Burma's brutal rulers have been stamping their names on foreign aid in the latest insult to their suffering people.
Boxes of supplies were plastered with pictures of the regime's top generals in a sick attempt to gain good publicity in the wake of the devastating cyclone.
But even as the lifesaving supplies were being handed out, aid workers from abroad were being stalled at the border and food was being confiscated.
According to reports, the army was even hoarding aid to sell it to storm victims at extortionate prices.
Yesterday, state-run TV was running footage of the country's ruling generals handing out boxes of aid to survivors at staged ceremonies. One box bore the name of junta leader Lt Gen Mying Swe in bold letters, over a smaller label: "Aid from the Kingdom of Thailand."
Burma Campaign UK director Mari Farmaner said: "We have already seen regional commanders putting their names on the side of aid shipments. It is not going to areas where it is most in need."
The UN estimates up to 100,000 have died and two million have been severely affected after Cyclone Nargis struck the Irrawaddy Delta. A week on, rotting bodies are still strewn across the area.
Meanwhile, aid organisations are still locked in talks to get food through.
Yesterday, Burma's military ruler, Senior General Than Shwe, cocked a snook at his countrymen in his first public appearance since the disaster.
The 74-year-old recluse was shown voting in a rigged referendum. Officials have been handing out ballot papers already marked with a tick, approving the government reforms, while voters were frog-marched to polling stations to show their approval.
World leaders, including Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown, have united to condemn the way Shwe's ruling junta has handled the crisis.
|