It is reported that as the government did not provide travel arrangement for the All Burma Student Democratic Front (ABSDF) representatives from northern region based in Kachin Independent Organization (KIO) controlled area, on Sino-Burmese border, to journey for attending the peace talks with government in Rangoon, they have not turned up at the meeting.

Proportional Representation (PR) system which has been practiced by many western countries, may not be appropriate or suited for Burma in the current political situation as majority of its citizens are not ready, said Sai Ai Pao, President of Shan Nationalities Democratic Party (SNDP).

Guatemala, a Latin American country neighboring the better known Mexico, is in many ways similar to Burma, according to a Spanish academic from The Netherlands based International Institute of Social Studies.

In response to the Burma Army’s attack of the Shan State Army (SSA)’s border outpost on 9 May, Lt-Gen Yawd Serk, Chairman of the Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS), the SSA’s political arm, said the Burma Army should have communicated with the movement’s liaison offices to settle problems peacefully instead of resorting to force in violation of the ceasefire.

The United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC) is sending a delegation to the United Kingdom next week, according to UNFC and British embassy sources.

The delegation will be led by the alliance’s chairman Lt-Gen N.Ban La and Secretary General Nai Hong Sa.

As tensions surge between the Burma Army and the United Wa State Army (UWSA) due to the former’s continued military campaigns against the latter’s allies, Naypyitaw is sending one of its top negotiators to the Wa capital Panghsang on the Sino-Burmese border today, according to sources on the border.

Loi Taileng — 19 May 2012 was the last time the Shan State Army (SSA) South, officially the Restoration council of Shan State /Shan State Army (RCSS/SSA) and Naypyitaw’s Union Peacemaking Work Committee (UPWC) met in Kengtung to sign a 12 point union level agreement.

The United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC) did not take part in the decision of the Nippon Foundation, the Japanese philanthropic organization, to issue warning to the Shan State Army (SSA) ‘South’ to suspend its humanitarian aid assistance if the group failed to participate in the UNFC activities, said the grouping at a meeting in Chiangmai on 1 May.