UPMWC, NCCT to jointly draft ceasefire pact NCCT and UPMWC meet again in Yangon Sunday to form another committee. UNION Peace-Making Work Committee, led by Union Minister U Aung Min, and Nationwide Ceasefire Coordination Team (NCCT) representing ethnic armed groups agreed in principle on Sunday to form a new team to draft nationwide cease-fire agreement. The decision came after the preliminary meeting between UPMWC and NCCT at the Myanmar Peace Center in Yangon ahead of Hpa-an peace talks. Naing Han Tha, general secretary of the United Nationalities Fed-eral Council (UNFC) said, “We need to form a con-sensus on the principle since we now have our own principles. So, nine members each from government and NCCT will draft a ceasefire agreement.” Ten delegates of ethnic armed groups from NCCT and five Union ministers, two deputy ministers, deputy attorney-general from the govern-ment, four senior officers from Office of the Com-mander-in-Chief, three lawmakers from two houses of the parliament and senior officials from Myanmar Peace Center attended the meeting. Lt-Gen Myint Soe, Lt-Gen Kyaw Swe, Maj-Gen Mya Tun Oo and Col Kyaw Soe Win from the Ministry of Defense took part in the discussion which focused on avoiding military engagement between two sides. Naing Han Tha who is also a member of New Mon State Party (NMSP) said: “We focused on avoiding further clashes. Nationwide cease-fire is mainly concerned with military affairs. So, we focused on military issues and we set aside political dialogue for later discussion.” The details of the formation of the ceasefire agreement drafting team will be discussed on Monday. Union minister U Aung Min said: “We have agreed to team up to draft a ceasefire agreement together. Today’s discussion is fruitful.” Government peace negotiators and ethnic armed groups are set to hold peace talks in Karen State’s Hpa-an within this month. The NCCT was formed after 17 ethnic armed groups met for a historic peace conference in the Kachin Indepen-dence Organization (KIO)’s Laiza headquarters late last year. Then it met UPMWC in Kachin’s capital Myit-kyina and planned to hold a meeting in Karen State. Earlier this year, a follow-up conference took place in Law Khee Lar, the headquarters of Karen National Union (KNU) to establish framework for a nationwide ceasefire. In the 2nd Ethnic Armed Organi-zations Conference held from Jan 20 to 25 at Law Khee Lar, ethnic armed groups reached an agreement on a 11-point nationwide ceasefire pact drafted by the NCCT. Tezaap Media ******* c/o
Posted on: Mon, 10 Mar 2014 21:49:18 +0000
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