Myanmar\\\'s leaders seek to revive peace talks

FE Team | Published: November 01, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00

MYANMAR, Oct 31 (agencies): Myanmar's political and ethnic leaders agreed Friday to work together on reforms and peace talks ahead of a 2015 election after U.S. President Barack Obama urged the government to make every effort to end ethnic conflict.
The president and the military chief met opposition parties and ethnic minority groups at a roundtable meeting in the capital Naypyitaw, the first meeting of its kind in the Southeast Asian nation.
The gathering also marked the first meeting between opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and powerful armed forces chief, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing.
Some critics are calling the hastily arranged get-together an attempt to burnish
US President Barack Obama has called for an "inclusive and credible" process when Myanmar holds general elections next year.
The comments were made in telephone talks with Myanmar's President Thein Sein, the White House said.
Mr Obama also urged the president to work to bring peace to Rakhine, the state where violence erupted in 2012.
The opposition boycotted the last general election in Myanmar in 2010, because of rules it said were unfair.
Mr Obama also spoke with Ms Suu Kyi on the telephone regarding how Washington could "support efforts to promote tolerance, respect for diversity, and a more inclusive political environment", the White House said.
The political leaders discussed keeping momentum on reforms and national reconciliation and cooperating to make the 2015 election free and fair, Information Minister Ye Htut said at a press conference after the three-hour meeting. He gave no details on how those aims would be achieved.
"The meeting was cordial and the participants exchanged their views very frankly," he said.
The participants agreed to continue talks but have yet to schedule their next meeting, he added.
High-level peace talks with more than a dozen ethnic rebel groups stalled in September, dashing government hopes for an agreement then. The political leaders agreed on Friday to work toward signing a nationwide ceasefire agreement later this year or in early 2015.
The United States has grown increasingly concerned about human rights abuses in Myanmar, including the jailing of journalists, and alleged oppression of stateless Rohingya Muslims and ethnic minorities.
President Thein Sein has ordered Myanmar's National Human Rights Commission to investigate the death in army custody of journalist Par Gyi, the government said in a statement published in state media.
On Tuesday, the U.S. State Department called for a transparent investigation into the death of Par Gyi, a former democracy activist who once worked as a bodyguard for Suu Kyi.
Obama spoke to Thein Sein Thursday by telephone, urging that "every effort be made to conclude a national ceasefire in the short term", the White House said
The U.S. president, who will visit Myanmar for a regional summit on Nov 12-13, also stressed the importance of taking more steps to address the humanitarian situation in Rakhine state as well as measures to support the civil and political rights of the Rohingya people, the White House said.
Violence erupted across Rakhine in 2012 between ethnic Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims, killing at least 200 people and displacing 140,000, most of them Rohingya.
Obama also spoke to Suu Kyi, the White House said, discussing the status of Myanmar's political and economic reforms and the need for an "inclusive, credible process" for conducting the 2015 elections.
Despite winning massive popularity at home and abroad, since becoming a lawmaker Suu Kyi has been criticized for her reluctance to comment on contentious political issues, or speak out against the military.
Cracks in the fledgling democracy have widened ahead of the an election next year.
In particular, tensions linger over moves by Suu Kyi's party, backed by 5 million petitioners, to amend the constitution and reduce the political clout of a military that ruled Myanmar brutally for 49 years.