Burma Snubs Foreign Aid Workers

Burmese authorities will not allow foreign aid workers in to the country to help the survivors of the devastating Cyclone Nargis.

The foreign ministry said Burma would accept supplies from overseas, but would control the distribution for now.

" Myanmar [Burma] is giving priority to receiving relief aid and distributing them to the storm-hit regions with its own resources," a statement in the government-run New Light of Myanmar newspaper said.

"Myanmar is not in a position to receive rescue and information teams from foreign countries at the moment."

The authorities yesterday turned back a plane carrying specialist disaster rescuers and aid.

Villages have been submerged in the worst-hit Irrawaddy delta. The UN now believes 1.5 million people have been with more than 100,000 killed.

Bodies are floating in the floodwaters and aid agencies say the outbreak of disease could send the death toll higher. With roads blocked and huge areas under water, hundreds of thousands of survivors are beyond the reach of clean water, food and shelter.

An airplane loaded with UN aid was allowed to land yesterday, but it represented just a fraction of what Burma needs. Two other planes have languished in Rangoon for two days.

Speaking on the BBC's Today program this morning, Mark Canning, the British ambassador in Rangoon, said outside experts were needed. "Burma does have a very large army, and there are a large number of NGOs already here. But this is a massive challenge," he said.

Aid agencies say their expertise and experience in tackling similar disasters, such as the Asian tsunami in 2004, would help get emergency relief to the afflicted areas quickly.

Thailand's prime minister, Samak Sundaravej, announced today that he would fly to Burma this weekend to meet with the ruling junta. "I have already contacted them. I will see them on Sunday," Samak told reporters in Bangkok. UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon is also seeking direct talks.

Among those waiting in Thailand are members of the US disaster response team. Planes and helicopters packed with supplies are on standby to enter. "We are in a long line of nations who are ready, willing and able to help, but also, of course, in a long line of nations the Burmese don't trust," Eric John, the US ambassador to Thailand, said.

Chris Kaye, the UN World Food Program's Burma director, said: "We've got planes coming in, I'm glad to say, with relief items. The challenge will be getting the material through the bureaucracy, out of the airport and down to the delta area."

Despite the disaster, the junta is pressing ahead with a vote on a new constitution designed to maintain its grip on power. All but the worst affected regions will be balloted tomorrow.

In a television message from the junta, citizens were urged to do their patriotic duty and vote. It made no mention of the suffering caused by the cyclone.