Saturday May 17, 2008 MYT 10:22:46 AM
EU envoy cautiously optimistic on getting Myanmar cooperation
BANGKOK, Thailand (AP): The European Union's development aid chief said he was cautiously optimistic that Myanmar's military government will cooperate with requests aimed at getting humanitarian aid to cyclone victims.
Louis Michel said officials in Myanmar appeared to be leaning toward granting some of his requests, which include fast-tracking visas for about 200 aid workers and international experts.
Still, Michel appeared to have wrangled few firm promises from authorities during his two-day trip to Myanmar to assess aid needs there.
"I think they're quite tempted to respond positively to our requests. ... At the same time, there lingers a certain suspicion'' among the ruling generals toward the international community, Michel told reporters Friday during a news conference at the Bangkok airport, where he stopped on his way back to Europe.
"Today we are in a bit of a difficult situation, but I think that every sort of pressure must be brought, every method, both rhetorical and diplomatic means, must be put forward to make them understand that they must help us to help themselves,'' he said.
Michel said authorities told him they would examine the visa requests of some 200 aid workers and experts with nongovernmental and international organizations on a "case by case'' basis. Myanmar's ruling junta has said it was willing to receive humanitarian aid from the international community -- but not the workers and experts to help distribute it.
Michel said that he requested an airport in the hard-hit Irrawaddy delta region be used as a staging point for aid distribution, but that authorities gave him a "technical'' excuse, saying the airport's control systems were not up to international standards.
He said that they offered to send him into the delta region -- where foreigners have largely been prevented from traveling since the devastating May 3 storm -- but that his schedule made it impossible for him to take the trip.
Asked about the rising death toll, which Myanmar state radio announced Friday had almost doubled to nearly 78,000, Michel said it was impossible for him to assess without firsthand knowledge.
"I will not boost rumors, but I will neither boost information that was given by the government,'' he said.
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