As magnitude of Myanmar loss grows, aid arrives

type your sumary hereBANGKOK: A powerful cyclone that destroyed a vast swath of coastal Myanmar and left many thousands of people dead prompted the country's military leaders to allow some foreign aid groups to deliver relief supplies on Tuesday. But the ruling junta came under increasing pressure to further open its doors — and even relax its tight political grip — to grapple with the growing disaster.

The Myanmar government put its tally of deaths since Cyclone Nargis struck early Saturday at 22,500 and said 41,000 people were missing. Such early estimates often prove inaccurate, and the wide path of this cyclone, which destroyed homes across the fertile Irrawaddy Delta and into Yangon, the nation's main city, left a large area of destruction, complicating rescue efforts and damage assessments for days or weeks to come.

Foreign governments and aid organizations worldwide began mobilizing a major relief operation, and some aid began flowing into the country. But President George W. Bush, speaking in Washington, continued a campaign to pressure the military government to allow fuller access to international relief teams and private charity groups.

His message mixed a new offer of American help with renewed criticism of a government the United States has denounced as one of the world's most repressive. But some international aid workers and foreign leaders said they feared that political pressure could make it more difficult to deliver aid in a timely manner.

"Our message is to the military rulers: let the United States come help you to help the people," Bush said Tuesday morning at a ceremony held to commemorate his signing of legislation to award a Congressional Gold Medal to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the democracy advocate who has been under house arrest in Myanmar for 12 of the last 18 years. "We want to do a lot more."