Burma Agrees to Accept All Aid

Junta drops opposition to aid workers entering country
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted May 23, 2008 5:34 AM CDT
Burma Agrees to Accept All Aid
In this photo released by UNICEF, Myanmar children are shown near cyclone Nargis storm damage Sunday, May 18, 2008, near Dedaye township in the Irrawaddy delta of Myanmar.    (AP Photo/UNICEF, HO)

Burma has agreed to let international disaster relief workers into the country to help with the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis, Bloomberg reports. The junta's about-face came after  UN chief Ban Ki-moon, who flew in yesterday, met the nation's  reclusive military leader, Senior Gen. Than Shwe. The UN hopes to ramp up operations in the Irrawaddy Delta, where over a million cyclone survivors are thought to be in urgent need of assistance.

"He has agreed to allow all aid workers regardless of nationalities," Ban said after the talks. "He has taken quite a flexible position on the matter." (More Burma stories.)

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