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Hi,

I've just heard about this important campaign to pressure Lloyd’s of London to stop insuring the military dictators of Burma.

Burma's military junta has been hanging on to power for years using repressive tactics  - jailing monks and opposition leaders such as Aung San Suu Kyi, and denying their citizens relief after last year's devastating cyclone. One way to push for change is to cut off the businesses that prop them up by shaming western companies that are supporting them.

Lloyd’s of London is one of their lifelines -- so please join me now by emailing them, the media furore is growing and Lloyd’s could be pushed to terminate its Burmese contracts to save face. If you click on the link below a page will come up which provides key numbers, email addresses and suggestions for what to say.  It will only take a few minutes. Please follow the link below to take action:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/shame_lloyds_on_burma/98.php

For the full Avaaz campaign read below:

Dear friends,

A year after their crackdown, Burma's military dictators remain entrenched, propped up by dealings with Western companies. But the Burmese democracy movement has found a powerful pressure point -- the insurers who underwrite the generals' economic stranglehold -- exposing them one by one, and forcing big companies to pull out.[1]

Now information has leaked that Lloyd's of London, one of the world's oldest, most respected and secretive insurers, is the ultimate channel for insurance on the generals' venturesincluding aviation and shipping: yesterday, news broke that Lloyd's chairman Lord Levene also sits on the board of the junta-linked oil giant TOTAL![2]

Bad publicity is growing as deals come up for renewal -- if enough of us email and call key Lloyd's decision-makers this week, we can shame them into pulling out of this dirty trade, undermining the hardliners and creating leverage for the release of political prisoners like rightfully elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/shame_lloyds_on_burma/98.php

The Burmese people's struggle is long and tough. But as in South Africa, international pressure on the regime's exploitative ventures could tip the balance. Because it's hard or impossible for them to continue without insurance, this is an effective and wide-reaching approach for citizens everywhere to have a real impact.

Lloyd's of London is the umbrella and overseer for hundreds of specialist insurance syndicates, the last option for many junta-linked companies, and it can stop this dirty trade if it so chooses. We'll ramp up the pressure by alerting the media to our campaign, specialist insurance publications included. Even the British government has begun to ask Lloyd's to cease its business with the Burmese military junta.[3]

We can win this campaign, so let's flood Lloyd's with emails and phone calls all this week -- on the campaign page we provide key numbers, email addresses and suggestions for what to say -- just follow the link below now to take action:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/shame_lloyds_on_burma/98.php

If we win, the regime will be thrown onto the back foot, Burma's people who see none of the benefits of this dirty trade will be immensely heartened, and the UN Secretary-General will have a greater chance of securing the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and other prisoners this December. Together, our individual small acts are becoming irresistible. We can't forget Burma.

With hope and determination,

Paul, Alice, Iain, Graziela, Ricken, Pascal, Paula, Brett, Veronique, Milena -- the entire Avaaz team

For updates on Avaaz campaigns: https://secure.avaaz.org/en/report_back_2/
You can also view reports on our campaigns in support of the Burmese democracy movement and the$2 million of aid Avaaz members provided in the wake of Cyclone Nargis.

Sources:

1. Reinsurance Magazine: Big insurers including Marsh, Swiss Re, AON pull out: http://www.reinsurancemagazine.com/public/showPage.html?page=787739

Arab Insurance Group and XL also pull out: 
http://www.mizzima.com/news/world/962-campaigners-hail-arigs-decision-to-pull-out-of-burma.html

2. The Observer: "The baron who holds Burma's purse strings", 2 November 2008
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/nov/02/oil-total-burma-lloyds-levene1

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/sep/28/insurance.foreignpolicy

4. Asia-Europe summit in Beijing calls for release of political prisoners:
http://blogs.independent.co.uk/independent/2008/10/release-aung-sa.html

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Lloyd's: Stop Underwriting The Junta

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