A US military aircraft has been given
permission to deliver emergency aid to Myanmar in the wake of a cyclone that
has left tens of thousands dead and thousands of others without adequate food
or water supplies, the White House said Friday.
One C-130 cargo plane has been granted access by Myanmar's military regime to
deliver supplies on Monday, said Gordon Johndroe, spokesman for the National
Security Council.
"We hope this is the beginning of major US assistance to the Burmese
people," Johndroe told reporters at President George W Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas.
The ruling junta has not approved visas for a group of US aid workers seeking to enter the country to assess the situation and determine what aid
is needed and the approval is only for one flight, Johndroe said.
"But one flight is much better than no flights. And we're going to keep on
working to provide as much assistance as possible in the coming days, weeks and
months. Because they're going to need our help for a long time," he said.
Asked what had prompted the Myanmar government to overcome its reluctance to
foreign aid, Johndroe said there had been ongoing discussions with the
country's rulers and though he could point to no specific thing, he said
"clearly the junta has determined that the magnitude of this disaster
requires additional assistance, and so we're pleased to be able to offer
that."
The US would work with nongovernmental organizations on the ground to determine
what supplies were most urgently needed in determining what would be carried on
the flight, he said.
More than 22,000 people have been killed and 41,000 are missing with more than
a million in urgent need of assistance since Cyclone Nargis struck on Saturday,
the country's government has said.
But unofficial estimates say the final death toll could climb as high as
100,000 once the victim tally is known from outlying areas, and if disease is allowed
to set in, dpa reported.
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