U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Myanmar’s junta agreed today to allow all aid workers into the country but refused to let U.S., British and French warships dock with relief supplies.
Myanmar’s military government did not immediately confirm the agreement and there was no indication how quickly it would be take effect.
‘‘This agreement can produce results. And the implementation will be the key,’’ Ban said at a news conference after returning to Yangon, the country’s biggest city, from a two-hour meeting in the capital, Naypyitaw, with Senior Gen. Than Shwe, the country’s most powerful figure.
The U.S. will ‘‘test’’ the announcement by trying again to get visas approved for a handful of U.S. development and crisis workers waiting in Thailand, he added.
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Myanmar’s military government has until now refused to allow an unimpeded influx of foreign aid and experts to reach survivors of Cyclone Nargis. While granting an increasing number of visas to foreign staffers, the regime barred all but a handful of them from the delta.
At least 78,000 people were killed and another 56,000 are missing while some 2.5 million survivors are at risk from disease, starvation and exposure to monsoon rains.
– Associated Press
Family, friends gather to remember Hamilton Jordan
Family and friends of Hamilton Jordan are gathering in Atlanta Friday to remember President Jimmy Carter’s White House chief of staff.
The 63-year-old Jordan died Tuesday at his Atlanta home after a long fight against lymphoma. Carter says he talked to Jordan Tuesday afternoon and that he believes Jordan was reconciled to his death.
During Carter’s administration, Jordan participated in the 1978 talks leading to the Camp David Accords between Egypt and Israel. He also was involved in efforts to end the Iranian hostage crisis.
The Carter Center said following Jordan’s death that Carter is expected to attend the memorial service.
– Associated Press
Plane crashes into Montana building
A small airplane carrying mail crashed into a building early this morning in a fiery explosion in Montata, killing the pilot, officials said. No one on the ground was injured.
The plane had just taken off from Billings Logan International Airport when it crashed into a construction materials building at 1:25 a.m., Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Mike Fergus said.
‘‘I just watched the light come out of the sky,’’ witness Mike Krause told The Billings Gazette. ‘‘To me it looked like the plane was upside down. And then it just came straight down into the lot.’’
The plane appeared to hit the ground in the lot of a rental business and skid into the construction materials building, witnesses said.
Fire officials confirmed the pilot’s body was found in the wreckage. His name was not immediately released.
– Associated Press
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