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Burma Rips 'Chocolate Bar' Aid; US Ships Threaten to Sail

Junta rails on stingy pace of int'l donations

By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff

Posted May 29, 2008 6:50 AM CDT
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(Newser) – Burma's military junta ripped international cyclone relief efforts today, slamming demands for access to the disaster zone and proclaiming "The people from Irrawaddy can survive without chocolate bars donated by foreign countries," Reuters reports. The slam comes a day after a US admiral threatened to yank warships from the region if the junta wouldn't let in the aid they carried.

Without batting an eye, however, the junta railed on the world for being stingy. Current donations four weeks after the cyclone stand at $201 million, down steeply from the $2 billion pledged in the week after Indonesia's 2004 tsunami. Additionally, "There is one big nation that even extended economic sanctions although it had already been known that Myanmar was in for a very powerful storm."

People line up outside an aid tent in Yangon, Myanmar, Thursday, May 29, 2008 awaiting medical treatment.
People line up outside an aid tent in Yangon, Myanmar, Thursday, May 29, 2008 awaiting medical treatment.   (AP Photo)
Some 1,000 tons of humanitarian supplies for shipment to Myanmar by the United Nations are unloaded from the French warship Mistral on the resort island of Phuket, Thailand, Wednesday, May 28, 2008.
Some 1,000 tons of humanitarian supplies for shipment to Myanmar by the United Nations are unloaded from the French warship Mistral on the resort island of Phuket, Thailand, Wednesday, May 28, 2008.   (AP Photo/Daily News)
Homeless Burmese receive candy from a overseas donator at a monastery serving as a temporary shelter for cyclone victims on the outskirts of Yangon, Myanmar, Monday, May 26, 2008.
Homeless Burmese receive candy from a overseas donator at a monastery serving as a temporary shelter for cyclone victims on the outskirts of Yangon, Myanmar, Monday, May 26, 2008.   (AP Photo)
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Crisis has opened 'window of opportunity'
BBC

Burma refuses help from naval ships
Bangkok Post (Thailand)

Outrage over Aung San Suu Kyi won't affect aid
AFP

 
cyclone • relief • Myanmar • Burma • military junta • disaster zones • Cyclone Nargis • Irrawaddy Delta

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