Gates: Myanmar govt. jeopardizing lives

BANGKOK, June 1 (UPI) -- The government of Myanmar is putting its citizens at risk by blocking supplies for cyclone victims, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said Sunday.

Gates said the stance of top officials in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, was placing the lives of countless citizens in danger following this spring's devastating cyclone, The New York Times reported.

"It's becoming pretty clear that the regime there is not going to let us help," Gates said. "I'd say that unless the regime changes its approach, changes its policy, more people will die."

The chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen, said the Myanmar government has given permission for a limited number of aid-laden airplanes to land the capital of Yangon, formerly known as Rangoon.

Yet Mullen warned that the government has not allowed navy vessels to deliver necessary aid to the country, which lost at least 135,000 people to the May 3 cyclone.

The Times said a United Nations estimate had 2.4 million Myanmar residents facing starvation and homelessness since the disaster occurred.