a very short rough on acoustic... click here to play.The regime's leader, General Than Shwe, rebuffed repeated attempts by the United Nations' secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon, to speak to him by telephone. Admiral Timothy Keating, the head of America's Pacific Command, and Thailand's prime minister, Samak Sundaravej, both visited Yangon to try to persuade the regime to let in a big international rescue mission like the one assembled after the 2004 tsunami. Neither succeeded.
- the economist 2008/05
