Zim yes, Burma no

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"...While humanitarian workers in Burma said they were glad to see the fund had decided to send aid to the people of Zimbabwe, they questioned claims that the fund separated a country's internal political situation from its aid needs.

"There's no doubt that such assistance is desperately needed in Zimbabwe, so it's a good decision for Zimbabwe's people. At the same time, I'm at a bit of a loss to understand the discernable line in the sand the Global Fund draws between Zimbabwe and Burma," one aid worker in Rangoon told Mizzima.

"Both countries suffer from inhumane leadership, rife corruption and a severe lack of transparency. Humanitarian funds are, regrettably, misused in both countries. Burma's people are also suffering from AIDS. Why are they too not deserving of assistance that would save so many lives?"

Zimbabwe has a human rights record almost equal to that of Burma with no free elections or free press and ongoing human rights abuses perpetrated by the government. Aid workers in the country have been calling for Global Fund help for some time and say the organisation has delayed a decision because of the country's political situation.Liden was not available for comment today but he denied Global Fund's foot dragging on Zimbabwe aid had anything to so with President Mugabe's land reform program, which has seen hundreds of thousand of people in the country's capital forced from their homes..."