MYANMAR: CEASE-FIRE REJECTED

The military government of the former Burma has rejected an offer of
cease-fire talks with the Shan State Army, an ethnic rebel group, saying it
would accept only surrender. Over the past decade, Myanmar has reached
peace agreements with 17 rebel groups that had been fighting against the
government and against each other for decades in remote jungles. Some
sought separate states, some sought autonomy agreements and some were
occupied primarily with banditry and drug running. The Shan State Army is
one of three sizable groups -- involving the Shan, Karen and Karenni
minorities -- that continue to fight.