OTTAWA - Canada has offered its military Disaster Assistance Response Team to help aid efforts following the cyclone that devastated Myanmar.

In a statement, Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier and International Co-operation Minister Bev Oda urged the country's military junta to accept the offer and those of other countries.

A Canadian advance team left for the region after Cyclone Nargis struck last Saturday.

The storm is believed to have killed more than 100,000 people and left countless others without food, medicine and shelter.

Canada's offer is in addition to a $2-million pledge to relief efforts and came as the UN announced it is suspending further aid shipments because they are being seized by the ruling junta.

Myanmar's isolationist regime has indicated it wants international relief but not foreign aid workers.

Bernier and Oda say they are heartened that some relief flights are getting into Myanmar but they add more are needed.

They're calling on the junta to provide the necessary visa and customs clearances and "grant immediate full and unhindered humanitarian access" to the country's desperate populace.

They say the "window of opportunity to save lives and alleviate suffering is rapidly closing."

"We cannot afford to wait any longer," said their statement.

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