DEPARTMENTS
ANTI-WAR
DEATH PENALTY
ELECTIONS
ENVIRONMENT
GLBT ISSUES
HEMP
INTERNATIONAL
NATIONAL
REVIEWS
|
Departments International Issues Burma blames Suu Kyi & fake donors for cyclone riots Washington, London, Paris and other foreign governments blasted Burma for extending Mrs. Suu Kyi's house arrest on Tuesday (May 27) for another year, after detaining her without trial as a "security threat" for more than 12 of the past 18 years. The U.S., Europe and other countries said international relief was a priority, however, and aid efforts would continue, mostly through countries friendly to Burma, the U.N., and non-governmental organizations. The U.S. has been allowed to send more than 70 C-130 cargo flights -- carrying plastic sheets, water containers, hygiene kits and food -- from Thailand to Burma's commercial port of Rangoon, but the trickle is not enough, U.S. officials said. "The United States has 8,000 service members and four naval ships now in international waters off the coast of Burma, ready to help when requested by the government of Burma," U.S. Ambassador to Thailand Eric G. John said on May 21, referring to USS Essex and other warships in the Bay of Bengal. Burma rejected that offer, and also a similar plea by France which then sent its warship, the Mistral, to Thailand's tourist-playground island of Phuket where the ship's relief goods were to be off-loaded and delivered to Burma by other means. Foreign U.N. staff workers, meanwhile, received visas this week for the first time since the cyclone hit on May 2. They joined Save the Children, Doctors Without Borders, World Vision and other organizations which also finally received visas allowing its foreign experts into Burma to help survivors. About 78,000 people perished from the cyclone and its Bay of Bengal tidal swells, and 56,000 others disappeared, according to Burma's official estimates. The military regime, meanwhile, began defending itself for its allegedly cruel handling of the crisis, and unleashed a new propaganda campaign against Mrs. Suu Kyi, and foreign journalists, blaming them for using cyclone victims as pawns against the junta. In 1990, Mrs. Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) candidates won more than 80 percent of parliament's seats in a nationwide election, but the military refused to recognize the polls. On Thursday (May 29), the regime said her NLD party members in Pathein town, on the stricken Irrawaddy River delta, handed out cash to victims at a relief camp, and then quarreled with "local authorities," angering survivors. "That event was profound evidence that the NLD is attempting to incite the outrage of the victims and their problems, and to make the public outrage go into riots," the regime's New Light of Myanmar newspaper said on Thursday (May 29) in comments reprinted in its Burmese-language daily newspapers, Myanma Alin and Kyemon. The junta did not name any of the NLD party members who were "trying to exploit the situation politically," or say when it happened. Foreign news photos and TV broadcasts, showing emaciated survivors grasping for any help they could get, also included scenes sinisterly orchestrated by fake donors who intentionally sparked a riot, it said. "In some cases, such people in the disguise of donors, incited a riot by provoking the outrage of the crowd on the road," it said, describing desperate survivors pleading for food, water and other relief from passing vehicles. "Some shot the scenes, in which people were in a scramble to get money and things dropped from moving vehicles, and sold the tapes and photos to foreign media," the junta said, without providing details. "If foreigners, watching those tapes and looking at those photos, misunderstand the status of our country, the image and dignity of the nation and the people will go down the drain." Most of the junta's media focused on stories praising the military for providing aid and rushing to hard-hit areas to save lives. The regime also thanked the foreign community for sending cyclone aid, and emphasized that Burma was a "Buddhist country, whose people are very generous to others." An estimated 2.4 million survivors -- half of them homeless -- have been struggling since Cyclone Nargis hit. Burma, also known as Myanmar, is mainland Southeast Asia's biggest country and possesses vast, under-developed natural resources and agricultural land. Its economy has been devastated by decades of official corruption, political repression, and extensive U.S.-led international sanctions that have failed to oust the military, which seized power in a 1962 coup. --- Richard S Ehrlich is a Bangkok-based journalist who has reported news from Asia since 1978. He is co-author of "Hello My Big Big Honey!", a non-fiction book of investigative journalism, and his web page is http://www.geocities.com/asia_correspondent |
|
Recent International Issues Articles American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee condemns Gaza attacks Witnessing the decay of Western hegemony and the role of the organic Iraq's US security charade Yellow-shirt mob seizes Bangkok's International Airport Gaza: salvation in a news broadcast A funny thing happened to me on my way to the Damascus Conference Bangkok dangerous: bombs, sleaze and paralysis Will the young rescue unions? What does Iran have to do with your town? Here's what it has to do with mine Playgrounds for Palestine: one marathon at a time World food day: global crises’ double standards Unofficial referendum in Vicenza, Italy: 95% opposed to new U.S. base Grassroots movements, global elites and political economy in times of panic The war to promote terror Palestinian economy: from bad to wretched Predator and prey Family politics and the new Gaza crisis Harper again serves as Bush's mouthpiece in Canada. Thaksin is the world's newest international fugitive Global trends that will shape the next decade Obama joins the club Revealing a massacre, or stating the obvious Rabbi Lerner invited by Saudi King to International Interfaith Conference On Iran And Mideast peace: Who is Obama trying to please? Burma blames Suu Kyi & fake donors for cyclone riots Suu Kyi amid Burma's cyclone Coexistence, not Apartheid 60 years of denial Enemies Burma & America meet over cyclone aid Burma stages a vote while cyclone victims suffer The grim reality of economic truths Burma blocks aid, fearing subversive foreigners USAID team Burma not thankful for U.S. warships offering cyclone aid Cyclone help for Irrawaddy Delta survivors Coups & superstitions Trip report by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter to Israel, Palestine, Egypt, Syria, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan As Italy’s elections go from bad to worse, Vicenza remains the silver lining National Lawyers Guild urges Israel to permit Richard Falk to enter Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories America's secret plan to nuke Vietnam & Laos The Spanish 'adios' What else is on? Dayton stands (and rocks) for Darfur The day after the bombing of Iran Kosovo Brief Kathmandu blackout Inequality, not identity, fuels violence in Kenya Gandhism is alive and expanding Guantanamo as a symbol The eternal underdog A perspective on relations with Somalia Let’s toast to ten good things about 2007 Machiavellian Musharraf Read International Issues Articles by Year: |
FREE PRESS EMAIL UPDATE
Donate to the Free Press Election Protection Fund to help us investigate and monitor election fraud in this year's election.
FOLLOW US ON
twitter
facebook
SEARCH THE FREEPRESS
1021 E. Broad St. Columbus, OH 43205 | 614.253.2571 | truth@freepress.org
All content © 1970-2012 The Columbus Free Press
Disclaimer