Myanmar in talks with rebels

The government of Myanmar met with leaders of the country's ethnic Karen insurgency on Friday covering a broad range of issues in a conflict that has spanned more than six decades.

The talks with the Karen National Union (KNU) were part two of a three-phase "everlasting peace" plan outlined by the year-old government and aimed at ending conflict among the all the country's ethnic rebel groups. Cease-fires have been signed with 10 of the country's 11 ethnic minority insurgencies.

Sources said the conflicts touched on a cease-fire at the regional and national level, a halt to forced labor and extortion by the military and a resolution to land disputes.

"Today's meeting was not just about ceasefires," said KNU general secretary Zipporah Sein. "We have focused on how to resettle and rebuild Karen communities in Karen state."

Decades-long conflict

The KNU and its military wing, the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), have been fighting the successive governments since Myanmar - also known as Burma - gained independence from Britain in 1949. Tens of thousands of Karen have been displaced by fighting between Karen rebels and the government over the past two decades.

Karen leaders say they are optimistic about the prospects of peace with the civilian government, which took over in March 2011 after nearly five decades of military rule.

The government has also won concessions internationally for, among other things, allowing opposition leader and democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi to run in parliamentary elections. The United States has said it will begin easing sanctions on Myanmar.

Suu Kyi and 42 other members of her National League for Democracy won seats in parliament in by-elections last Sunday - nearly all the seats open for contest. The ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) said Friday it would lodge a complaint against the NLD for poll irregularities, including campaigning too close to poll stations.

acb/pfd (Reuters, dpa)