Shan rebels welcome Suu Kyi's relea

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Subject: Shan rebels welcome Suu Kyi's release

    BANGKOK, July 13 (Reuter) - An ethnic minority Shan opposition group formed by Burmese
opium warlord Khun Sa has welcomed the release of dissident leader Aung San Suu Kyi,
saying it hopes her freedom will lead to peace and progress.
     The Shan State National Congress, in a statement received by Reuters on Thursday, said
the Shan people always remembered Suu Kyi's father, General Aung San, who negotiated
the terms under which all Burma's ethnic groups united on the eve of independence from
Britain in 1948.
     Burma's ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) unexpectedly and
unconditionally released Suu Kyi on Monday after six years under house arrest.
     "We always remember it was her father, Aung San, who guaranteed the Shan...true
autonomy in their internal affairs, and human rights and democracy," the statement said.
     "We sincerely hope that, like father like daughter, Aung San Suu Kyi shall be successful in
upholding her great father's promises which shall lead to peace, progress and prosperity,
not only for our people but also for the region and the world."
     Suu Kyi's father, who led a pre-independence government, was assassinated on July 19,
1947, six months before Burma became independent from Britain.
     Shan rebels took up arms against the central government in the late 1950s.
     Many Shan dissidents have joined Khun Sa's rebel group, despite his reputation as a drug
dealer, because he commands the Shan state's only credible force opposed to the
military-run SLORC, political analysts say.
  REUTER