Myanmar’s Suu Kyi sets date for crunch peace talksYANGON: Myanmar will begin long-planned talks with armed ethnic groups at the end of the month, as the government’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi targets peace as a prelude to rebooting the economy. Suu Kyi wants to thrash out a deal on greater federal autonomy for ethnic groups in exchange for peace. The date of the talks emerged after discussions between Suu Kyi and army chief Min Aung Hlaing on Monday in the capital Naypyidaw. For the first time, peace talks will include groups that have ceasefires in place as well as those outside of the agreements. “The first meeting of the ’21st century Panglong’ conference will be held on 31 August,” according to a statement posted late Monday on the Facebook page of State Counsellor Suu Kyi.

Source: Manila Times August 09, 2016 10:30 UTC