France to send 1,500 tonnes of aid to Myanmar

PARIS (Reuters) - France is sending a naval ship with 1,500 tonnes of aid to victims of the Myanmar cyclone, despite Yangon's insistence that it will not let foreign aid workers in, Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said on Friday.

Kouchner said the aid would be loaded on to the French navy vessel, "Mistral", in the Indian port of Chennai ready for departure on Saturday night or Sunday morning.

"If all goes well, there would be around 1,500 tonnes arriving," he told reporters after meeting President Nicolas Sarkozy and representatives of French aid organisations in Paris.

"The problem is knowing where it will arrive and how it will be distributed," he said.

The Mistral, a so-called command and force projection ship used in previous aid operations, is currently taking part in exercises in the region with the Indian and British navies.

The Myanmar government has refused to allow foreign aid teams into the country to help with a disaster estimated to have killed up to 100,000 people.

Asked what France would do if the Myanmar authorities insisted on distributing the aid themselves, Kuchner said: "We prefer not to envisage this eventuality."

"But as we are buying material that is not perishable, we are prepared for the possibility that it might have to wait a little. But during that time, people cannot wait. It's not just a political game," he said.

He said the government had asked for the necessary visas and authorisation and was aware that it was running a risk in preparing the shipment before receiving authorisation.