U.N. chief to Myanmar: focus on saving lives

By Aung Hla Tun

YANGON (Reuters) - U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon began a mission on Wednesday for Myanmar's cyclone victims, saying "our focus now is on saving lives", as the military government gave approval for the first foreign helicopters to distribute aid.

The U.N. Secretary-General said relief workers had so far been able to reach only a quarter of those in need among an estimated 2.4 million people made destitute by the May 2 storm and sea surge that left nearly 134,000 dead or missing.

"We must do our utmost for the people of Myanmar," Ban said when he arrived in the Thai capital, Bangkok, before traveling to Myanmar on Thursday. "Aid in Myanmar should not be politicized. Our focus now is on saving lives."

The United Nations and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), of which Myanmar is a member, are to convene a donors' pledging conference in Yangon on Sunday.

The government wants more than $11 billion in aid, but international donors need access to verify the needs, ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan told Reuters in an interview.

"Accessibility is important to guarantee confidence and verify the damage and needs, otherwise confidence during pledging will be affected," Surin said on a visit to Yangon.

Ban said he would meet the military government's Senior General Than Shwe on Friday.

Than Shwe, who took two weeks after the disaster to meet victims and see the destruction for himself, had declined to take Ban's phone calls earlier in the relief effort.

Diplomats say the general's appearances in public this week, visiting several Irrawaddy Delta towns, could be a sign the top brass finally realize the enormity of the destruction and rebuilding from one of the worst cyclones to hit Asia.

HELICOPTERS CRITICAL

The U.N.'s World Food Programme (WFP) said the first of nine helicopters granted permission to airlift supplies into the delta would arrive in Yangon on Thursday from Malaysia.

"These helicopters will provide critical life-saving capacity to bring urgently needed relief supplies to cyclone victims deep in the delta," spokesman Marcus Prior said in Bangkok.

The United Nations says up to 2.4 million people are struggling to survive in Yangon and the Irrawaddy Delta, where refugees from the storm have been begging for food from relief workers.

Yangon-based volunteer Ko Kyaw Khine said authorities in a village he visited on Tuesday used loudspeakers on trucks to tell people not to wait at the roadside because "begging from the donors tarnishes the dignity of the nation".

The Pentagon said on Wednesday U.S. Navy ships laden with supplies would remain off the coast of Myanmar for now, despite Yangon's unwillingness to accept assistance from the vessels.