Foreign envoys to see Burma delta
Foreign diplomats in Burma have said the military government has promised to take them on a tour of the disaster-hit areas of the Irrawaddy delta.
But the international community remains frustrated at the slow progress of aid to the region hit by Cyclone Nargis.
A BBC reporter visiting the area said there was little sign of official help, and foreign aid workers were banned.
A UN spokeswoman said Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon had still not been able to speak to Burma's military rulers.
Michelle Montas told the BBC that the phone had been ringing but no one was picking up.
Official death figures from Burma - also known as Myanmar - have risen to more than 43,000, with nearly 28,000 missing, but the Red Cross and UN both say the toll could top 100,000.
Watch this video, it's so sad. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/7402944.stm
No aid in delta
Shari Villarosa, the charge d'Affaires of the US Embassy in Burma, told the Associated Press that a group of diplomats would be taken to the delta region on Saturday.
"I have always despised this government, now I really hate them," Irrawaddy Delta resident.
It is not clear how much access the diplomats will have to areas outside the official tour route.
While envoys are ramping up pressure on Burma, the country's prime minister has said the emergency relief phase has already finished, and rebuilding is now beginning.
But the BBC's Natalia Antelava reports that the muddy banks of the Irrawaddy Delta are lined with white, swollen bodies and the air reeks of rotting flesh.
Nearly two weeks after the cyclone struck, survivors who have lost loved ones have no fresh water and just enough rice to get by, our correspondent says.
While the military government has put impressive effort into clean-up operations in the former capital, Rangoon, she reports, there was no sign of an aid operation as she travelled into the delta by boat.
Burma's authorities have welcomed aid donations from all over the world, but only a few foreign experts have been allowed into the country to help organise the relief effort.
'Time to save lives'
The EU's top aid official, Louis Michel, said he had not yet gained permission to travel to the worst affected area, the Irrawaddy Delta. He is due to leave Burma on Friday.
"I requested to go into the delta but was not allowed to enter yesterday. I am still hoping to go today," he told AFP news agency.
He said he had been taken to "a rather perfect, organised camp" near Rangoon.
Many relief workers are awaiting visas and most of those who have been allowed into the country remain confined to Rangoon.
Mr Michel said he had only been told his requests for more visas would be considered.
'Rebuilding stage'
Burma's military leadership has signalled it is not prepared to change its policy on the relief effort.
"We have already finished our first phase of emergency relief. We are going onto the second phase, the rebuilding stage," Prime Minister Thein Sein was quoted as saying by Burmese state television.
Top British diplomat Mark Malloch Brown lambasted Burmese authorities for not facilitating the flow of aid.
"We are way behind the curve compared to any other international disaster in recent memory," he said. "I cannot recall a relief operation where, at least the international response has been subjected to such delays."
Donors meeting
Large quantities of international aid are being delivered to the region and awaiting permission for delivery to areas hardest-hit by the cyclone.
A French plane loaded with 40 tonnes of rations was allowed to land in Rangoon on Wednesday and a naval ship laden with aid was headed to the country in the hope it would be allowed to dock there.
The Association of South East Asian Nations is due to hold a high-level meeting in the coming days that is expected to lay the framework for a broader aid donors conference.
Meanwhile, the International Committee of the Red Cross is due to launch an appeal for more aid two weeks after the storm hit.
Burma's military leadership has warned that those who hoard or sell aid on the black market will be prosecuted, amid international reports of misuse of some aid shipments.
Story from BBC NEWS:http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/asia-pacific/7403997.stm
Published: 2008/05/16 13:50:49 GMT
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