Brussels – The European Parliament has suggested the Burmese junta should face international charges for crimes against humanity if generals continue to block foreign aid workers from distributing food and medicine to the 2.5 million people affected by a cyclone earlier this month.
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“I am Diego Maradona, and the world knows that I always rebel against injustice.  And what outrages me today is what is happening to Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi. Does a Nobel Peace Prize recipient deserve to be imprisoned?  Set her free!” – Diego Maradona

The leader of Burma’s ruling junta, Snr-Gen Than Shwe, has finally agreed to allow in “all aid workers” after meeting with the head of the United Nations in the country’s capital, Naypyidaw. But given the regime’s history of mistrust towards non-governmental organizations and UN agencies, most greeted the news with cautious optimism.
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U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon flew over Myanmar’s flooded Irrawaddy delta on Thursday, where the ravages of a cyclone stretched as far as the eye could see: Villages were empty of life, flattened huts dissolved into vast areas of water and people perched on rooftops.
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The 68 blue tents are lined up in a row, with a brand-new water purifier and boxes of relief supplies, stacked neatly but as yet undelivered and not even opened. “If you don’t keep clean, you’ll be expelled from here,” a camp manager barked at families in some tents.
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In yet another attempt at rigging the referendum the junta is issuing ballot papers which have already been ticked ‘Yes’ to voters in the second phase of the referendum to approve the draft constitution.
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Just as suddenly as they were arrested, 10 of the 13  youth members of Burma’s main opposition party – the National League for Democracy – were released by junta authorities in Rangoon after being detained briefly on Thursday.
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Private aid convoys from Rangoon, which have provided a lifeline to victims of Cyclone Nargis in some hard-hit areas of the Irrawaddy delta, are facing tighter restrictions by local authorities, who say that the government now has the situation under control.
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A Burmese tycoon with links to the military regime is being used as a conduit to channel humanitarian aid – funded by British taxpayers and private donors – to the victims of Cyclone Nargis.
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While international aid donors and Western governments are lining up to provide humanitarian assistance to the victims of Cyclone Nargis, more than 140,000 refugees and displaced persons from Burma’s ongoing armed conflicts are facing a drastic cut in aid.
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Chiang Mai – Karen National Union, an ethnic armed rebel group, said there will be no change in the group’s policy despite the death of the top-most leader on Thursday.
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The last time a UN secretary-general arrived in Burma he ignited bloody riots in the streets-even though he was dead.
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The Burmese junta is being urged to free pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi when her current term of house arrest expires on May 25.
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Burma’s military junta is seeking up to $11.7 billion in reconstruction aid at a donor conference scheduled this weekend in Rangoon, the former Burmese capital, raising fears among human rights activists and Western governments that Tropical Cyclone Nargis could become a diplomatic and financial windfall for the reclusive regime.
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Stars including Will Ferrell and Jennifer Aniston call for release of the Southeast Asian country’s Nobel-winning Aung San Suu Kyi and establishment of democracy there.
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France will push for a UN resolution authorizing the delivery of aid to survivors of Cyclone Nargis in Burma “by all means necessary” if pressure from the UN chief and the country’s neighbors doesn’t open the aid pipeline quickly, France’s UN ambassador said Thursday.
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Prominent actor Kyaw Thu, head of the Free Funeral Service Society, said domestic and international aid provision is still falling short of the needs of cyclone victims in 20 townships and villages in Irrawaddy division.
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Under Burmese law, she must be released from house arrest in Rangoon at midnight, the beginning of Sunday May 25, 2008. (more…)

The Burma Campaign UK today said it was hopeful but sceptical following reports that UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon had secured agreement from Burma’s generals for aid workers to be allowed into the country.
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