Quote:
Originally Posted by McLovin
Burma's military generals have bowed to a chorus of international pressure, agreeing today to allow the US military and UN to fly critical aid to the country's cyclone survivors.
With up to 100,000 feared dead and one million missing, Thailand said it had convinced Burma's secretive junta to accept US assistance, almost a week after Cyclone Nargis devastated the country.
The decision came as the United Nations today said disaster management experts had received permission to enter the country six days after the cyclone hit. The UN said it would also immediately release $US10 million ($10.6 million) from its Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF).
Thailand's Supreme Commander Boonsrang Niumpradit said Rangoon had agreed to allow in US planes that have been participating in joint Thai-US military exercises.
"We have helped the Americans to talk to the Myanmar (Burma) government to allow US planes ... to fly humanitarian aid to Myanmar. They just agreed," he said.
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I don't know how old that is, but this is currently leading BBC News online:
(Last Updated, today at 11:40 BST)
Confusion over US aid for Burma
Burma has faced international appeals to allow more help
The US says it has not yet been given permission to fly aid into cyclone-hit Burma - despite reports that it had.
The US ambassador to Thailand said it was unclear whether there had been a U-turn by Burma or "miscommunication".
There has been growing international concern over the military regime's reluctance to accept help.
However, the UN has now confirmed its first aid flight has landed in Burma. Cyclone Nargis killed tens of thousands of people and left a million homeless.
It smashed into the low-lying Irrawaddy delta region on Saturday.
The BBC's Paul Danahar, who is in southern Burma, says he has seen the terrible trail of destruction, with survivors scavenging to find some shelter.
They are living with thousands of corpses, polluting their environment, with the risk of disease taking hold getting worse by the day.
Normally after a natural disaster, he says, roads are choked with relief effort but these into the Irrawaddy delta are empty.
Delays
The US ambassador to Thailand, Eric John, called a news conference to address the issue of aid flights.
"This morning, we and our Thai allies thought we had a decision from the Burmese leadership to let the C-130 (Hercules transport aircraft) in. As of now, we don't have that decision.
"I don't know whether they rescinded the decision or if there was a miscommunication."
The BBC's Jonathan Head in Bangkok says Burma's generals have always been intensely suspicious of outside interference and the US has all but called for regime change in Burma.
If countries were allowed to begin aid flights, our correspondent says, Burma could experience the biggest international presence in its recent history.
The first UN aid flight, carrying vital food supplies, landed in Rangoon after two days of delays.
The UN World Food Programme said concern about the military siphoning off aid was one reason for the delay.
WFP regional director Anthony Banbury said: "We will not just bring our supplies to an airport, dump it and take off."
The UN also said its four-member disaster assessment and co-ordination team had now been given visas to travel to Burma.
The regional Association of South-East Asian Nations had earlier urged the military regime to allow in aid flights "before it's too late".
Secretary General Surin Pitsuwan said it was trying to communicate to the military regime the sense of urgency.
China, a close ally of Burma, has also urged it to work with the international community. Foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang added that Beijing would raise its relief aid to $5.3m.
UK aid agencies have launched an urgent joint appeal to raise funds for victims. The Disasters Emergency Committee said the need for aid was "immediate and vast".
Death toll
Burmese troops are pushing into the affected areas but our correspondent Jonathan Head says their resources are inadequate to deal with a disaster of this magnitude.
On Wednesday, the top US diplomat in Burma said that the number of deaths could be much higher than reported.
Burmese state media says 22,980 people have been confirmed dead and another 42,119 are missing.
But Shari Villarosa, the charge d'affaires of the US embassy in Burma, said the death toll could reach or exceed 100,000, based on information from a non-governmental organisation that she would not name.
A local military official, Tin Win, told AFP news agency 80,000 had died in the remote district of Labutta alone.
There are reports that the Rangoon home of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest for 12 of the past 18 years, was damaged in the cyclone but that she is unhurt.