Bush urges Myanmar to accept U.S. relief officials

By Matt Spetalnick

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush made a rare appeal to Myanmar's military rulers on Tuesday to accept U.S. relief officials and added $3 million (1.52 million pounds) in aid to help victims of a cyclone that devastated the Southeast Asian nation.

"Our message is to the military rulers. Let the United States come and help you, help the people," Bush said, addressing a military government he has long tried to isolate.

The death toll from Cyclone Nargis, the deadliest in Asia since 1991, rose to nearly 22,500 with an additional 41,000 missing, even as Myanmar's leaders continued to refuse entry to U.S. disaster response teams.

Bush said the United States was ready to provide emergency assistance, including U.S. Navy ships and aircraft carriers already in the region capable of deploying Marines and helicopters on humanitarian missions.

The White House later announced the United States was committing $3 million through the U.S. Agency for International Development to meet the most urgent needs, up from an initial emergency contribution of $250,000.

"We want to do a lot more," Bush had told reporters in the Oval Office.

But he risked further antagonizing the junta by coupling his aid offer with a signing ceremony for legislation awarding its chief political opponent, detained democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi, the Congressional Gold Medal, the top U.S. civilian honour.

The United States and Myanmar have long been estranged. Bush last week imposed a new round of sanctions on the country's military rulers to pressure them on human rights and political reform.