* Vice-president to lead peace effort, sources say
* Kachin impasse prompts restructuring
* China, Western nations urge end to Kachin fighting
(Adds KIA attack, details)
By Aung Hla Tun
YANGON, April 29 (Reuters) – Myanmar will overhaul its peace
negotiating teams in a bid to settle armed rebellions with
ethnic rebel militias following a failure to end a stubborn
conflict in the strategic Kachin State, sources close to the
process said on Sunday.
President Thein Sein has ordered a shakeup after a lack of a
breakthrough after six rounds of talks with Kachin political
leaders. Fighting between troops and militias has displaced more
than 50,000 people since June.
The reformist president, who appealed to dozens of ethnic
groups in August to start talks, would bring in more senior
people to lead talks as part of his three-stage plan for
“everlasting peace” in a country plagued by decades of unrest.
Two sources close to the government’s peace effort said the
new faces would include one of Thein Sein’s two vice presidents
and top military figures.
“The new team will comprise many members including senior
army officers, parliamentary lawmakers and state chief ministers
and will be led by a vice president,” one source said,
requesting anonymity because the issue was highly sensitive.
The Kachin Independence Army (KIA) is one of the most
powerful rebel groups in Myanmar. Kachin State is crucial to
Myanmar’s economic interests, home to hydropower plants and from
next year, twin gas and oil pipelines from the being built to
feed the growing energy needs of neighbouring China.
Rail Transportation Minister Aung Min, one of the top
negotiators, told reporters in the capital Naypyitaw two
negotiating teams would be consolidated into one, but gave no
further details, a local journalist said. The comments could not
be immediately confirmed.
WESTERN PRESSURE
The need for permanent political deals with the rebels has
been pushed by Western powers as a priority for stability and
economic development. Preliminary ceasefires have been agreed
with at least 10 ethnic political groups or armies in Myanmar.
The Karen National Union (KNU), which waged one of the
world’s longest-running insurgencies until recently, this month
became the first group to begin talks towards a political
agreement. The substance of those talks is expected to be
granting some autonomy if they agree to form political parties.
It was not known exactly who would be brought in or
replaced, the sources said. The two teams are led by Aung Min
and Aung Thaung, a heavyweight in the ruling Union Solidarity
and Development Party (USDP) and former Industry Minister.
Analysts and diplomats say Aung Min’s group has managed to
win the trust of sceptical rebel leaders and enjoyed far more
success than the team led by Aung Thaung, who is considered a
hardliner from the authoritarian military regime that ruled
Myanmar until last year.
Aung Thaung’s team has been in talks with the Kachin
Independence Army and its political wing, the Kachin
Independence Organisation, but the dialogue towards a ceasefire
in the murky conflict has been fruitless.
State media said three local government officials were
killed and three were missing following a KIA attack on an
administrative office in Sadon, Kachin State, on Saturday.
Rebels also destroyed vehicles and a bridge, newspapers said.
The international community has repeatedly called for
restraint on both sides, while rights groups say the military,
which Thein Sein has instructed not to attack the KIA, has
committed a litany of rights abuses, including rape, forced
labour and extrajudicial killings.
(Writing by Martin Petty; Editing by Nick Macfie)
