LEAD: Second day of Myanmar-Kachin peace talks begins

Jan 19, 2012, 4:52 GMT

Ruili, China - 'Tough' talks aimed at bringing peace between the Myanmar military and ethnic Kachin rebels entered a second day Thursday.

'We're working hard to reach an agreement with the Kachin Independence Organization [KIO], but we're having tough negotiations,' said a government official involved in the talks.

Participants in the meeting in Ruili, a Chinese town on the Myanmar border, are trying to reach a ceasefire between the Myanmar army and Kachin rebels, who have been engaged in heavy fighting since June.

A member of chief government negotiator Aung Thaung's delegation said the KIO had presented a list of proposals and those were being discussed at Thursday's talks.

He expressed optimism that some form of agreement could be reached by Thursday evening.

The talks followed ceasefire negotiations a week ago with the Karen National Union, another ethnic minority rebel group.

At those talks, the government promised to end all hostilities with the dozen rebel groups fighting for autonomy in their traditional states.

The government had previously signed tentative ceasefire pacts with the Shan State Army-South and the Chin National Army.

The Myanmar military has been waging an offensive against the Kachin rebels since June, displacing about 60,000 civilians.

'The people of Kachin State live in fear due to the massive presence of Burma army troops, ongoing fighting and grave violations of human rights,' the KIO said. Burma is another name for Myanmar.

Military analysts said local army commanders appeared to be ignoring government orders to cease their offensive and were deploying tanks and heavy artillery.

Western democracies have called for an end to all fighting with ethnic minorities as a condition for normalizing diplomatic ties with Myanmar, whose human rights record earned it pariah status during the 23-year rule of its military junta.

The junta was replaced last year by a pro-military civilian government after the first elections in 20 years.

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