A total of 35 more members from some anti-government armed groups in Myanmar laid down their arms in the last quarter of 2004, official newspaper The New Light of Myanmar reported Thursday.

The surrender has brought the total to more than 200 in the whole year.

These members, who "exchanged arms for peace" with the government between October and December, include those from the Kayin National Union (KNU), Shan United Revolutionary Army (SURA), National Defense Army (NDA) and All Burma (Myanmar) Students' Democratic Front (ABSDF).

They brought along with them a total of 380 rounds of arms and ammunition among others, the report said.

Of these armed groups, the KNU is the largest one fighting with the government for more than five decades. Meanwhile, a planned third round of peace talks between the government and the KNU in October last year was suspended until now as it coincided with a surprise reshuffle of the government's cabinet then, in which change of prime minister took place.

Official statistics show that since the government adopted a policy of national reconciliation in 1989, a total of 17 anti-government armed groups have made peace with the government, returning to the legal fold.

Source: Xinhua