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Burma will accept US cyclone aid |
Burma will accept US cyclone aid | 10.05.2008 | |
 At last ... Burma`s ruling military junta has announced it will accept US aid for the devastated victims of Cyclone Nargis, and the UN has lifted a suspension on relief flights / AFP |
BURMA will accept emergency aid from the United States, state television said today, a week after a devastating cyclone, but did not specify how it would be delivered or distributed.
The suspension of UN airlifts came after Burma`s ruling military junta seized relief aid as it arrived in the country.
The WPF will send flights tomorrow "as planned", WFP director of public policy and communications Nancy Roman said.
She said discussions would continue with the government of Burma "on the distribution of the food that was flown in today, and not released to WFP``.
Enough high-energy biscuits to feed 21,000 people, which were airlifted on Thursday, have been delivered over the last 24 hours to some of the worst hit areas.
Myanmar has maintained strict limits on foreign involvement in the relief effort, despite calls for it to allow unfettered access to experts whose skills are vital for an effective response.
The regime said it was not ready to let in foreign aid workers, and although it needed supplies for the survivors of the cyclone, it would handle the distribution itself.
State television announced the decision to accept US aid after a meeting between deputy foreign affairs minister Kyaw Thu and the head of the US embassy in Burma, Shari Villarosa.
"The charge d`affaires of the US embassy gave the offer documents to the deputy foreign affairs minister for providing relief supplies within the coming days," it reported.
"Burma has said that it is going to accept it."
The broadcast rejected "rumours" that military-run Burma was turning away offers of assistance from Western countries, which are deeply critical of its failure to move towards democracy.
"According to the recent policy, Burma does not discriminate towards any country which offers rescue assistance," it said.
However, there was no indication of how the aid would enter the country and who would be responsible for distributing it - a critical issue as the junta is reluctant to allow foreign relief workers in to join the disaster effort.
It has said that it welcomes offers of emergency aid but that it will distribute the goods itself.
However Seven Red Cross aid workers, including four Australians, today received visas to enter cyclone-hit Burma.
Australian Michael Annear, regional disaster response coordinator who has been in Burma since Tuesday, spoke to international media via a teleconference call tonight (AEST).
The US said today it was considering air drops of food and aid supplies and had moved helicopters and C-130 aircraft into position in Thailand.
An official with the US Agency for International Development said that "any and all options" were under consideration, including air drops without the permission of Burma`s military government.
But US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said he could not imagine the United States going in without the permission of the government in Rangoon.
The United Nations and other organisations have urged the regime to admit its staff, saying they have the know-how to mount an effective response that could save many lives in the aftermath of the disaster.
Critics of the regime have warned that if the supplies are handed over to the generals, they may be appropriated and never reach cyclone victims in Burma, one of the world`s poorest nations.
The United Nations said 1.5 million people are at risk after Cyclone Nargis, which the regime said has killed 23,000 people and left around 42,000 missing. Villarosa previously said the death toll could be about 100,000. Share this article |
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