U.N.'s Ban says junta to allow in "all" aid workers

NAYPYIDAW, Myanmar (Reuters) - In an apparent breakthroughfor delivering help to millions of Myanmar's cyclone survivors,the military government agreed to allow in "all" aid workers,U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon said on Friday.

The U.N. Secretary-General met junta supremo Than Shwe inhis remote new capital of Naypyidaw for more than two hours toask him to permit more foreign expertise for the victims ofCyclone Nargis.

"I had a very good meeting with the Senior General andparticularly on these aid workers," Ban said. "He has agreed toallow all the aid workers."

Asked by a reporter whether he considered it abreakthrough, Ban replied: "Yes, I think so, he has agreed toallow all aid workers regardless of nationalities."

At the start of the meeting the 75-year-old SeniorGeneral's stony-faced silence gave no clues as to whether hewould overcome his deep suspicions of the outside world and itsoffers of help after the cyclone struck three weeks ago,leaving nearly 134,000 dead or missing.

He was in dark green trousers and a shirt covered withmilitary decorations -- as he was when he emerged this weekfrom Naypyidaw, 250 miles (390 km) north of Yangon, to inspectthe destruction and army relief effort and meet survivors.

Ban saw the extent of the disaster for himself on Thursday,flying in a helicopter over flooded rice fields and destroyedhomes in the delta, the former "rice bowl of Asia" that borethe brunt of the May 2 storm and its 12 foot (3.5 metre) seasurge.

Cyclone Nargis one of the worst cyclones to hit Asia. Threeweeks on, aid is still only trickling in due to the junta'srestrictions on foreign relief operations.

Unless the generals open their doors, thousands more peoplecould die of hunger and disease, disaster experts say.

"I am so sorry, but don't lose your hope," Ban told onewoman as he peered into a blue tent at the Kyondah relief camp75 km south of Yangon.

"The United Nations is here to help you. The whole world istrying to help Myanmar."

Government officials told him the situation was undercontrol, reiterating the line in army-controlled media that theimmediate emergency relief phase of the disaster was over andit was now time to look to reconstruction.

"All efforts are being made towards the relief of thevictims and for the country to soon return to normal," EnergyMinister Brigadier General Lun Thi told Ban at the camp, thesame one diplomats were shown at the weekend.

U.S. ALLOWED IN, JUST

The junta has accepted relief flights into Yangon from manycountries, including the United States, its fiercest critic,but has largely kept Western disaster experts out of the delta.

However, it has allowed a senior U.S. aid official on a3-day government tour of the area. Washington said thepermission was an "opening, but it is not sufficient".

Medical teams from India, China, Thailand, Laos andBangladesh are working in the delta along with thousands oflocal medics and other volunteers, state media said.

Myanmar television also broadcast footage of Ban's officialtour, showing shaking hands with and talking to survivors.

Prime Minister Thein Sein was quoted as saying "politicsshould not be intertwined with humanitarian needs" and thegovernment was not impeding the flow of aid.

Foreign Secretary David Miliband said there were no stringsattached to offers of assistance.

"This is a humanitarian response being made to a naturaldisaster that is being turned into a man-made catastrophe. Weare trying to send aid there for purely humanitarian purposes.There is no ulterior motive," Miliband said on a trip with U.S.Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in California.

The U.N. and the 10-member Association of Southeast AsianNations (ASEAN), of which Myanmar is a part, are preparing fora donor-pledging conference in Yangon on Sunday.

However, ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan saidcountries would be reluctant to commit money until they areallowed in to assess the damage for themselves.

"The shared concern is we don't know the extent of thedamage. We don't know the number of the dead, the number of themissing or the number of the displaced," said Surin, who wastold by officials that Myanmar needed $11 billion (5.5 billionpounds).

Ban's visit was the talk of Yangon for people desperate forpolitical change after 46 years of unbroken military rule --especially given the U.N.'s abortive attempts to mediate afterSeptember's bloody crackdown on protests led by Buddhist monks.

But deep down people accepted his visit would not strayfrom its humanitarian mission.

"I don't think we can expect much out of his visit becausethe U.N. has not been able to influence the regime at allconcerning our situation," lawyer Nyunt Aung said.

Sunday's conference coincides with the expiry of the latestyear-long detention order imposed on opposition leader andNobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, now under continuoushouse arrest for five years. Nobody expects her to be released.

(Writing by Grant McCool; Editing by Darren Schuettler)

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