Lt-Gen Yawd Serk, leader of SSA South, also known as the RCSS/SSA has been travelling to Kengtung,capital of Shan State East, 160 km north of Thailand’s Mae Sai to meet with the government representatives of Peacemaking Committee Saturday.

This is a second round peace talks on State level but this is the first time that the SSA head Lt-Gen Yawd Serk have traveled into Shan State since the peace talk began on 2 December 2011 and the first talks at State level was held in Taunggyi, the capital city of Shan State on 15 January this year.

Lt-Gen Yawd Serk meets reporters before leaving to Kengtung

“It is not, without me this peace talks will not happen I have made decision to include myself because I want to speed up our peace talks with government”, Yawd Serk told reporters Saturday’s
morning in Chiangmai before he travels to Shan State.

The second State level meeting which is led by Lt-Gen Yawd Serk, the leader of Shan State Army – South and Restoration Council of Shan State took place at 9:30 A.M Burmese local time on Saturday at the conference hall of Triangle Regional Military Office in Kengtung, according to SHAN source.

RCSS/SSA vehicles traveling to Kengtung

Pace delegations from government side are Gen Soe Win, Deputy Commander-in-Chief and the vice Chairman of Working Committee for Union Peacemaking, U Aung Min, the Minister of Railway
Transport and the vice Chairman of WCUP and others military officers in the region, said Sai Arntai, a SHAN reporter who travels with the peace delegation group.

“The meeting will focus on 11 points but I have not given details about the points that they will be discussing. They will continue to discuss tomorrow if they cannot finish it today”, said Sai Arntai.

More than 60 people have accompanied with Lt-Gen Yawd Serk heading to Kengtung and they are 22 delegations from RCSS/SSA and about 40 reporters from SHAN, Shan Youth Power Media, rrawaddy and DVB.