NSC:Peace talks with insurgents will be carried on

BANGKOK, May 3 (TNA) - The National Security Council (NSC) has insisted that its ongoing peace process with insurgents in the Thai far South, led by the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) insurgency movement, will proceed and Thailand has not been at a disadvantage. NSC Secretary General Lieutenant General Paradorn Pattanatabutr told journalists on Thursday that Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has told him to listen to proposals of the insurgent side, as it claimed they came from locals, and has also ordered the government's southern command center to verify the proposals with locals. Lieutenant General Paradorn said Wednesday night's shooting, which killed six people at a tea shop in the Rusamilae locality in Muang district of Pattani Province, was an act of young hard-core insurgents and had nothing to do with the NSC-insurgent peace negotiations. The NSC chief made the remarks after attending a meeting, chaired by the Thai premier, to discuss updates and solutions for southern border woes with security authorities, as well as results of the 2nd-round peace negotiations between the NSC and the insurgent side. (TNA)