/2059-kia-bans-cement-imports-from-china.html
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Burma tells IMF of economic optimism
By JOSEPH ALLCHIN, DVB: Published: 23 September 2011

Burma’s economy expects growth rates of more than eight percent over the coming year, Finance Minister Hla Tun said in an optimistic address to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington DC.

The rise would largely be attributed to “growths in the agricultural sector and services sector”, he told the gathering, and were projected at 8.8 percent despite Burma’s ongoing currency crisis.

The IMF is expected to send a technical team to the country next month with a view to helping Burma with its “immediate needs for redesigning the prevailing exchange rate system,” which has cursed the economy for decades.

The comments made by Hla Tun were published on the website of the IMF.

Burma’s agriculture sector, which employs some 70 percent of the workforce, has however taken a big hit in recent months as exports dried up due to the nearly 25 percent appreciation of the kyat against the US dollar. This led to the dumping of agricultural commodities on the domestic market, which has reportedly pushed farmer to accrue huge debts.

But services have benefited from the strengthening of the currency, given that they cannot be traded outside the country.

Hla Tun further stated that the “policy focus of the elected government is based on the twin objectives of economic management and poverty alleviation.”

Economic management has recently seen the government reduce export taxes on key agricultural sectors in an attempt to offset the kyat’s rise and to lower slightly the country’s high interest rates. This it hopes will increase liquidity and decrease the value of the local currency.

However the finance minister only made vague reference to the country’s burgeoning debt, stating that it “has taken measures both in terms of revenue and expenditure consistent with the fiscal consolidation plans.”

This has, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), seen the value of the government’s bonds grow by almost a third in the last financial year, although that figure was not released by the government despite Hla Tun stating that “the major thrust of these measures is to establish transparency”.

The EIU said that Burma has seen a “389% year-on-year rise in revenue from commodity, services and commercial taxes,” which formed part of a 260 percent rise in general tax revenue to some $US100 million.

No indication of where the government would consolidate spending was made – while tax revenues have risen to $US100 million, government spending on the military continues to eat up about a quarter of expenditure, costing the country some $US2 billion each year, slightly less than the country’s entire gas profits.

According to senior government adviser U Myint, the rampant corruption in tax collecting is responsible for incongruous export taxes.

U Myint has in the past questioned government growth figures, claiming in 2009 that “these growth rates have become highly politicised, and in the process, credibility and good sense have fallen by the wayside.” http://www.dvb.no/news/burma-tells-imf-of-economic-optimism/17803
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Irrawaddy Events Held around Rangoon
By SAI ZOM HSENG Friday, September 23, 2011

Several ‘Save the Irrawaddy’ events took place around Rangoon on Friday with well-known singers and poets entertaining crowds while environmentalists and NGOs conducted workshops and seminars to promote the issue.

The Free Funeral Service Society (FFSS) and the self-named “Group that wants the Irrawaddy to Live Forever” held an event titled “Irrawaddy of Youth” at the FFSS headquarters in North Dagon Township, which was attended by writers, poets and musicians.

Speaking to The Irrawaddy on Friday, FFSS founder Kyaw Thu said, “Famous singers such as Ye Lwin, Saung Oo Hlaing, Zeya Thaw, Anaga, Yan Yan Chan and Yatha sang about the Irrawaddy River. Several people, including myself, read out poems and essays. All 500 people in attendance were very enthusiastic and united.”

Formerly a well-known actor, Kyaw Thu went on to say: “If we the people are the Mali River, the government is the N’Mai River. The Irrawaddy is what appears through the combination of those two rivers. I mean that the government and the people have to be united. When the government makes its decision in parliament on the future of the Irrawaddy and the Myitsone project, they must listen to the voice of the

At the Royal Rose Restaurant in Bahan Township, a group of environmentalists and activists held an open discussion about the Irrawaddy River, which is Burma's main artery and the provider of livelihoods for millions of people.

An increasing momentum has gathered across the country in recent weeks on the issue of the Chinese-financed megadam project in Kachin State and its subsequent impact on people and the environment. Many are calling for a permanent halt to the project.

An art exhibition promoting the “Save the Irrawaddy” theme was held on Thursday, attracting about 1,000 people including pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi.
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=22133
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Mon State Chief Seeks Peace Talks
By LAWI WENG Friday, September 23, 2011

The chief minister of Mon State, Ohn Myint, has formed a peace mission and requested permission from Naypyidaw to engage in talks with the New Mon State Party (NMSP), according to Mon sources.

“We heard that he (Ohn Myint) sent a proposal to Naypyidaw six days ago saying that he had formed a peace mission. He is waiting to get approval from Naypyidaw to have peace talks,” said Nai Tin Aung, a former executive member of the NMSP.

“It is good to talk each other, because the Mon could not move the government from power and the government could not destroy the Mon,” he added.

Nai Tin Aung said that because of the conflict between government forces and the NMSP, the people in Mon State are getting poorer and many are being forced by the circumstances to find work in Thailand.

He said that the peace mission consists of six persons, but declined to give their names since the group did not yet have approval from Naypyidaw.

“The six people include members of Ohn Myint’s government and members of Mon political parties,” Nai Tin Aung said.

Sources from the All Mon Regions Democracy Party in Moulmein, the capital of Mon State, said that the peace mission is led by Nai Lawi Oung, the minister of electric power and industry in Mon State, who was also a former NMSP central committee member.

Nai Hang Thar, the secretary of the NMSP and also the secretary of an umbrella group of ethnic parties called the United Nationalities Federation Council (UNFC), said, “The NMSP’s policy is we will not hold peace talks alone. The UNFC will lead the peace talks. But the UNFC members have agreed to talk individually to each state government to explain the policy.”

“If we didn’t agree to do this, it would be the same as blocking peace talks,” he added.

Although Burma’s pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi said she hopes to see signs of real change very soon in Burma, Nai Hang Thar said that every new government speaks about peace at the beginning their new term.

“We cannot believe everything the new government says. We need to continue to wait and see what they do,” he said.

Nai Tin Aung said that the current government could be compared to the story of a powerful king who stood in the middle of a ladder and asked the people whether he was stepping up or down.

“It depends on the king whether to step up or down, as he has power. This is similar to the current situation of the government. There can be a good or bad situations. It depends on them,” he said. http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=22132
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Suu Kyi Attends 'Save the Irrawaddy' Art Event
By SAI ZOM HSENG Thursday, September 22, 2011

An art exhibition held in Rangoon on Thursday morning to promote a public campaign to save the Irrawaddy River attracted about 1,000 people including well-known writers, actors, politicians, environmentalists and pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

More than 100 photographs, paintings, drawings and cartoons were exhibited at Gallery 65 on Yawmingyi Road in central Rangoon.

Ye Naing Moe, one of the organizers, said that the event also featured the launch of a book about the Irrawaddy River.

Speaking to The Irrawaddy on Thursday, Ye Naing Moe said. “The name of the exhibition was ‘Save Ayeyarwady—The Sketch of a River’ and the name of the book is ‘An Image of a River’—it contains more than 200 photos.”

“When we travelled to the region we decided to document the scenes because we thought that people might never get a chance to see them in the future because of the Myitsone Dam, which is under construction. The public needs more information and knowledge about the Irrawaddy,” he said. “The government also needs to make the right decision with regard to the river and the dam.”

The Myitsone Dam project should not be allowed to continue without public participation in the decision-making process, said Ye Naing Moe, who is also a journalist.

If allowed to continue, the project when completed will be Burma’s second largest dam. Located in Kachin State at the source of the Irrawaddy River, the project was contracted by the Ministry of Electric Power-1 to AsiaWorld, a private Burmese company owned by Stephen Law who is blacklisted by US sanctions. The state-run China Power Investment Corporation is the main investor with rights to export all the electricity generated by the dam to China.
The dam's reservoir is expected to be completed by 2019, but thousands of people in Kachin State have already been forced to relocate.

During the exhibition, pro-democracy leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Suu Kyi addressed assembled reporters. “People need to unite if they are to achieve what they want,” she said.

All photographs and artwork were passed to the government's Press Scrutiny and Registration Division on Wednesday for approval, and three cartoons were prohibited from exhibition.

One of the cartoons belonged to Soe Thaw Tar, a well-known cartoonist in Burma. He said that his cartoon was removed from the show because it offended the government. He said its title was “Among the culprits, the historical culprit is the worst.”

Popular singer Anaga said that there are a lot of examples of civilians suffering from the consequences of dams, such as at the Mekong River and the Yangtze River. He said that people are more important than those projects.

“This exhibition is an expression via the arts,” said Anaga. “But the people who were forced to relocate, who were forced to leave their homes and who are suffering the consequences of the project also need to be able to express themselves.” http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=22124
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Burma's Economic Growth Rate Projected at 8.8 Percent: Minister
By LALIT K JHA Friday, September 23, 2011

WASINGTON—Burma’s economic growth is expected to be 8.8 percent this year, the country’s finance minister, Hla Tun, told the annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank on Friday as he thanked the IMF for technical assistance in the area of exchange rate management and said that reforms are forthcoming.

“We are grateful for the technical assistance that we have received from the Fund especially in the area of exchange rate management,” Hla Tun said, adding that this assistance will provide Burma with valuable policy advice and training for unifying its multiple exchange rate capability to address immediate needs for redesigning the prevailing exchange rate system.

“We consider that the availability of technical and financial cooperation from the Bretton Woods institutions will support our economic development programmes and we believe that they can provide a parallel role in our future prosperity,” he said.

The Burmese finance minister said his country expects an economic growth rate of 8.8 percent in the first year a five-year plan. “This growth will be attributed mainly by the growths of the agricultural sector and services sector,” he said.

Referring to the formation of the new government after last year’s general elections, Hla Tun said the government aims at achieving sustainable developments on all fronts through a number of reforms.

“The major thrust of these measures is to establish transparency and accountability at all levels of government. The policy focus of the elected government is based on the twin objectives of economic management and poverty alleviation,” he said.

Hla Tun said efforts are being made toward further banking and financial sector modernization by implementing an Electronic Banking Network and Payment System. Measures have been taken to strengthen the Central Bank’s supervisory and regulatory powers. Necessary instructions and guidelines have been issued in order to maintain the stability of the banking sector.

Meanwhile in Geneva, US Ambassador Eileen Donahoe told the Human Rights Council that the Burmese government continues to denies its citizens basic rights, including freedom of speech, movement and association.

“There are roughly 2,000 political prisoners, and ongoing attacks against ethnic minority populations have resulted in the displacement of millions of people, both internally and in the region, over the past five decades,” Donahoe said.

“The newly formed National Human Rights Commission should work closely with the HRC and other bodies to investigate human rights abuses and take concrete steps to begin a national reconciliation process,” Donahoe said, adding that the US urges the Burmese government to follow its words and commitments with concrete actions that lead to genuine reform, national reconciliation and respect for human rights. http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=22129
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Myanmar stands firm on Myitsone dam
By Staff Writers
Yangon, Myanmar (UPI) Sep 22, 2011

Work continues on a $3.6 billion hydropower dam project in Myanmar on the Irrawaddy River despite widespread objections.

The Myitsone Dam, a joint effort by Myanmar's military government and the China Power Investment Corp., is expected to produce 6,000 megawatts of electricity, about 90 percent of it to be exported to China. Under an agreement signed by Chinese and Myanmar officials, CPI will receive 70 percent of the project's profits.

CPI is planning to build and operate six additional dams on the Irrawaddy and its tributaries.

Environmentalists have said the dam in Myanmar's northern Kachin state will wreck the ecology of the Irrawaddy and now a growing list of activists, intellectuals, parliamentarians as well as former military officers are voicing opposition to the project, Asia Times Online reports.

The Kachin Development and Networking Group warns that more than 15,000 people in 60 villages are being forced to relocate without proper resettlement plans and millions more downstream would be affected.

Creation of the Myitsone Dam's reservoir will flood an area larger than Singapore KDNG says.

In an open letter last month, Myanmar's noted dissident, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi urged that the project be reassessed.

The Irrawaddy River is "the most significant geographical feature of our country," she wrote, and "the grand natural highway, a prolific source of food, the home of varied water flora and fauna" supporting traditional modes of life.

Even an environmental impact assessment of the project, fully funded by CPI, stated: "The fragmentation of the Irrawaddy River by a series of dams will have serious social and environmental problems not only at upstream of dams but also far downstream in the coastal area.

"There is no need for such a big dam to be constructed at the confluence of the Irrawaddy River."

The report also warned that the Myitsone site is less than 62 miles from the earthquake-prone Sagaing fault line.

While environmental activists and political groups have launched campaigns to urge the government to reconsider the project, Myanmar's Minister for Electric Power Zaw Min insists Myitsone will proceed as planned and that it is in the country's national interest.

Construction, which began in 2009, is to be completed in 2018.

"We'll keep working on the Myitsone Project. We'll never back down," Min said. "We won't halt this project in spite of objections from environmental groups." http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Myanmar_stands_firm_on_Myitsone_dam_999.html
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For Burma, An Asean Solution
A. Lin Neumann | September 23, 2011

When I first visited Burma, on Sept. 17, 1988, it was to report on a massive popular uprising and what I thought would be the advent of democracy in a country that even then had been under the heel of the military for 26 years.

Instead of democracy, the next day a faction of the military brutally seized power and ushered in a period of even greater isolation that has lasted for 23 years.

But it now looks as if Burma has learned its lesson. Having installed a military-approved government through controlled elections in 2010, Burma is coming out of its cocoon and the international community is getting ready to accept one of its most errant members back into the fold. The process will get a big boost next month when Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa visits to assess whether the country is ready to take its turn in 2014 as the chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Almost certainly the answer will be yes.

Opposition icon Aung San Suu Kyi, who was under house arrest for most of the last two decades before being released by the new government, has been in talks with President Thein Sein and has said she is cautiously optimistic.

“I think there have been positive developments,” the Nobel Peace Prize laureate said in an interview with Agence France-Presse this week.

Burmese exiles have been invited home and some are beginning to accept.

“We are getting ready to go home,” a Burmese journalist who fled Rangoon in 1988 told me recently. “We do not know what to expect but the time is coming.”

So what can we expect of a semi-free Burma ruled by former generals in civilian attire?

I suspect it will be just a classier form of political repression, minus the military boot openly on the neck of the nation. The country already has a freer press than it did even a year ago by most accounts, and Facebook and Twitter are growing. There is less fear of being snatched off the street and thrown into prison just for voicing a contrary opinion, recent visitors say. It is repressive, but “better.”

In short, Burma seems ready to adopt Asean-style authoritarianism.

For all the world’s insistence that Burma become democratic, that was never in the cards. The generals have spilled too much blood and have had their hands on too much money to allow for a free-wheeling democracy.

Given the current setup, where the military’s ruling party is guaranteed to win any election and can pass any law it wishes, the country is moving rather quickly toward the kind of non-democracy found in most Asean countries. Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos are under the firm control of one party. Brunei is a sultanate. Malaysia and Singapore, despite recent gains by the opposition, have been virtual one-party states since their founding. Only Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia buck the trend.

Burma’s mistake has been its inability, until recently, to recognize that unapologetically shooting people in the streets or using truncheons on peacefully protesting monks, as it did in 2007, is too much even by Asean’s mild standards of human rights.

Telling outrageous lies in government-controlled newspapers in a tone reminiscent of the Stalin era in the Soviet Union is laughably counterproductive. China, India and a handful of other countries have ignored the outrages and pressed ahead with investment in Burma, but a somewhat more open climate is necessary if the enormous untapped potential of what was once the wealthiest economy in Southeast Asia is to be realized.

And perhaps the Burmese people understand that they will only get so much.

Suu Kyi spoke this week of reconciliation, saying “both sides have to be prepared to compromise and give and take.” My Burmese exile friend said there was no need for retribution and that he and his allies just wanted to be part of their country again.

In short, Burma has to allow its people enough freedom that it will no longer be an embarrassment to its neighbors, while remaining repressive enough to keep the generals secure.

It is not a perfect arrangement, but it is a start and probably the best anyone can hope for.

A. Lin Neumann is a senior adviser to the Jakarta Globe. http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/opinion/for-burma-an-asean-solution/467109
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Burma seeing ‘rapid’ reform: think tank
By FRANCIS WADE, DVB:Published: 23 September 2011

Burma seeing ‘rapid’ reform: think tank thumbnail
ICG report pointed to Suu Kyi's meeting with Thein Sein as a sign of progress (Reuters)

Major political reform has occurred in Burma since the appointment of the “ambitious” and “refreshingly honest” President Thein Sein in March, according to think tank International Crisis Group in a report that suggests Burma is heading toward genuine democracy.

The report characterises Thein Sein, who was prime minister under the former junta, as eager to reach out to the political opposition and settle seemingly intractable conflicts between the central government and ethnic minority groups.

Jim Della-Giacoma, International Crisis Group’s Southeast Asia Project Director, told DVB that the pace of reform there has picked up since mid-July, three months into Thein Sein’s tenure, “in a way that has surprised observers”.

He pointed to “concrete, albeit small” signals that the new administration was breaking with the nearly half century of military that drew a cloak over Burma and pushed the economy to near ruin.

“Aung San Suu Kyi’s trip to Pegu [in May], for example, allowed to engage in political activity and exercise her political right”, he said. Other positive signs he pointed to were the lifting of a ban on foreign news websites and Thein Sein’s first meeting with Suu Kyi in August, who has spent years on the sidelines of Burma’s political arena.

That view was echoed by long time Burma analyst Larry Jagan, who claimed there was “little doubt” that Thein Sein is “an honest man who wants to push democratic change forward”.

However he cautioned against the conflicts of interest within the government that pit hardliners against “liberal-minded ministers” like Thein Sein. “There is a real possibility of change, and the international community should try and support it. To dismiss it is foolish.”

Asked whether the signs of reform may be duplicitous, as a number of observers have argued, and that they intend to only give a cosmetic lift to the nominally civilian government, Della-Giacomo said that any sort of reform inevitably begins at the rhetorical level.

“This is going to start with words, and words are important. They have to start talking at the highest level, and continue the dialogue they’ve been having in parliament.

“But the way these discussions have been happening, and that they are reported in the local media, shows that there is a new commitment to discussion, and that in itself is a small but significant step.”

While agreeing with the overall sentiment of the report, David Mathieson, Burma researcher at Human Rights Watch, said that areas of the analysis were perhaps too optimistic.

For a start, he said, Thein Sein “is a product of the system”, referring to his high position in the former junta and close relationship with retired dictator Than Shwe, and was a key player in creating many of the crises that have enveloped the country. Therefore his actual commitment to change must be closely scrutinised.

He also questioned the apparent faith the report places in the newly-formed National Human Rights Council, which should be strengthened by the international community in light of what it sees as a highly unlikely possibility that the mooted UN probe into human rights abuses would ever take shape.

“Could the Human Rights Council handle war crimes enquiries? I don’t think so. Something created by the government couldn’t really look at the serious culture of abuse in the Burmese military that continues despite pledges of reform,” Mathieson said.

The report further suggests that ASEAN should hand the 2014 chair to Burma, something Della-Giacomo said would spur the government to faster reform.

Mathieson said that while Burma does not deserve the chairmanship, “neither do half of the ASEAN governments”. An offer however would challenge the government to meet core benchmarks. “It would be embarrassing for Thein Sein if other countries boycotted the [2014] summit because Burma still had political prisoners,” he said. http://www.dvb.no/news/burma-seeing-%E2%80%98rapid%E2%80%99-reform-think-tank/17799
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Seven Burmese soldiers killed, two injured in Mongkoe
Created on Monday, 19 September 2011 17:00
Published on Monday, 19 September 2011 17:00 ; Written by KNG

mong koeSeven Burmese soldiers were killed and two injured on Sunday, Sept. 18, during fighting with the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) in Munggu, also Mongkoe, Northern Shan State, witnesses said.

The 20-minute battle happened between KIA troops under the Mongkoe-based Battalion 36 and government troops from the Mongsi (Mungji)-based Infantry Battalion No. 290, between Mandat and Panghuk, about seven miles south of Mongkoe, a witness from Mongkoe said.

A KIA officer confirmed the number of dead and injured to the Kachin News Group.

The officer said there were no KIA casualties.

The Burmese Army is sending fresh reinforcements to the area according to local people.

Fighting has been occurring between government troops and the KIA in Kachin State and Northern Shan State since the government started an offensive against the KIA at Sang Gang on June 9. http://www.kachinnews.com/news/2058-seven-burmese-soldiers-killed-two-injured-in-mongkoe.html
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SSPP/SSA wishes to have peace with regime
Friday, 23 September 2011 16:53 Hseng Khio Fah

The Shan State Progress Party/Shan State Army (SSPP/SSA) that has been fighting against the regime since March says it is ready to stop fighting because it is just innocent civilians who have to suffer, therefore it is better to meet and talk for peace instead, according SSPP/SSA spokesperson Major Sai La.

“We are concerned about the civilians. Because wherever the fighting takes place, villages that are located nearby are always being abused and killed by the Burma army soldiers. We therefore want them to withdraw and to stop killing and abusing the civilians,” Sai La said.

According to an unconfirmed report, SSPP/SSA representatives were in Taunggyi, capital of Shan State, to meet Sao Aung Myat, Chief Minister of the Shan State last week for peace talks.

“I have not received any information from our central committee yet,” Sai La replied. “So I can’t confirm your information.”

Despite its readiness for the conclusion of fighting, the group is depending on its alliance the 12-member United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC) to negotiate the political agreement with Naypyitaw.

“But we will never surrender. And we will also never transform ourselves into a militia force,” Sai La added.

Following the invitation for peace talks by Naypyitaw on 18 August to negotiate at the state/region level “groupwise”, the UNFC made an announcement demanding direct negotiations between Naypyitaw and itself. Its 23-25 August meeting also appointed an 8 member negotiating team headed by grouping’s Secretary General nai Hongsa.

To date, reports of fighting between the Burma Army and the SSPP/SSA are still coming in.

Yesterday, a clash was taken place between a 50 strong Burma Army unit from Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) #506 led by Major Zaw Win Naing and some dozens of SSA fighters led by Captain Sai Yone in Shan State North’s Hsipaw township, Natung village tract, near Wan Park village when one was killed and 7 wounded on the Burma Army side while no casualties were reported from the SSA side, according to SSA.

The Burmese military started military operations against its [the SSPP/SSA] on 13 March, effectively ending the almost 22 year ceasefire pact between the two. The regime also attacked another ceasefire group, Kachin Independence Army (KIA) on 9 June. http://shanland.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4056:ssppssa-wishes-to-have-peace-with-regime&catid=85:politics&Itemid=266