By Aung Hla Tun
YANGON (Reuters) - Aid was trickling in on Sunday to anestimated 2.5 million people left destitute by Cyclone Nargisin Myanmar's Irrawaddy delta as foreign envoys tried to get thejunta to open up to more international relief.
The World Food Programme (WFP), which is leading theoutside emergency food effort, said it had managed to get riceand beans to 212,000 of the 750,000 people it thinks are mostin need after the May 2 storm, which has left at least 134,00dead or missing.
"It's not enough. There are a very large number of peoplewho are yet to receive any kind of assistance and that's what'skeeping our teams working round the clock," WFP spokesmanMarcus Prior said in Bangkok.
In the last 50 years, only two Asian cyclones have exceededNargis in terms of human cost -- a 1970 storm that killed500,000 people in neighbouring Bangladesh, and another thatkilled 143,000 in 1991, also in Bangladesh.
With the reclusive military government still refusing toopen its doors to a large-scale tsunami-style aid operation,disaster experts say Nargis' body count could still climbdramatically.
To try to offset such a prospect, a steady stream ofdiplomats have been flying in to the former Burma to plead formore access for aid workers and flights.
Pressure is also mounting at the United Nations, whereFrance has accused the junta of being on the verge of a crimeagainst humanity. On Saturday, Prime Minister Gordon Browncondemned the generals' sluggish response as "inhuman".
Britain's Asia minister, Mark Malloch-Brown, was in Yangonon Sunday but it was not know whom he had been able to meet.
The United Nations' chief humanitarian officer, JohnHolmes, is expected to fly in the evening and meet junta numberfour Thein Sein, the Prime Minister and leader of the Myanmarmilitary's own aid operations.
Holmes is also expected to hand over a third letter fromhis boss, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, to junta supremo ThanShwe, who has refused to talk to Ban on the phone since thecyclone and its massive sea-surge slammed into the delta.
DELTA TOURS
Confident they are handling the crisis properly, thegenerals took diplomats on a tour on Saturday of the delta,where 2.5 million people are now clinging to survival in anarea of inundated swamp the size of Austria
They appeared to have worked hard to keep the diplomatsaway from the destitute.
"The purpose was to show the situation was under control.Where we were they didn't hide anything but of course theyselected the places we visited," Bernard Delpuech, head of theEuropean Commission Humanitarian Office in Yangon, said.
Three days ago, columns of men, women and childrenstretched for miles alongside the road near the delta town ofKunyangon, begging in the mud and rain for scraps of food orclothing from the occasional passing aid vehicle.
Thousands of other refugees are crammed into monasteriesand schools, fed and watered by local volunteers and privatedonors who have sent in clothes, biscuits, dried noodles andrice.
Buddhist monks play a major role.
"We have distributed over 100 tonnes of rice and more than3,000 tin roofing sheets so far. We are trying to distributemore," said the Venerable Nyanissara, a 73-year-old patriarchrunning a makeshift relief centre south of Yangon.
The reluctance of the military, which has ruled uncheckedfor the last 46 years, to allow an influx of foreign aidworkers appears to stem from fear that it might loosen itsvice-like grip on power.
In a rare acknowledgement of criticism, state televisionsaid on Saturday outside media reports suggesting thegovernment was not doing enough were inaccurate.
The army, navy and air force had already deliveredextensive aid, and tens of millions of dollars had been spent,state television said.
In a rare sign of agreement with international aidagencies, the junta on Friday night sharply raised its officialtoll from the disaster to 77,738 dead and 55,917 missing.
(Writing by Ed Cropley; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)
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