JAKNEWS.COM---Indonesian relief aid is expected to arrive in Yangon on Friday with a letter from the President to the Myanmar military junta leader conveying his condolences and solidarity. Two Hercules planes carrying the humanitarian aid, comprising food, medicine and tents, left Jakarta on Thursday afternoon for a stopover in Medan before plans to fly to Yangon, the capital of cyclone-stricken Myanmar, on Friday morning. 

"Beside expressing condolences for those perished, the President shared Indonesia's experience in dealing with disaster in his letter to Sr. Gen. Tan Shwe," presidential spokesman Dino Patti Djalal told The Jakarta Post on Thursday. 

A major earthquake and ensuing tsunami struck Aceh and Nias in December 2004, just two months after President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was inaugurated. About 150,000 people were killed in the disaster. 

A cyclone swept through Myanmar last weekend, leaving more than 23,000 dead according to state media, but some officials and nongovernmental organizations in the military-ruled country have said there may be more than 100,000 deaths in the delta area of the country. 

Dino said quick approval for Indonesia's aid to enter Myanmar was evidence of the country's trust in Indonesia. 

While directly pushing Myanmar to admit international disaster relief, the United States has asked Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Japan, India, China and others to use "any leverage" they may have with Myanmar to allow relief teams into the country, AFP reported. 

ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan also urged Myanmar's military junta to quickly allow international aid into the country. 

"I hope we will have an opening before it's too late," Surin said in Jakarta. "It's very much a matter of urgency." 

Myanmar is a member of the regional grouping. 

The military junta, however, has denied entry to seven Indonesian journalists seeking to cover the hand-over of the humanitarian aid in Yangon, citing security concerns. 

Antara news agency reported the Myanmar Embassy in Jakarta canceled its visa for an AFP photojournalist and stopped processing the visas for six other reporters as the military junta could not guarantee their safety. 

The Office of the Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare, which is organizing the delivery of the aid, listed reporters from Antara, AFP and Reuters news agencies, Kompas daily and TVOne private TV station and state station TVRI as part of the humanitarian team to Yangon.
 

njpost/JAK09