Myanmar rebels have drug eradication plan
20 May 2012 9:07 AM GMT
Ethnic rebels engaged in peace talks with Myanmar's government proposed on Saturday to wipe out drugs in Shan state - where much of the country's opium and amphetamines are produced.
Speaking ahead of a new round of discussions, Ywet Sit, chairman of the Restoration Council of Shan State - the rebels' political wing - said they had submitted a ‘drug-eradication plan’ to negotiators.
The group was ‘ready to discuss the drug topic with the government’, he added, before entering a closed-door session with senior government peace envoys at a military compound in Kengtung, a town in Shan State.
The multiple ethnic rebel organisations in Myanmar generally use profits from narcotics, among other resources such as teak and jade, to fund their operations, analysts say.
The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) last year labelled Mynamar a ‘major source of methamphetamine pills and opiates in Southeast Asia’, adding that most are ‘manufactured in Shan State’. General Soe Win, Myanmar's deputy commander-in-chief of the army and leading the government delegation at on Saturday's talks, said he was hopeful of a ‘beneficial agreement’ between the parties.
The Shan State Army South, the military wing of the resistance, was also present at the discussions.
Speaking ahead of a new round of discussions, Ywet Sit, chairman of the Restoration Council of Shan State - the rebels' political wing - said they had submitted a ‘drug-eradication plan’ to negotiators.
The group was ‘ready to discuss the drug topic with the government’, he added, before entering a closed-door session with senior government peace envoys at a military compound in Kengtung, a town in Shan State.
The multiple ethnic rebel organisations in Myanmar generally use profits from narcotics, among other resources such as teak and jade, to fund their operations, analysts say.
The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) last year labelled Mynamar a ‘major source of methamphetamine pills and opiates in Southeast Asia’, adding that most are ‘manufactured in Shan State’. General Soe Win, Myanmar's deputy commander-in-chief of the army and leading the government delegation at on Saturday's talks, said he was hopeful of a ‘beneficial agreement’ between the parties.
The Shan State Army South, the military wing of the resistance, was also present at the discussions.
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