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Non-Burmans back Shan leader's dialogue proposal 

Non-Burman leaders attending the Oslo centennial celibrations of the Nobel Peace Prize all expressed their support for the recent proposal to the UN special envoy by a Shan leader, according to an overseas Shan organization. 

Sai Wansai, General Secretary of the Germany-based Shan Democratic Union, who returned from his trip to Norway, told S.H.A.N. he had met Padoe Saw Ba Thin, President of the Karen National Union and Chairman of the newly-formed Ethnic Nationalities Solidarity and Cooperation Committee, and Khu Hte Bupeh of the Karenni National Progressive Party and of the ENSCC at the Workshop on Burma held on 8 December and all of them had echoed the proposal presented by Khun Htoo Oo, President of the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy and "unofficial" spokesperson for the non-Burman states, on 27 November to Razali Ismail, the United Nations Special Envoy to Burma on the first day of his week-long visit. 
"In order to allow non-Burman ethnic nationalities to work out a common position, he had called for: 

• A nationwide ceasefire,

• The freedom of assembly and meeting,

• A free passage for non-ceasefire groups like the SSA (South) and the KNU for consultations, and

• The re-instatement of banned political parties," Wansai reported.

The workshop was jointly hosted by the Norwegian Burma Committee, Norwegian Church Aid and World View Rights. The audience were mostly academics, NGOs, Norwegian government officials and representatives from activist organizations, among whom were Dr. Sein Win of the National Coalition Government, Harn Yawnghwe of the Brussels-based Euro-Burma Office and Gareth Evans, President of the International Crisis Group (ICG) and former Foreign Minister of Australia. 

The main topic of the workshop was "How can the non-Burmans be included in the ongoing talks?," according to Wansai.