Influential Shan leader and former political prisoner Khun Htun Oo will serve in Burma’s delegation to attend the UN’s General Assembly next week.

Sai Lek, spokesperson of Khun Htun Oo’s Shan Nationalities League for Democracy, said the party’s chairman accepted a proposition from President Thein Sein to act as a representative in Burma’s delegation.

“We think that every organisation should take part in the country’s development projects such as the democracy transition and the peace making process being carried out by President Thein Sein,” said Sai Lek. “His mission is only in the beginning for now and we wanted to help him reach the goal by contributing what we can.”

Khun Htun Oo left Burma along with his party’s Central Committee member Sai Sam Pom Hsai on 14 September for the US to accept an award from the National Endorsement for Democracy. The ceremony will be held on 20 September before heading to California at the end of the month for an honorary dinner hosted by the California Shan Social Cultural Society.

The SNLD won 23 seats in the 1990 elections, which were later annulled. In 2005, the party’s leaders, Khun Htun Oo and Sai Nyunt Lwin, were charged with treason and given lengthy prison sentences, but were freed in January along with hundreds of other political prisoners.