Pope urges international help for Myanmar

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Benedict urged international donors on Tuesday to provide generous and effective aid to help Myanmar deal with the death and destruction caused by a cyclone.

In a telegram sent in his name to the Catholic bishops of the country once known as Burma, the Vatican expressed the pope's deep sadness and heartfelt sympathy and assured his prayers for the victims and their families.

The telegram said the pope was "confident that the international community will respond with generous and effective relief to the needs" of the country.

Myanmar's military government raised its death toll from Cyclone Nargis on Tuesday to nearly 22,500 with a further 41,000 missing, nearly all of them from a massive storm surge that swept into the Irrawaddy delta.

It was the worst cyclone to hit Asia since 1991, when 143,000 people died in Bangladesh.

(Reporting by Philip Pullella; editing by Keith Weir)