US warships will soon leave waters near Burma after the ruling military junta refused permission for the delivery of aid supplies to the cyclone-stricken Irrawaddy delta.
US Admiral Timothy Keating said the
USS Essexgroup will sail away from Burma tomorrow but leave several heavy-lift helicopters in neighbouring Thailand to assist in the relief effort.
"Should the Burmese rulers have a change of heart and request our full assistance for their suffering we are prepared to help," Admiral Keating, commander of US forces in the Pacific, said in a statement.
Burma has been promised millions of dollars in aid from the United States, other governments and aid organisations.
But the junta has refused to allow the US military to help distribute aid to affected areas, appearing due to fear that a large-scale international relief effort would loosen the grip the generals have held since the 1962 coup.
Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej told visiting US Defence Secretary Robert Gates in Bangkok on Sunday that the junta had rejected foreign military help in delivered cyclone aid because it feared it could be seen as an invasion.
Admiral Keating said they had made 15 attempts over the past three weeks to convince the regime to allow in US helicopters and landing craft, "but they have refused us each and every time."
The United States had delivered more than two million pounds of relief supplies on 106 airlifts to Burma since the first US military aid flight on May 12th, Admiral Keating said.