Rebels to meet, broker peace
Leaders of a dozen Myanmar ethnic armed groups will meet next month in a remote region bordering China to discuss a peace deal, spokesmen said Monday, as the nation edges closer to a full ceasefire.
The self-administered Wa region, where visitors require a permit, is home to the 30,000-strong United Wa State Army, who hold sway over the area on the northeast border with China that is believed to be awash with drugs.
"We have invited 12 ethnic armed groups to attend the meeting," Aung Myint, a spokesman for the United Wa State Army, told AFP, without saying which groups they have invited.
The three-day meeting is due to start on May 1, just over a month after President Thein Sein secured a draft deal with 16 rebel groups to end decades of fighting.
The government wants a full nationwide ceasefire before elections in November seen as a test of reforms after decades of military rule.
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