Khun Sa tells Shans to quit fightin

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Khun Sa tells Shans to quit fighting junta

Bangkok Post (November 30, 1997)

Former drug warlord Khun Sa has urged anti-Rangoon Shan people to
surrender to the Burmese government following a battle between thousands
of Shan troops and Burmese soldiers in central Shan State earlier this
month.

According to a Thai border official from Mae Hong Son, Khun Sa said in a
radio broadcast monitored in Thai-Burmese border areas on November 10
that he wanted Shan ethnic groups to disarm and cooperate with Rangoon
to create peace in Burma.

The broadcast was made after over 2,000 Shan State Army (SSA), Shan
State national Army (SSNA) and Shan United Revolutionary Army (SURA)
forces attacked strongholds of Burmese troops in Muang Kung and Muang
Laika in central Shan State during November 8-9 and managed to take over
towns from Rangoon troops.

Shan rebels joined forces to fight the Burmese troops after Burmese
soldiers robbed agricultural products and valuables from people in
central Shan State who had long backed Shan nationalist movements, the
source said.

The source added that Shan people were dissatisfied with the former drug
kingpin's statement, saying Khun Sa was a betrayer, for he and his Mong
Tai Army had yielded to Rangoon and also supported Burmese troops.

Khun Sa planned to seek approval from the Burmese government for him and
his family to stay outside a military camp in Rangoon soon, the source
added,

Earlier, many Shan people who had long fought for the independence of
Shan State had agreed to surrender to Rangoon but no ceasefire agreement
has been reached yet.