elef Posted May 12, 2008 Report Share Posted May 12, 2008 Bangkok Post Today Link US flight from Utapao takes aid to Burma A US military aircraft used Thailand's Utapao Airbase Monday to deliver emergency aid to Burma in the wake of a cyclone that has left an estimated 100,000 people dead. The C-130 cargo plane departed the base loaded with 12,670 kilogrammes of water, mosquito nets and bedding. The assistance, to be distributed by USAID inside Burma, is part of an international push to assist an estimated 1.9 million people affected by Cyclone Nargis, which slammed into the country's central coast on May 2 and 3, leaving the rice-growing Irrawaddy Delta in ruins. "This is a small salve for a much larger wound," said US ambassador to Thailand Eric John, speaking in Utapao. John praised Thailand for allowing the kingdom to be used as a launch pad for emergency aid, and called on Burmese generals to facilitate the relief effort by granting visas to international disaster experts. "In addition to supplies it is absolutely crucial that response experts be allowed in to Burma to help those struggling with the devastation that affects them," said the US ambassador. In what was deemed a breakthrough, the US government received permission Friday from the military junta to deliver the relief supplies, a day after the regime rejected an offer to fly the aid in on a Thai Air Force C-130. Burma's government has also refused to grant visas to a US Disaster Assistance Response Team to accompany the US aid. Relief experts with the United Nations and international aid agencies have received similar treatment by the xenophobic regime. (dpa) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bust Posted May 13, 2008 Report Share Posted May 13, 2008 Nearly as many Burma threads as US ones now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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