U.N. Chief: 'Critical Moment' For Burma Aid
By Associated Press | May 22, 2008
http://www.nysun.com/foreign/un-chief-critical-moment-for-burma-aid/76906/
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ShareBANGKOK, Thailand — U.N. Secretary- General Ban heads to Burma today for the diplomatic challenge of a lifetime — persuading ruling generals to let in foreign assistance for cyclone victims. He urged the junta yesterday to focus on saving lives after it refused an American proposal for U.S. warships to deliver relief supplies.
Stan Honda/AFP/Getty Images
A Burmese soldier videotapes the visiting U.N. Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, at Mawgyon, Burma today.
"We must do our utmost for the people of Myanmar," Mr. Ban told reporters after arriving in Bangkok. "This is a critical moment for Myanmar. The government itself acknowledges that there has never been a disaster on this scale in the history of their country."
By the junta's own count, at least 134,000 people are dead or missing from the cyclone. The United Nations says up to 2.5 million survivors are hungry and there are worries about disease outbreaks in the Irrawaddy River delta.
