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YANGON - Myanmar will accept emergency aid from the United States, state television said Friday, a week after a devastating cyclone, but did not specify how it would be delivered or distributed.
State television made the announcement after a meeting between deputy foreign affairs minister Kyaw Thu and the head of the US embassy in Myanmar, Shari Villarosa.
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"The charge d'affaires of the US embassy gave the offer documents to the deputy foreign affairs minister for providing relief supplies within the coming days," it reported.
"Myanmar has said that it is going to accept it."
The broadcast rejected "rumours" that military-run Myanmar was turning away offers of assistance from Western countries, which are deeply critical of its failure to move towards democracy.
"According to the recent policy, Myanmar does not discriminate towards any country which offers rescue assistance," it said.
However, there was no indication of how the aid would enter Myanmar and who would be responsible for distributing it -- a critical issue as the government is refusing to allow foreign relief workers in to join the disaster effort.
It has said that it welcomes offers of emergency aid, but that it will distribute the goods itself.
The US said Thursday it was considering air drops of food and aid supplies and had moved helicopters and C-130 aircraft into position in Thailand.
An official with the US Agency for International Development said that "any and all options" were under consideration, including air drops without the permission of Myanmar's military government.
But US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said he could not imagine the United States going in without the permission of the government in Yangon.
The United Nations and other organisations have urged Myanmar to admit its staff, saying they have the know-how to mount an effective response that could save many lives in the aftermath of the disaster.
Critics of Myanmar have warned that if the supplies are handed over to the generals, they may be appropriated and never reach cyclone victims in Myanmar, one of the world's poorest nations.
The United Nations said 1.5 million people are at risk after Cyclone Nargis, which Myanmar government said has killed 23,000 people and left around 42,000 missing. Villarosa previously said the death toll could be about 100,000. - AFP/ir
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