Bangkok: The head of Myanmar's largest guerrilla army warned on Friday that the risk of armed conflict between powerful ethnic minority groups and the military regime is at its highest level in more than two decades as contentious national elections loom on the horizon.
The junta has been in negotiations with semiautonomous minorities for months as it attempts to bring them under its control before holding elections later this year. But with talks deadlocked, most of the groups have stepped up military preparations in the event of a renewed conflict, which would likely envelop vast regions of the country and probably spark a mass refugee exodus.
"(There is the) greatest possibility of renewed conflict between large, cease-fire armed groups and (the military regime) in over two decades," said Zipporah Sein, general secretary of the Karen National Union, which has been fighting the central government for more than 60 years.
The Karen joined more than 150 activist groups today in urging the international community to denounce the elections and refuse to recognise the results. They say the vote is a sham designed to perpetuate military rule.
The junta has tenuous control of many parts of the country where minority groups are strongest. It has reached ceasefire agreements with 17 ethnic minority rebel groups since 1989 though not the Karen and most have been allowed to keep their weapons and maintain some autonomy over their regions.
PTI
First Published: Friday, March 19, 2010, 16:19