The Burmese military has announced that it will end attacks on rebels in the northern state of Kachin after thousands of civilians were displaced by a recent intensification of conflict.
The decision was announced hours after Burma's parliament passed a resolution on Friday to end the fighting.
The military's commander-in-chief had agreed to the president's command “not to carry out offensive attacks except in self-defence”, the government said in a statement.
Described by the Financial Times as an "unprecedented call", the statement reflected concern that the conflict would undermine Burma's attempts to shed it's decades-old diplomatic isolation.