Now is the time for the peasants and monks and opposition to revolt against
the military junta!!
"Zomi" <zomi@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
news:d-ednTVHtqEeUr3VnZ2dnUVZ_uCdnZ2d@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> =====
>
> Cyclone Death Toll Soars Past 22,000
>
> AP
> Posted: 2008-05-06 15:30:34
>
> Filed Under: Myanmar Cyclone, Natural Disaster, World News
>
> YANGON, Myanmar (May 6) - The cyclone death toll soared above 22,000 on
> Tuesday and more than 41,000 others were missing as foreign countries
> mobilized to rush in aid after the country's deadliest storm on record,
> state radio re****ted.
>
> Up to 1 million people may be homeless after Cyclone Nargis hit the
> Southeast Asian nation, also known as Burma, early Saturday. Some
villages
> have been almost totally eradicated and vast rice-growing areas are
wiped
> out, the World Food Program said.
>
> Images from state television showed large trees and electricity poles
> sprawled across roads and roofless houses ringed by large sheets of
water
> in the Irrawaddy River delta region, which is regarded as Myanmar's rice
> bowl.
>
> "From the re****ts we are getting, entire villages have been flattened
and
> the final death toll may be huge," Mac Pieczowski, who heads the
> International Organization for Migration office in Yangon, said in a
> statement.
>
> Buddhist monks and Catholic nuns wielding knives and axes joined Yangon
> residents Tuesday in clearing roads of ancient, fallen trees that were
> once the city's pride. And soldiers were out on the streets in large
> numbers for the first time since the cyclone hit, helping to clear trees
> as massive as 15 feet in diameter.
>
> President Bush called on Myanmar's military junta to allow the U.S. to
> help. The White House said the U.S. will send more than $3 million to
help
> cyclone victims, up from an initial emergency contribution of $250,000.
>
> "We're prepared to move U.S. Navy assets to help find those who have
lost
> their lives, to help find the missing, to help stabilize the situation.
> But in order to do so, the military junta must allow our disaster
> assessment teams into the country," he said.
>
> Bush spoke at a ceremony where he signed legislation awarding the
> Congressional Gold Medal to Burmese democracy advocate Aung San Suu Kyi.
>
> Myanmar's military regime has signaled it will welcome aid supplies for
> victims of a devastating cyclone, the U.N. said Tuesday, clearing the
way
> for a major relief operation from international organizations.
>
> But U.N. workers were still awaiting their visas to enter the country,
> said Elisabeth Byrs of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of
> Humanitarian Affairs.
>
> "The government has shown a certain openness so far," Byrs said. "We
hope
> that we will get the visas as soon as possible, in the coming hours. I
> think the authorities have understood the seriousness of the situation
and
> that they will act accordingly."
>
> The appeal for outside assistance was unusual for Myanmar's ruling
> generals, who have long been suspicious of international organizations
and
> closely controlled their activities. Several agencies, including the
> International Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders, have limited their
> presence as a consequence.
>
> Allowing any major influx of foreigners could carry risks for the
> military, injecting unwanted outside influence and giving the aid givers
> rather than the junta credit for a recovery.
>
> However, keeping out international aid would focus blame squarely on the
> military should it fail to restore peoples' livelihoods.
>
> Some aid agencies re****ted their assessment teams had reached some areas
> of the largely isolated region but said getting in supplies and large
> numbers of aid workers would be difficult.
>
> The cyclone came only a week ahead of a key referendum on a constitution
> that Myanmar's military leaders hoped would go smoothly in its favor,
> despite opposition from the country's feisty pro-democracy movement.
> However, the disaster could stir the already tense political situation.
>
> State radio also said that Saturday's vote would be delayed until May 24
> in 40 of 45 town****ps in the Yangon area and seven in the Irrawaddy
delta,
> which took the brunt of the weekend storm. It indicated that the
balloting
> would proceed in other areas as scheduled.
>
> The decision drew swift criticism from dissidents and human rights
groups
> who question the credibility of the vote and urged the junta to focus on
> disaster victims.
>
> Myanmar's generals have hailed the referendum as an im****tant step
forward
> in their "roadmap to democracy." It offers the first chance for voters
to
> cast ballots since 1990, and the probability is high they will approve
the
> constitution - a legal framework the country has lacked for two decades.
>
> But critics, including the United Nations, the United States and human
> rights groups, question whether it will lead to democracy.
>
> Myanmar has been under military rule since 1962. Its government has been
> widely criticized for suppression of pro-democracy parties such as the
one
> led by Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate who has been under house
> arrest for almost 12 of the past 18 years.
>
> At least 31 people were killed and thousands more were detained when the
> military cracked down on peaceful protests in September led by Buddhist
> monks and democracy advocates.
>
> Wa****ngton has long been one of the ruling junta's sharpest critics for
> its poor human rights record and failure to hand over power to a
> democratically elected government.
>
>
http://news.aol.com/story/_a/cyclone-death-toll-soars-past-22000/20080504064309990001
>
> =====
>
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