Flags at half-mast as U.N. aid envoy presses Myanmar

By Aung Hla Tun

YANGON (Reuters) - Flags across Myanmar flew at half-mast on Tuesday for the victims of Cyclone Nargis as the U.N.'s top aid envoy pressed the military government to allow foreign helicopters to fly in supplies to survivors.

The army declared three days of mourning after a visit by 75-year-old junta supremo Than Shwe to the stricken Irrawaddy Delta on Monday, his first since the cyclone struck two weeks ago, leaving nearly 134,000 dead or missing.

Diplomats, aid workers and some citizens took it as a possible sign the reclusive leadership had woken up to the scale of the catastrophe and would allow in more international aid.

U.N. humanitarian chief John Holmes told reporters he had discussed the use of helicopters with Prime Minister Thein Sein, who had said his government would consider it. Myanmar has allowed relief flights to deliver supplies to Yangon but baulked at any aerial access to the delta.

"Myanmar's government is very grateful for the U.N. and international support," Holmes said at a news conference.

Asked whether U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon would meet Senior General Than Shwe when he visits Myanmar on Thursday, Holmes said: "I think he will".

The bespectacled Senior General, who has run the country since 2005 from a bunker in a new capital 250 miles (390 km) north of Yangon, was shown on state-run TV touring hard-hit towns.

"The old man must have been shocked to see the real situation with his own eyes," one retired government official said in Yangon, the former capital where torrential rain is causing more flooding and misery for storm victims.
he government's toll stands at 77,738 killed and 55,917 missing, although the United Nations says that could rise dramatically if the 2.4 million people left destitute by the May 2 cyclone do not get a lot of aid quickly.

Until the last few days, the junta's attention appears to have been on a May 10 referendum on an army-drafted constitution that is meant to precede multiparty elections in 2010. The vote was postponed to May 24 in areas worst-hit by the cyclone.

JOINT PLEDGING CONFERENCE

The top general's visit also coincided with moves by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), of which Myanmar is a member, and the U.N. to convene an aid pledging conference on Sunday in Yangon and work on a bigger aid delivery plan.

"There are obviously some in the military who see how enormous this is, and how enormously wrong it could go without further support," one Yangon-based diplomat said.

Across the Southeast Asian country, flags flew at half mast from government buildings and a few private buildings amid growing criticism of the slow and insufficient measures mustered by the military.

But the New Light of Myanmar, the junta's main mouthpiece, quoted Than Shwe as saying the government "took prompt action to carry out the relief and rehabilitation work shortly after the storm".

The onset of the monsoon season is making life even more miserable for those in need.
Some donors returning from the worst-hit areas on the outskirts of Yangon said the authorities were handing out leaflets telling people not to hand donations directly to victims, but to do it under their management.

"There were victims waiting in the torrential rains along the road for donors to come," one man said.

The leaflets said the handouts might make victims "lazy and more dependent on others", people who were given them said.

"One young man felt very sad to see what was written in the leaflet," one woman said. "He murmured 'what are we supposed to do if we don't depend on donations in this situation?'."

The diplomatic effort to deliver more aid and expertise has picked up a little pace, but the World Bank said it could not provide financial aid to Myanmar because it has made no debt repayments since 1998.

The United States and France have naval vessels waiting in waters near Myanmar ready to deliver supplies.

Although there is little detail of how ASEAN will carry out what it called an aid "mechanism", Western governments and relief groups know it is the only option acceptable to the generals.

"It's a face-saving way to get them to admit outside help, but we'll have to wait and see if it works or if it's fudge," one humanitarian official told Reuters.

Historically the military in the former Burma has been suspicious of foreign interference. That distrust has deepened since the wave of international outrage and tighter sanctions following last year's crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators.

(Additional reporting by Ed Cropley)
Got it here.