First US cargo plane lands in Rangoon

US Pacific Command chief Admiral Timothy J Keating was on the plane and was welcomed at the airport by Burmese senior officials. Two more aid flights from the US will land in Burma today.

"All of us are optimistic that this C130 will be the first of many. The world has much to offer," US ambassador to Thailand Eric John said in Sattahip, where the plane was loaded.

Thailand claimed credit for helping to facilitate the American shipment of humanitarian aid to Burma as the junta distrusted the US and had refused to let them into the country.

"Burma has never rejected foreign assistance and many foreign relief shipments have landed in the country over the past week," said Thai government spokesman Wichianchote Sukchotra.

Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej dispatched his special envoys to Burma last week to convey a request from the US and the United Kingdom for visas for their emergency assistant teams to enter Burma.

The Burmese authorities will only consider granting visas for foreign assistance workers on a case by case basis, Wichianchote said.

United Nations Secretary General Ban Kimoon yesterday phoned Samak and asked him to use his influence to get Burma to open up and allow more assistance from the international community.

UN officials believe the death toll from the disaster will be far more than 100,000. Many have died since the cyclone due to the lack of food and clean water because emergency assistance was delayed.

The Burmese junta will now open the border checkpoint in Myawaddy, opposite Mae Sot to allow heavy material to travel overland to the victims in the devastated Irrawaddy Delta, Wichianchote said.

The junta has also requested 100 satellite phones as its domestic communication network was destroyed and Prime Minister Samak would asked the US to provide the equipment, he said.

The Burmese government has expressed gratitude to Their Majesties the King and the Queen for the delivery of basic necessities for the affected Burmese.

The Burmese junta also asked for more survival kits from the Thai Red Cross, Wichienchote said.