ETHNIC NATIONALITIES COUNCIL

Recent speech made by the military proxy Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) General Secretary ex-major general Htay Oo will only serve as another fly in the ointment of the ongoing ceasefire talks of Naypyitaw led by U Aung Min and U Aung Thaung, said Hkun Okker, Joint General Secretary of the United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC).

Bauk Gyar, a Kachin state activist and member of the National Democratic Force political party, speaks during an event with Burmese activists at the National Endowment for Democracy in Washington, DC. The United States on Thursday urged Myanmar to address what it called worsening ethnic violence and to accept international monitors to ensure the fairness of closely watched upcoming by-elections.

TAY BAY HTA, MYANMAR — When Myanmar announced a cease-fire last month with one of the country’s most prominent rebel groups, images of longstanding enemies shaking hands across a table were beamed around the globe and touted as evidence of further reconciliation in a country emerging from decades of military dictatorship and interethnic strife.

The NMSP delegation will submit the five-point preliminary agreement to the NMSP central committee and if it its accepted, Mon officials will sign a cease-fire agreement in the third week of February. The peace talk was held in the Strand Hotel in Mawlamyine in Mon State. The agreement covers a halt to fighting, the formation of peace delegations to conduct national-level peace talks, the selection of liaison offices, an agreement not to travel with weapons except in designated areas, and to stay in agreed upon control areas.