Monday, May 19, 2008

Myanmar junta leader Than Shwe visits a refugee camp outside Yangon on Sunday.


YANGON, Myanmar (CNN) -- Two weeks after Cyclone Nargis devastated Myanmar, the country's reclusive junta leader Than Shwe visited a refugee camp outside Yangon, according to video broadcast on state television.
Myanmar junta leader Than Shwe visits a refugee camp outside Yangon on Sunday.
Surrounded by fellow junta members dressed in olive-green military suits, Shwe walked through streets talking with the people who lined up outside their neatly constructed tents.
The 75-year-old military ruler touched the cheeks of young survivors held by their mothers.
The junta leaders -- who traveled about 320 km (200 miles) south to Yangon from the new capital Naypyidaw -- looked on as aid workers at the camp opened plastic cases filled with relief supplies. Watch Myanmar leader's visit »
The visit comes on the day that United Nations humanitarian chief John Holmes arrived in Myanmar, which is also known as Burma, to assess the scope of the disaster.
Video from the scene show Holmes, flanked by troops, touring a hospital and speaking with doctors and cyclone survivors.
He will meet with the country's rulers and try to convince them that a disaster of such magnitude cannot be handled by one nation alone, said spokeswoman spokeswoman Amanda Pitt.
Last week, Holmes said the death toll from the cyclone which struck the country on May 2-3 could be "in the region of 100,000 or even more." Millions more are homeless.
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The official death toll provided by Myanmar's government is much lower.

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