September 30, 2007	Sunday	Ramazan 17, 1428

BANGKOK, Sept 29: Myanmar’s bloody crackdown on protesters has hampered efforts to distribute food to 500,000 vulnerable people, mostly children, the World Food Programme (WFP) said on Saturday.

“We appeal to the authorities for access to all parts of the country,” the UN food agency’s executive director Josette Sheeran said in a statement from New York.

The junta’s offensive against protesters in Yangon has left at least 13 people dead and hundreds more jailed, sparking global outrage against the country’s ruling generals.

The WFP said authorities had stopped all movement of food commodities out of Mandalay, Myanmar’s second city, and warned the unrest could affect efforts to feed some 500,000 people.

“We have to protect the most vulnerable people in the country,” Sheeran said, adding the hungry were mainly young children, as well as HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis sufferers.

The unrest has also slowed down food delivery efforts in Sittwe, 560 kilometres west of Yangon, the WFP said. The port city has been a hotbed of protests, which began on Aug 19 following a hike in fuel costs.—AFP