[Xinhua] A ten-member splinter group of Mon Peace Defence has returned to government's legal fold in Myanmar, official media New Light of Myanmar reported Wednesday.Ethnic Burmans make up about two thirds of the population of Burma. Next come the Shans, who're linguistic and blood relatives of the Thais and Laos, at about ten percent. Karens and Kachins are about six percent. The Mons are linguistically related to the Khmers of Cambodia -- the language group is called Mon-Khmer. They're about two percent of the population now, though in days of old they held sway in a crescent from present-day Cambodia into northern Burma. Burmans are Sino-Tibetan, while the Mons and Khmers, if I remember correctly, are Malayo-Polynesian. The Shans, Thais, and Laos show up around 900-1000 AD. Other than fighting among themselves, the Thais primarily fought their wars with the Burmese, the Laos with the Viets. One of the Lao-Viet wars was over a beautifully enameled box of elephant crap.
Two members with the ranks of major and lieutenant from Mon Peace Defence "exchanged arms for peace" in the area of at Laynyar Village in Pyigyimandaing sub-township of Taninthayi Region over the past three days.
On Wednesday, another eight-member group led by Soe Myint with the rank of major also joined them.
Those ten members who returned to legal fold brought along with 12 guns and 1,207 rounds of ammunition.
So far since the president's peace offer was extended in August 2011, a total of 10 armed groups out of 11 have respectively signed preliminary peace agreements with the government at state or central level.
The resumption of talks between the government and the KIO resumed in the earlier February after the government announced unilateral ceasefire with KIA on Jan. 18 to prepare for a political dialogue.