Myanmar's leaders seek to revive peace talks, keep reforms

Myanmar's political and ethnic leaders agreed on Friday to work together on reforms and peace talks ahead of a 2015 election.

The president and the military chief met opposition parties and ethnic minority groups at a round-table meeting in 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 the powerful armed forces chief, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing.

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 news 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.

Myanmar's parliament will consider amending the country's Constitution - which currently bars Suu Kyi from becoming president - ahead of elections next year.

"They agreed to discuss the issue of amending the Constitution in Parliament, according to the law," Ye Htut said.

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 cease-fire agreement later this year or in early 2015.

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 US 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.

US President Barack Obama spoke to Thein Sein on Thursday by telephone, urging that "every effort be made to conclude a national cease-fire in the short term", the White House said.

Obama, 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.

Reuters - AFP

(China Daily 11/01/2014 page10)