France, Britain send aid for Myanmar cyclone victims

PARIS (Reuters) - France and Britain said on Thursday they were sending emergency supplies to Myanmar to help victims of Cyclone Nargis, which killed up to 128,000 people.

A French plane with 40 tonnes of food rations and other aid arrived in Myanmar's capital Yangon on Thursday and a navy ship was headed to Myanmar in the hope it would be allowed to enter the country, a French official said.

Since the storm devastated the heavily populated Irrawaddy delta supplies of food, medicine and shelter have been sent in dribs and drabs because the military government has kept tight restrictions on foreign aid workers and equipment.

That has prompted international criticism the Myanmar government is increasing the risk of starvation and disease among the 2.5 million people left destitute by the disaster.

Britain said it was adding 12 million pounds ($23.34 million) to the five million pounds aid announced last week.

"The key priority is to deliver humanitarian aid as quickly as possible. The clock is ticking," said Douglas Alexander, secretary of state for international development.

"I reiterate our call on the Burmese authorities to grant full and unfettered access for international assistance," he said.

Myanmar's junta has sought to control the distribution of foreign aid inside the country, but Paris-based aid group Action Contre la Faim (ACF) will distribute the supplies it sent on the French plane. ACF said it landed in Yangon late on Thursday.

"Not only is it (the plane) authorized to land in Yangon but we have been able to ensure that the supplies will be collected by ACF and ACF will be allowed to use them," the senior French official told reporters on condition of anonymity.

The official and a French defense ministry spokesman said France had also despatched a navy helicopter carrier loaded with 1,000 tonnes of emergency supplies -- enough to provide 100,000 people with food and clean drinking water for two weeks.

The Mistral, also carrying mosquito nets and shelter for at least 60,000 people, left the Indian port of Chennai overnight and should take about three days to reach the waters off Myanmar. It has yet to be authorized to enter Myanmar's waters.

France wanted the aid to be distributed in a transparent way and to be sure the supplies would go directly to Myanmar's stricken population, the official said.

(Reporting by Francois Murphy; Additional reporting by Jeremy Lovell in London; Editing by Jon Boyle)