BURMA freed some of its most famous political inmates, sparking jubilation outside prison gates and signalling its readiness to meet Western demands for lifting economic sanctions.

Voters in the secretive military-ruled nation of Burma cast their first ballots in 20 years today, as slim hopes for democratic reform faced an electoral system engineered to ensure that most power will remain in the hands of the junta and its political proxies.

Burma's state media said last weekend's cyclone killed some 10,000 people in one town alone, raising fears of a big rise in the overall death toll today, as the international community prepared to rush aid to the nation.