Northern Alliance Getting Ready To Sign Bilateral Ceasefire
TNLA spokesperson said if it happens “the clashes will stop and it will open the path to political dialogue.”
By Network Media Group
May 1, 2019
A leader of a prominent armed group currently fighting with the Burmese Army said his group and others in the Northern Military Alliance might be ready to sign a ceasefire in the next meeting with the government’s National Reconciliation and Peace Center (NRPC).
“We will discuss bilateral issues in detail when we meet again,” said Brig Gen Tar Bone Kyaw of the T’ang National Liberation Army. “We will try to sign a ceasefire agreement.”
The Northern Alliance met with the NRPC to discuss a bilateral ceasefire yesterday in Muse, in northern Shan State.
The four members of the alliance; Kachin Independence Army (KIA), Arakan Army (AA), Ta-ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), and Myanmar Nationalities Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), submitted a draft proposal for the ceasefire.
Tar Bone Kyaw, also the General Secretary of the Palaung State Liberation Front (PSLF/ TNLA) said the NRPC accepted the document for review and it will be discussed when they meet again.
“We will work together for a bilateral ceasefire,” he said. If it happens “the clashes will stop and it will open the path to political dialogue.”.
“I think we will clearly see how to participate in the NCA (nationwide ceasefire agreement) after this,” Tar Bone Kyaw said.
U Zaw Htay, from the NRPC, told NMG they are going to meet again as soon as possible.
The location and date of the next meeting are still to be decided but it’s expected to happen sometime this month.
Most of the leaders that attended reported being satisfied with the outcomes of the meeting, remarking there were frank discussions about the obstacles faced in working out a ceasefire.
However, Col. Kyaw Han, spokesperson for the Arakan Army (AA) said the meeting produced little results. “It’s optimistic to continue negotiating for bi-lateral ceasefire issue. On the other hand, there are still clashes happening between the Burma army and Rakhine forces (AA) in Rakhine region.”
Members of the Northern Alliance proposed signing a bi-lateral ceasefire as a bloc when they met with NRPC in Kunming in China’s Yunnan province April 25.