Naypyitaw - After forcing cyclone victims and survivors to wait exactly three weeks for aid, the Burmese military junta on Friday agreed to allow all aid workers in to the reclusive country, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said on Friday.
Chastised for the past three week for hindering a disaster relief programme for cyclone victims in his own country, Burmese military supremo Snr Gen Than Shwe finally made the concession during talks with Mr Ban, said a UN pool report.
"He has agreed to allow in all the aid workers," Ban said after the meeting with Than Shwe, who heads the so-called State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), as the dictatorship council calls itself.
Cyclone Nargis swept over the southwestern delta on May 2-3, leaving 133,000 dead or missing. Since then, the regime has been accepting trickles of humanitarian aid, and has allowed almost no foreign experts into the country.
Even those few visas passed out have been on a selective basis.
Asked if Than Shwe had indeed agreed to grant visas to "all" aid workers, Ban replied, "I think so, he has agreed to allow all aid workers regardless of nationalities," adding, "He has taken quite a flexible position on this matter."
Than Shwe has also agreed to allow Rangoon, the former capital, to be used a logistical hub for aid distribution.
Ban arrived in Rangoon on Thursday, where he held talks with Prime Minister Thein Sein and visited the cyclone-devastated Irrawaddy delta.
In addition to the deaths, the UN estimates that the storm left another 2.4 million people in desperate need of food, water, shelter and medicine. Almost three weeks after the storm, international aid has reached only 25 per cent of the affected people, a poor performance that is largely blamed on the Burmese rulers.
Ban, who on Thursday was flown by military helicopter to the Kyondah relief camp, about 75 kilometres south of Rangoon in the delta, has refrained from publicly criticising the regime's performance, while stressing his "solidarity" with the Burmese.
"The United Nations is here to help you. The whole world is trying to help," he told one woman at Kyondah, who had lost her home and entire family to the cyclone.
"He has agreed to allow in all the aid workers," Ban said after the meeting with Than Shwe, who heads the so-called State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), as the dictatorship council calls itself.
Cyclone Nargis swept over the southwestern delta on May 2-3, leaving 133,000 dead or missing. Since then, the regime has been accepting trickles of humanitarian aid, and has allowed almost no foreign experts into the country.
Even those few visas passed out have been on a selective basis.
Asked if Than Shwe had indeed agreed to grant visas to "all" aid workers, Ban replied, "I think so, he has agreed to allow all aid workers regardless of nationalities," adding, "He has taken quite a flexible position on this matter."
Than Shwe has also agreed to allow Rangoon, the former capital, to be used a logistical hub for aid distribution.
Ban arrived in Rangoon on Thursday, where he held talks with Prime Minister Thein Sein and visited the cyclone-devastated Irrawaddy delta.
The junta maintains that the "rescue and relief" phase of the emergency assistance for the cyclone victims is over, an outlook that clashes with that of the international aid community.
It is hoped that the regime will backtrack on its stance before a pledging conference is held on Sunday, co-hosted by the UN and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, of which Burma is a member.
The disaster has put the spotlight on the Burmese rulers, a military dictatorship that has lorded over its people for the past 46 years, earning the country pariah status among Western democracies and proving an embarrassment for even its closest Asian allies.
The State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), as the junta styles itself, has drawn international criticism for failing to facilitate international aid for its own people in the aftermath of the cyclone, and for refusing to hand out more visas to foreign aid experts and workers. Even those inside the country have mostly been banned from working in the most affected areas such as the Irrawaddy Delta.
Ban was to return to Bangkok on Friday evening, and to talk on Saturday with Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej and other Thai ministers.
Thailand has become into the main storage centre for aid that is piling up, as well as the logistical and organisational hub for the current international relief effort.
Mr Ban and many diplomats are to go to Rangoon on Sunday to preside over the UN-Asean aid-pledging conference, for the cyclone victims' short-term and long-term needs.
Last Monday, Asean agreed to act as a liaison between the international aid community and the junta. Burma now estimates it will take $11 billion to rehabilitate areas hit by the cyclone. There is no information where this figure came from.
Chastised for the past three week for hindering a disaster relief programme for cyclone victims in his own country, Burmese military supremo Snr Gen Than Shwe finally made the concession during talks with Mr Ban, said a UN pool report.
"He has agreed to allow in all the aid workers," Ban said after the meeting with Than Shwe, who heads the so-called State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), as the dictatorship council calls itself.
Cyclone Nargis swept over the southwestern delta on May 2-3, leaving 133,000 dead or missing. Since then, the regime has been accepting trickles of humanitarian aid, and has allowed almost no foreign experts into the country.
Even those few visas passed out have been on a selective basis.
Asked if Than Shwe had indeed agreed to grant visas to "all" aid workers, Ban replied, "I think so, he has agreed to allow all aid workers regardless of nationalities," adding, "He has taken quite a flexible position on this matter."
Than Shwe has also agreed to allow Rangoon, the former capital, to be used a logistical hub for aid distribution.
Ban arrived in Rangoon on Thursday, where he held talks with Prime Minister Thein Sein and visited the cyclone-devastated Irrawaddy delta.
In addition to the deaths, the UN estimates that the storm left another 2.4 million people in desperate need of food, water, shelter and medicine. Almost three weeks after the storm, international aid has reached only 25 per cent of the affected people, a poor performance that is largely blamed on the Burmese rulers.
Ban, who on Thursday was flown by military helicopter to the Kyondah relief camp, about 75 kilometres south of Rangoon in the delta, has refrained from publicly criticising the regime's performance, while stressing his "solidarity" with the Burmese.
"The United Nations is here to help you. The whole world is trying to help," he told one woman at Kyondah, who had lost her home and entire family to the cyclone.
"He has agreed to allow in all the aid workers," Ban said after the meeting with Than Shwe, who heads the so-called State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), as the dictatorship council calls itself.
Cyclone Nargis swept over the southwestern delta on May 2-3, leaving 133,000 dead or missing. Since then, the regime has been accepting trickles of humanitarian aid, and has allowed almost no foreign experts into the country.
Even those few visas passed out have been on a selective basis.
Asked if Than Shwe had indeed agreed to grant visas to "all" aid workers, Ban replied, "I think so, he has agreed to allow all aid workers regardless of nationalities," adding, "He has taken quite a flexible position on this matter."
Than Shwe has also agreed to allow Rangoon, the former capital, to be used a logistical hub for aid distribution.
Ban arrived in Rangoon on Thursday, where he held talks with Prime Minister Thein Sein and visited the cyclone-devastated Irrawaddy delta.
The junta maintains that the "rescue and relief" phase of the emergency assistance for the cyclone victims is over, an outlook that clashes with that of the international aid community.
It is hoped that the regime will backtrack on its stance before a pledging conference is held on Sunday, co-hosted by the UN and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, of which Burma is a member.
The disaster has put the spotlight on the Burmese rulers, a military dictatorship that has lorded over its people for the past 46 years, earning the country pariah status among Western democracies and proving an embarrassment for even its closest Asian allies.
The State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), as the junta styles itself, has drawn international criticism for failing to facilitate international aid for its own people in the aftermath of the cyclone, and for refusing to hand out more visas to foreign aid experts and workers. Even those inside the country have mostly been banned from working in the most affected areas such as the Irrawaddy Delta.
Ban was to return to Bangkok on Friday evening, and to talk on Saturday with Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej and other Thai ministers.
Thailand has become into the main storage centre for aid that is piling up, as well as the logistical and organisational hub for the current international relief effort.
Mr Ban and many diplomats are to go to Rangoon on Sunday to preside over the UN-Asean aid-pledging conference, for the cyclone victims' short-term and long-term needs.
Last Monday, Asean agreed to act as a liaison between the international aid community and the junta. Burma now estimates it will take $11 billion to rehabilitate areas hit by the cyclone. There is no information where this figure came from.
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