KNU to resume peace talk

Karen guerrillas to resume peace talks with Burma junta in early 2005

December 7 (AP) - Ethnic Karen rebels said Monday they expect peace negotiations with Burma’s military government to resume early next year, after the last round of talks was interrupted by a change in the junta’s leadership.

A negotiating team from the Karen National Union, or KNU, was en-route To the Burmese capital Rangoon when the prime minister, Gen Khin Nyunt, Was ousted on October 19.

The 16-member delegation met informally with government negotiators, But returned to their bases along the border with Thailand after being told further talks would be postponed because of the shake-up.

Talks with the junta had been conducted under the auspices of Burma’s Office of the Chief of Military Intelligence, or OCMI, which was also headed by Khin Nyunt. Since the aborted talks, the KNU has through mediators established contact with the new military intelligence chief—Rangoon region commander Maj-Gen Myint Swe—to set up new negotiations, said David Htaw, the foreign affairs chief for the Karen group.

“We have already gotten into telephone contact,” said David Htaw. He said new talks were expected early next year.

The KNU, which has been fighting for autonomy in eastern Burma, began ceasefire talks late last year. Both sides have declared a provisional truce, though government forces continue to carry out counterinsurgency operations in Karen State.

[Main][News]