United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has engineered a major diplomatic deal with the military junta of Burma that could save many thousands of lives.

In a meeting last Friday Ban managed to convince the reluctant head of Burma Tan Shwe into allowing international aid and disaster workers access to the victims of cyclone Nargis.

“There is good reason to hope that aid to the worst affected areas of Myanmar will increase significantly in the coming days,” Mr. Ban said after the two hour meeting.

More than 178,000 people are dead or missing following the cyclone which ravaged southern Burma on May 3. The U.N. estimates that less than a third of the 2.5 million people affected by the cyclone have yet to receive any form of aid.

At a meeting with donor nations in Rangoon over the weekend Mr. Ban managed to convince 52 very skeptical aid donors to contribute 150 million dollars towards reconstruction in the damaged areas.

Ban convinced the donors to forgo an independent assessment of the cyclone’s damage for the time being. International aid access will provide a clearer picture of the extent of the job ahead to immediately reach victims and start on infrastructure rebuilding.

The Burmese generals bowed under after three weeks of incessant criticism from the international community and even their staunchest allies. China was particularly critical of the seeming indifference that junta showed in the face of the growing humanitarian crisis following the devastating storm.

Leading by example China opened its doors without hesitation to international aid following its recent severe earthquake that has claimed over 80 thousand lives.

The U.N. Secretary General managed to convince the normally xenophobic Burmese generals that their political and diplomatic interests would be best served by allowing the international community to take control of disaster relief efforts before the crisis got any worse.

At risk are over 2 million people who face starvation and disease unless they receive even the most basic of supplies as soon as possible. They are badly in need of clean water, food and medicine.

Aid donors remain cautious as the generals have reneged on past promises to the international community. Most of the aid pledged at the weekend donor’s conference was hinged on the general’s newly minted commitments for co-operation.

Mr. Ban feels confident that the generals will keep to their word and that aid and aid workers should be able to do their relief work effectively by the beginning of this week. Ban said the Burmese government, “was moving quickly in the right direction.”

Part of the cost of the U.N. Secretary General’s deal with the junta was to put the issue of Burmese human rights out of the spotlight. Mr. Ban did not even mention Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of the opposition. “We must think about people just now, not politics,” said Mr. Ban.

Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel laureate who is the symbol of her people’s democratic aspirations, has been held under house arrest for 12 of the past 18 years. Until now, her freedom had been at the top of the agenda of the United Nations in its dealings with Burma.

The United Nations Office of Human Rights has an extensive list and a strong case against the ruling generals for their human rights violations since they seized power 46 years ago. The charges include unlawful imprisonment, torture and murder.

Human rights observers suggest that the recent manipulation of the humanitarian crisis following the cyclone and the general’s callous disregard for their own people is just another example of their criminal attitude towards normal human affairs.

The donor’s meeting in Rangoon was held in a luxury hotel which sits on a lake in the middle of the city. Ironically, Aung San Suu Kyi’s house, were she is being held under house arrest is in clear view across the water.