Myanmar cooperation

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Tuesday that some foreign aid workers have gone into Myanmar's cyclone-ravaged delta without problems, reflecting a "new spirit of cooperation" by the ruling junta.

Ban flew to Myanmar last week and received promises from the country's ruling generals to allow international relief workers and international aid into the Irrawaddy Delta by helicopters, trucks and boats. Since the devastating cyclone early this month, all but a few international workers had been barred from the hardest-hit delta, the country's all-important rice bowl.

"The Myanmar government appears to be moving toward the right direction, to implement these accords," Ban told reporters a day after returning to New York. "Some international aid workers and NGOs have already gone into the regions of the Irrawaddy Delta, without any problem. I hope — and I believe — that this marks a new spirit of cooperation between Myanmar and the international community."

But the secretary-general stressed that more needs to be done, and full implementation of the agreement he reached with Myanmar's military ruler, Senior Gen. Than Shwe, "will be the key."

"I will be fully, continuously and personally engaged," he said. "I look forward to returning, before too long, to see for myself the progress we have made."

U.N. humanitarian chief John Holmes told reporters earlier that a significant number of visas are now being granted to international aid workers to help cyclone survivors.