Myanmar president, defence chief meet ethnic armed group

Myanmar President U Thein Sein and Commander-in-Chief of the Defence Service Senior-General Min Aung Hlaing met separately with a special delegation of the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) in Nay Pyi Taw on Monday to discuss peace efforts in the country, an official of the Myanmar Peace Centre told Xinhua news agency in a telephone interview.

The government's meeting with the KIO, led by its general secretary La Ja, came a day ahead of the planned 7th round of ceasefire talks between the government's Union Peace Making Work Committee (UPWC) and the ethnic armed groups' Nationwide Ceasefire Coordination Team (NCCT) in Yangon on Tuesday to finalise the draft nationwide ceasefire accord.

U Hla Maung Shwe, a peace negotiator, expected that the two days' talks would take an important step forward in the nationwide peace efforts.

Kachin Independence Army (KIA) deputy chief Guan Maw revealed that three points were discussed with the president -- inclusion of KIO in the union, desire for gaining peace and KIO's efforts in the peace process.

Monday's KIO meeting with the president and the defence chief was a follow-up of Sunday's meeting with Vice President Sai Mauk Kham, who is chairman of the UPWC.

The UPWC side called for the prompt signing of a nationwide ceasefire accord to enable holding of political dialogue, while the KIO side revealed its intention to put forward a proposal to both the president and the defence chief.

It has been nearly four years since the Kachin conflict recurred in June 2011 after the present government took office in March of that year.

The president extended the nationwide peace offer to all armed groups in August 2011.