Date set for to finalising draft Myanmar ceasefire accord

Peace negotiators of the Myanmar government and ethnic armed groups have set Jan 15-16, 2015, as the date for holding the seventh round of formal peace talks to finalise the nationwide draft ceasefire accord, said a joint statement published here Wednesday

"Compromises acceptable to the two sides were made on the remaining points and they will be brought to respective leaders for further approval," Xinhua quoted the five-point statement as saying following the end of a two-day meeting at the Myanmar Peace Centre.

It asserted that both sides were moving towards peace in quick strides with a set of plans for signing a truce deal, establishing political framework and holding a political dialogue.

The technical coordination meeting, held between the government's Union Peace Making Work Committee (UPWC) and the ethnic armed groups' National Ceasefire Coordination Team (NCCT), concluded that almost all points in the text have been discussed leaving only three points for final compromise.

The NCCT proposed to sign the nationwide ceasefire accord Feb 12, 2015, Myanmar's Union Day.

According to the agreement, under the nationwide ceasefire accord that needs no further coordination between the two sides, a framework meeting will be held within 60 days and a political dialogue within 90 days after the signing of a nationwide ceasefire agreement.

Both sides also agreed to make joint efforts to prevent recurrence of unwanted incidents during the ongoing peace process, citing the occurrence of frequent armed clashes in Shan and Kachin states.

The sixth round of nationwide ceasefire talks was held in September, which approved the fourth draft of the ceasefire agreement.