Rebels should think carefully on peace deal

Myanmar's popular opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi is urging armed ethnic minority groups to think carefully before signing a nationwide cease-fire agreement, a top party colleague said, a position that pits her against President Thein Sein, who has made reaching a deal before November elections his top priority.

Talks between more than a dozen rebel groups and the government have been held on and off again for more than 18 months.

Win Htein, an executive of the opposition National League for Democracy, said party leader Suu Kyi expressed her opinion at a Saturday meeting with Maj Htoo Htoo Lay of the Karen National Union, which has announced it is ready to sign. The KNU is one of the bigger ethnic minority groups that have been fighting the central government for decades to win greater autonomy.

"Suu Kyi said ethnic groups will have to consider not signing the nationwide cease-fire agreement before the Nov 8 general election," he said. "It has to be meaningful."

Suu Kyi has so far stayed largely silent on the issue. But with elections around the corner and her party widely expected to win a majority of the seats, she has begun speaking out more on some issues. A deal before the election could boost the prospects of Thein Sein's ruling party, the NLD's main opponent.

Ethnic unrest was long used as an excuse for the army to exercise control over the country's administration, and is a very sensitive issue because it relates to the nation's unity.