Andrew Brookes, an aerospace specialist at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, an independent think tank, said Myanmar has about 15 transport planes but most are small jets not adequate to carry hundreds of tonnes of supplies.
The country has fewer than 40 helicopters and only a fraction may be operational, he said.
09 May 2008: AP
GENEVA -- Myanmar's military leaders seized aid shipments headed for cyclone survivors and told the top U.S. diplomat there yesterday that they're not ready to let in foreign aid workers despite warnings the country is on the verge of a medical catastrophe.
Another 10 cm of rain was forecast to fall next week as more than 1 million people waited for food, clean water, shelter and medicine to reach them. Diplomats and aid groups warned the number of dead could eventually exceed 100,000 because of illnesses and said thousands of children may have been orphaned.
The UN World Food Program said two planeloads of supplies containing enough high-energy biscuits to feed 95,000 people were seized yesterday, prompting the world body to say it was suspending food-aid flights.
Later, chief spokeswoman Nancy Roman of the World Food Program said flights would resume today while negotiations continued for the release of the supplies.
BASELESS' CLAIMS
Myanmar's government acknowledged taking control of the shipments and said it plans to distribute the aid itself to the affected areas.
In a statement e-mailed to The Associated Press, government spokesman Ye Htut said the junta had clearly stated what it would do and denied the action amounted to a seizure. "I would like to know which person or organization (made) these baseless accusations," he said.
Shari Villarosa, the U.S. charge d'affairs in Yangon, said she met with Myanmar Deputy Foreign Minister Kyaw Thu yesterday to discuss American relief operations.
Myanmar says it will accept aid from all countries, but prohibits the entry of foreign workers who would deliver and manage the operations. The junta is "not ready" to change that position, Villarosa said she was told.
More than 60,000 people are dead or missing and entire villages are submerged in the Irrawaddy delta after Saturday's cyclone. Many of the survivors waiting for food, clean water and medicine were crammed into Buddhist monasteries or camped outdoors.
The UN estimates 1.5 million people have been severely affected and has voiced concern about the disposal of dead bodies.
"Many are not buried and lie in the water. They have started rotting and the stench is beyond words," said Anders Ladekarl, head of the Danish Red Cross.
About 20,000 body bags were being sent so volunteers from the Myanmar chapter of the Red Cross can start collecting bodies, he said.
In Yangon, the price of increasingly scarce water has shot up by more than 500%, and rice and oil jumped by 60% over the last three days, the Danish Red Cross said.
Andrew Brookes, an aerospace specialist at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, an independent think tank, said Myanmar has about 15 transport planes but most are small jets not adequate to carry hundreds of tonnes of supplies.
The country has fewer than 40 helicopters and only a fraction may be operational, he said.
