KNU to Determine Credibility of Road Map
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Burma

KNU to Determine Credibility of Road Map


By Kyaw Zwa Moe and Poe Paung Thursday, December 4, 2003


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A delegation from the Karen National Union (KNU) which arrived in Rangoon yesterday will meet Burmese Prime Minister, Gen Khin Nyunt, to find out whether the junta’s proposed road map for national reconciliation is genuine, said the KNU’s deputy chairman. Gen Saw Bo Mya said the visit, which will last for three or four days, was also aimed at building confidence between the KNU and the military government. The delegation is the first to fly to Rangoon in five decades, although representatives of the KNU and the junta met elsewhere in Burma to discuss a possible ceasefire four times during 1995 and 1996. The KNU is the largest armed ethnic group to hold out on signing a ceasefire with the regime. It has fought against successive Burmese governments for 55 years. "This trip is to look at how real and credible their road map is," said Bo Mya. Khin Nyunt proposed the seven-point road map for national reconciliation in August. Bo Mya said the delegation of five junior army officers, including liaison officer Lt-Col Soe Soe, would visit Myaung Mya, Irrawaddy Division, today. The area is home to many Karen people. In the next few days they will meet Gen Khin Nyunt and other military leaders, including government spokesman Col San Pwint, added Bo Mya. The delegation will also meet leading figures of the Karen community inside Burma. Bo Mya, who in a recent interview with The Irrawaddy called Khin Nyunt "a good liar," said the KNU is now trying to work out if it can believe him or not. He emphasized that the visit is designed to explore what the regime is doing and find out if its road map agenda is genuine, but not to discuss other political issues with the military leaders. If National League for Democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi is excluded from the proposed National Convention—the first step in the road map—KNU leaders would have to decide whether or not to attend, said Bo Mya. He said that the KNU will continue their struggle even if the delegate’s visit doesn’t yield an outcome. "We will never surrender," he said.

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