Statement by the Press Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, on the Agreement to a Ceasefire between the Government of Myanmar and the Karen National Union

January 13, 2012
Japanese

On Thursday, January 12, a ceasefire agreement was signed between the government of Myanmar and the Karen National Union (KNU). Ceasefire agreements between the military forces of the government and national races insurgents have now been realized in Myanmar. Japan welcomes these movements as one of a big step toward national reconciliation.
Japan has called on the government of Myanmar to move toward democratization and national reconciliation on a number of occasions, and from that perspective, expects that the agreement this time will lead to further progress toward democratization and national reconciliation in Myanmar.

(*The foregoing is a provisional translation. The date indicated above denotes the date of issue of the original press release in Japanese.)

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