ENGLISH DEYEA NEWS

Mizzima News- As the release of doves and offerings of flowers marked Aung San Suu Kyi's 63rd birthday today in Rangoon, international organizations and activists remain persistent in linking Burma's political stage with the humanitarian crisis following Cyclone Nargis.

Despite September's Saffron Revolution also occurring within the span of the National League for Democracy leader's 63rd year, it was May's devastating cyclone to which outspoken critics of the regime repeatedly turned.

In a statement released today, the Women's League of Burma prospered, "In times of trouble and disaster, we all need to hear the voice and reassurance of the people we trust. To heal from this dreadful disaster, the people of Burma need to hear and see their leader, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi."

The words came as part of a campaign for the release of Suu Kyi and other political prisoners under the slogan, "Vote NO to One more day."

Echoing the sentiments of the Women's League, ALTSEAN – Burma today announced, "A vital figure in national reconciliation, Daw Suu's voice has been muted in a time of economic, political, and humanitarian crisis in Burma. Now more than ever, Burma needs Daw Suu."

Meanwhile, as part of its weeklong canvassing for support for the release of all of Burma's approximate 2,000 political prisoners, the Burma Campaign UK concluded: "Burma's current humanitarian crisis is being caused by a political problem, a dictatorship that refuses to allow aid to reach the people, and Aung San Suu Kyi is key to solving the political problem."

Calling for international actors to increase their efforts in bringing change to Burma in the aftermath of Nargis, Burma Campaign UK continued to caution that, "The international community is failing to put pressure on the regime."

Even those at the forefront of the 2007 protests preferred to focus on May's natural disaster. The All Burma Monks' Alliance (ABMA), officially formed in the immediate run-up to September's uprising and subsequently taking a lead in the mass protest marches, this week stated, "The Burmese military junta has used the devastated situation of the people of Burma after the attack of Cyclone Nargis to consolidate its grip on power, and to exploit the generosity of the international community for its own benefit."

Attempting to raise the profile of Burma before a European Union meeting today on EU foreign policy, the ABMA added, "The Burmese military junta and their policies are responsible for all bad things happening in Burma, all the crises overloading the shoulders of the people of Burma."

However, United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice went against the trend and instead chose to focus on recent political developments. "Rather than risking further unrest in Burma by its unjustified detention of political prisoners and its holding of a rigged referendum in May on a sham constitution, the regime should release all political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi, and begin a genuine dialogue with her and other democratic and ethnic minority leaders on a transition to democracy," came the words of the Secretary in a missive released yesterday.

Estimates of the final death toll from the storm vary between 100,000 and 200,000, with over two million storm survivors remaining in need of assistance.

Burma's ruling generals have been widely criticized for their slow and inadequate response in the wake of the cyclone. Burma's Head of State, Senior General Than Shwe, only visited a refugee camp on the outskirts of Rangoon some two weeks after the storm struck.