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Burma to mourn cyclone's victims | Burma to mourn cyclone's victims |
(20 minutes later) | |
Burma's junta has declared three days of official mourning for the victims of Cyclone Nargis, 17 days after the storm struck, state television has announced. | Burma's junta has declared three days of official mourning for the victims of Cyclone Nargis, 17 days after the storm struck, state television has announced. |
The move came as Burma's closest ally, China, began three days of mourning for its own disaster, the Sichuan quake. | |
Analysts say Burma's move may indicate it now recognises the scale of the disaster it initially downplayed, and could be more open to outside help. | |
Earlier, Burma agreed at an emergency summit in Singapore to accept more aid. | Earlier, Burma agreed at an emergency summit in Singapore to accept more aid. |
Burmese state television announced that the national flag would be flown at half-mast during the mourning period. | |
"Because many people were killed by Cyclone Nargis, we have declared three days of mourning from 20 May to 22, and will lower flags to half-staff starting at 0900 (0230 GMT) on 20 May," the statement said. | "Because many people were killed by Cyclone Nargis, we have declared three days of mourning from 20 May to 22, and will lower flags to half-staff starting at 0900 (0230 GMT) on 20 May," the statement said. |
Burma's secretive military rulers have been criticised for the slow response to the 2 May disaster, which left about 78,000 dead and another 55,000 missing. | |
But at a meeting of regional foreign ministers in Singapore on Monday, Burma promised to accept significantly more international aid to help cyclone victims. | |
However, it told the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) summit that it wanted the aid channelled through regional personnel and organisations, rather than Western agencies. | |
Correspondents say the junta appears to have accepted the need for foreign assistance, but remains fearful of giving uncontrolled access to Western aid workers. |