Myanmar’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi welcomed ethnic armed groups previously shunned from ceasefire negotiations on Monday as she wrapped up a landmark peace conference in the capital, Naypyitaw.
“The groups, some of whom have clashed with the Myanmar army in recent months, had open and friendly meetings with the government and military,’’ the one-time democracy icon said in her closing speech.
Suu Kyi hosted five days of talks attended by the military and representatives from Myanmar’s myriad ethnic armed groups, only some of whom have signed the government-led nationwide ceasefire agreement (NCA).
Suu Kyi’s handling of the peace process has been widely criticised with talks delayed for months and a number of groups continuing to clash with the military, causing the death and displacement of civilians.
In May, two ethnic armed groups joined eight other groups that had signed the NCA, launched under the previous military government, but a powerful “northern alliance” of other armed groups had rejected the NCA and regularly clashed with government forces.
According to executive director of the Myanmar Institute for Peace and Security, Min Zaw Oo, the inclusion of these previously shunned rebels in this session of the peace conference shows the military is willing to find peace with these groups. (dpa/NAN)
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