CNS chief General Sonthi Boonyaratglin also insisted he was unaware of blacklist of Cabinet members.

"The CNS won't cause any problem for the government," he said.

PM's Office Minister Khunying Dhipavadee Meksawan said she was unaware that she was among three ministers the CNS was not satisfied with. Asked if she felt uneasy that the CNS interfered with her work in the government and had leaked news that she had not responded to someone's orders, she said, "No".

"I felt nothing because that is what being an 'old ginger' is. I have seen the world and that is why I have to be tolerant and not to waver," she said. - The Nation.

SHAN CEASEFIRE : Rangoon's envoys fail to show

Peace negotiations between the Burmese junta and the rebellious Shan ethnic minority failed to materialise yesterday when representatives of the country's military rulers did not show up at the agreed place. Shan State Army (SSA) leader Yawd Serk had said earlier he was scheduled to launch peace talks with the junta in Mae Sai on Wednesday morning.

Junta officials did not show up at the appointed time and conveyed a message through contacts that they wanted to change the location to the Burmese town of Tachilek, he said.

"I became concerned for the safety of my negotiating team, so I decided not to go," Yawd Serk said. "It might have been a ploy by the junta to trap us."

Yawd Serk said he was happy to hold peace talks with the junta anywhere in a neutral place or even in Burma, but there needed to be safety guarantees for his negotiating team. - The Nation.