Myanmar junta slams citizens over cyclone report

By Aung Hla Tun

YANGON (Reuters) - Myanmar's junta attacked "unscrupulous" citizens and foreign media on Friday for presenting a false picture of the devastation left by Cyclone Nargis as experts began mapping the extent of the disaster.

The New Light of Myanmar, the mouthpiece of the ruling generals, said people had been selling video footage "of invented stories" to foreign news organizations which tarnished the country's image.

"The people who are in touch with the situation feel that the despicable and inhumane acts by local and foreign anti-government groups and self-centered persons and their exploiting of the storm victims are absolutely obnoxious," the newspaper said.

Bootleg copies of DVDs showing the devastation in the hardest-hit Irrawaddy delta have been snapped up on the streets of the former capital Yangon and smuggled out of the country.

Police detained famous activist/comedian Zarganar on Wednesday night and seized his computer, several banned films and records of the cyclone damage.

Newspaper, television and radio are tightly controlled by the military government, which also severely restricts international media access to the former Burma.

The New Light of Myanmar accused foreign media of running "groundless news stories with the intention of tarnishing the image of Myanmar and misleading the international community into believing that cyclone victims do not receive any assistance."

The first major criticism of foreign media coverage of the disaster followed a recent report on a satellite television network of bootleg video footage being sold at a Yangon market.

On Friday, police swooped on satellite television suppliers in Yangon, ordering them not to sell or install new receiver dishes.

Many such dishes, which provided one of the few conduits into the isolated country, were destroyed in the cyclone.

"Thanks to a tip-off given by an official, we were able to hide the things we had on sale," said one dealer.

In January, the government hiked the annual license fee from around $6 to $909 in an apparent bid to curtail satellite access.

RIGHTS PROBE DEMANDED

In Geneva, the United Nations human rights expert for Myanmar urged the junta to investigate reports its soldiers shot dead at least 36 prison inmates during unrest in the country's most infamous prison at the height of the May 2 storm.

Tomas Ojea Quintana, who reports to the U.N. Human Rights Council, also called for the free flow of aid to the delta.