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world news Diahuebs 1 aPRiL 2021

Myanmar junta makes ceasefire offer, but not to protesters

(AP) — Myanmar’s junta reaction to the ceasefire an- the coup, saying the latest advancing into our territo- through at least one area
announced Wednesday it nouncement from the ethnic round of fighting was trig- ries from all fronts” and that of Yangon despite reduced
is implementing a unilat- minority forces. Several of gered by government assaults it may have to respond. The numbers in the face of the
eral one-month ceasefire, the major groups -- includ- on four Kachin outposts. KNU is the main political ever-climbing death toll.
but made an exception for ing the Kachin in the north, After one Kachin assault in body representing the Karen The mainly young protesters
actions that disrupt the the Karen in the east and the mid-March, the military re- minority. in the city’s Hlaing suburb
government’s security and Rakhines’ Arakan Army in taliated with a helicopter at- The conflict in eastern stopped to honor a protester
administrative operations killed in an earlier confronta-
-- a clear reference to the tion with security forces.
mass movement that has A long column of teachers,
held daily nationwide perched on motorbikes, kept
protests against its seizure the spirit of opposition to the
of power in February. coup alive in southern Myan-
mar. Two per bike, they car-
The announcement came ried signs reading “We Want
after a flurry of combat with Democracy” and shouted
at least two of the ethnic mi- slogans as they rode through
nority guerrilla organizations the town of Launglone and
that maintain a strong pres- into the surrounding coun-
ence in their respective areas tryside.
along the borders.
More than a dozen such Bystanders applauded as the
groups have for decades convoy passed.
sought greater autonomy An outside visitor was able
from the central government, to see Aung San Suu Kyi for
sometimes through armed the first time since she was
struggle. Even in times of detained when the military
peace, relations have been staged its coup. She spoke
strained and ceasefires fragile. by video link with one of her
The movement against the lawyers, Min Min Soe, ac-
Feb. 1 coup that ousted the cording to the online news
elected government of Aung site The Irrawaddy.
San Suu Kyi focuses on civil Suu Kyi has been held on
disobedience, calling on em- several minor criminal charg-
ployees in the public and pri- es, and the army said it is in-
vate sectors to stop work that vestigating more serious alle-
supports the machinery of gations of corruption against
governing. her. Her supporters dismiss
It has been seeking an alli- the legal actions as politically
ance with the ethnic minority motivated, aimed at discred-
armed groups to boost pres- western Myanmar -- have tack on a Kachin base. Myanmar spread the crisis iting her and preventing her
sure on the junta. it would publicly denounced the coup Wednesday’s Kachin attack to neighboring Thailand, from returning to the po-
like them to form what they and have said they will de- followed new conflict in east- where an estimated 3,000 litical arena, where she is the
are calling a federal army as a fend protesters in the terri- ern Myanmar, where Karen Karen took temporary shel- country’s most popular fig-
counterweight to the govern- tory they control. guerrillas seized an army out- ter. Prime Minister Prayuth ure.
ment armed forces. The Kachin Independence post Saturday. Myanmar’s Chan-ocha said they quickly The Irrawaddy quoted Min
Largely peaceful demonstra- Army, the armed wing of military followed with air- went back across the bor- Min Soe saying that Suu Kyi,
tors in the cities and towns the Kachin Independence strikes through Wednesday der voluntarily and were not who is thought to be held
of Myanmar have been fac- Organization, attacked a po- that killed at least 13 villagers forced by Thailand. Thai au- somewhere in the capital
ing police and soldiers armed lice station in Kachin state’s and drove thousands more thorities said Wednesday that Naypyitaw, is in good health.
with war weapons that they Shwegu township before across the border into Thai- only about 200 remained in “She even urged us to stay
have used freely. At least 536 dawn Wednesday, according land, according to the Free the country and were prepar- healthy. She was smiling and
protesters and bystanders to local news outlets The 74 Burma Rangers, an estab- ing to go back. looked relaxed,” the lawyer
have been killed since the Media and Bhamo Platform. lished humanitarian group Protests continued in Myan- said.
coup, according to Myan- The attackers were reported that provides medical assis- mar’s cities against the mili- According to the Assistance
mar’s Assistance Association to have seized weapons and tance to the area’s villagers. tary takeover that reversed a Association for Political Pris-
for Political Prisoners, which supplies and wounded one After the airstrikes, the Kar- decade of progress toward oners, 2,729 people have
counts those it can document police officer. en National Union issued democracy in the Southeast been detained in the crack-
and says the actual toll is like- The Kachin have staged a se- a statement from one of its Asian country that came after down since the coup, and ar-
ly much higher. ries of attacks on government armed units saying Myanmar five decades of army rule. rest warrants issued for 120
There was no immediate forces in their territory since military “ground troops are Demonstrators marched others.

Libya officials say over 100 eastern war prisoners released

(AP) — Forces in western Libya on Wednes- council, called the move a “significant step” toward lapsed last June.
day released more than 100 prisoners who a national reconciliation initiative launched by the The warring sides reached a cease-fire deal in Oc-
had been captured while fighting under the council, after bitter years of fighting between rival tober that virtually ended the war and paved the
banner of the country’s eastern-based com- governments in East and West. road for U.N.-led political talks. Those talks then
mander, in a gesture of reconciliation follow- Those released were seen wearing traditional white led to the appointment of an interim government
ing recent accords, officials said. uniforms and caps at the ceremony in a soccer sta- in February, ahead of elections later this year.
dium, before rejoining their families. Oil-rich Libya plunged into chaos after a 2011
The fighters, troops of commander Khalifa Hifter, Musa al-Koni, deputy head of the presidential NATO-backed uprising toppled and killed long-
were freed in the coastal town of Zawiya in a tele- council, called for the release of all of Libya’s war time dictator Moammar Gadhafi. The country for
vised ceremony attended by senior officials from prisoners. years has been divided between two governments,
the newly appointed transitional government. Hifter’s forces launched an offensive in April 2019 one in the east and another in the west, each backed
Mohammad Younes Menfi, head of the presidential to try and capture Tripoli, but the campaign col- by a vast array of militias as well as foreign powers.