Myanmar PM sends letter to Thai Premier
12 May 2008
Spokesman of the Prime Minister's Office Police Lieutenant General Vichianchote Sukchotirat (วิเชียรโชติ สุกโชติรัตน์)revealed to the press that the Prime Minister of the Union of Myanmar has sent an address to Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej. The letter expressed the gratitude of Myanmar towards the concern and aid of Their Majesties the King and Queen as well as the entire Royal Family which donated Red Cross relief kits to those afflicted by Cyclone Nargis.
The address continued to state that Myanmar is ready to receive more relief kits and is open to aid from all countries that wish to contribute, thus asking Thailand help to counter information from ill-wishing foreign embassies stating otherwise.
Myanmar is preparing to receive C 130 aircraft from the United States today and tomorrow that have been sent to distribute aid. The nation will also be welcoming high ranking representatives from the US.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon also personally called Mr. Samak to ask that he help in negotiating the issuance of visas to Myanmar for officials wishing to contribute to relief efforts.
thainews.prd.go.th
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In this photo released by World Vision, Myanmar villagers sleep at a Buddhist temple used as a shelter for victims of cyclone Nargis in Yangon, Myanmar Tuesday, May 13, 2008. The U.N. said Myanmar faces a catastrophe of monumental proportions unless relief efforts reach the scale of the Indian Ocean tsunami, as soldiers barred foreign aid workers from reaching cyclone survivors in hard-hit areas. (AP Photo/World Vision, HO) Cite
it.notizie.yahoo.com
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Lives ebb away as Myanmar’s military sidelines vital aid
May 14th, 2008
By Simon Parry
Myawaddy (Myanmar), May 14 (DPA) It was supposed to be a moment of hope, a breakthrough in the troubled international aid effort for the hundreds of thousands of Myanmarese victims of Cyclone Nargis. Instead, I watched as the delivery of the first overland aid convoy was received with stark indifference by military officials either ill prepared or uninterested in speeding the aid to those in need.
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Sharing some of their hope, I defied a ban on foreign journalists and crossed into Myanmar with the trucks. What I witnessed was a debacle.
The moment the trucks were out of sight of the border post, they were directed off the road and along a three kilometre dusty track to a semi-deserted monastery and pagoda.
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I watched as they waved the trucks to parking bays without looking to see what they contained, then ambled back to a reception area to resume the card-playing and tea-drinking that had been interrupted.
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The major, Myat Hdut Aye, explained that nothing more would be happening for the time being. “It will have to wait here until tomorrow,” he said, gesturing to the trucks. “Then it will be transferred by road to Yangon. We can’t do anything more today.”
I asked gently why it wasn’t being moved immediately. Silent for a moment, he blushed before replying: “We need a big truck to carry all these things and it has to come from Yangon.” So when would it arrive? He looked a little more uncomfortable and said: “We hope it will be here in time to leave early tomorrow.”
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thaindian.com
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