3:24pm UK, Tuesday May 20, 2008

Burma has begun three days of mourning for the tens of thousands of victims who died when a cyclone hit the country more than a fortnight ago.

Children wait for food in Dala on the outskirts of Yangon

The ruling junta announced that the national flag would be flown at half-mast throughout the period.

Meanwhile, Burma's military leaders have pledged to allow neighbouring countries access to the country to assist in the relief effort.

The move could help the plight of millions left homeless by the disaster.

In addition, UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon is expected to hold meetings with the country's military rulers.

Sky's reporter inside Burma said that would be hugely significant.

"If he has talks with the [ruling] general, if that goes well and they make some headway towards letting in some foreign aid workers, that would make a huge difference on the ground," she said.

On Monday, the isolationist government agreed to the creation of a taskforce from 10 south-east Asian nations to co-ordinate the delivery of foreign aid.

But the easing of restrictions fell short of allowing Western charities full access to the affected areas.

At an Association of South East Asian Nations meeting, Burma agreed to allow in medical teams from all Asean countries to help the estimated 2.5 million survivors.

"Although they have agreed that that will happen, they are not going to have further discussions for another few days," Sky's reporter said, who we are not naming for security reasons.

She added that the survivors were resilient, and have been looking after each other.

"It is amazing how they are organising themselves in the communities," she said.

"They all share everything they have, often using the monasteries and the monks as a co-ordination point.

"Those who have more will share it among the others. It is a very fair system.

"It seems to be working to a certain extent, but it is putting a lot of strain on them. They need some kind of outside assistance."

The three most pressing issues were food, clean water and shelter, Sky's reporter said.

"That shelter issue is a major problem for them. The whole area is waterlogged, making reconstruction work slow.

"It means some people don't have any shelter and with the rain they are getting wet.

"We have heard of incidences of pneumonia as well as outbreaks of cholera and dysentery and diarrhoea. There is a growing concern about disease."

The Disasters Emergency Committee has so far raised £8m for its Burma appeal and estimates that it is reaching about 900,000 people with supplies of aid and medical equipment.

Observers from several countries were invited to visit the worst affected areas in the Irrawaddy Delta, according to reports.

The military regime allowed the United Nations' most senior humanitarian diplomat, John Holmes, into the area on Sunday.

But the UN said its foreign staff were still barred from the Delta, where conditions are said to be "terrible".

At least 133,000 people were killed or disappeared in Cyclone Nargis, which struck on May 2.