Keating: Navy ships may leave Myanmar soon

[unhappycamper]

Keating: Navy ships may leave Myanmar soon
By Robert Burns - The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday May 28, 2008 15:41:13 EDT

WASHINGTON — The U.S. probably will withdraw a group of naval vessels from waters off the coast of Myanmar within days unless the government allows the ships to offload their relief supplies for cyclone victims, the senior commander of U.S. forces in the region said Wednesday.

Navy Adm. Timothy Keating, chief of the U.S. Pacific Command, said he would discuss the matter this week with Defense Secretary Robert Gates in Singapore, where they will attend an international security conference.

Keating said the group of ships, led by the amphibious assault ship Essex, has other scheduled commitments in the area, including a planned port visit to Hong Kong. They were in the Gulf of Thailand participating in a naval exercise when the cyclone struck Myanmar, also known as Burma, on May 2-3.

“Absent a green light from Burmese officials, I don’t think (the Essex) will be there for weeks,” Keating told a Pentagon news conference. “Days, and then we’ll see.”

The admiral said the Myanmar junta’s refusal to allow the Navy to provide relief is frustrating. He described the sailors and Marines aboard the Essex as “desperate” to provide help.


Rest of article at: http://www.navytimes.com/news/2008/05/ap_myanmar_052808/