WASHINGTON - UNDER fire for not acting swiftly, the Asean group said Wednesday it would lead an international 'coalition of mercy' to provide assistance to cyclone-hit Myanmar.

'We are now trying to build what we call a coalition of mercy because nothing else has worked,' Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan said in Washington.

'There is a consensus emerging now that Asean has to take the lead and Asean has risen to the occasion,' he told a forum of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Mr Surin said Myanmar's military junta had already agreed to issue visas to an Asean rapid assessment team, with some officials already on the ground and more expected to enter the reclusive nation soon.

'It is the beginning. It is defining moment for Asean, but Asean needs encouragement, needs less of criticism, less of ridicule,' he said.

The government of Myanmar, which is an Asean member, has come under international criticism for refusing to allow foreign aid experts into the country to distribute badly needed relief supplies following the devastating May 2-3 storm.

Even Asean teams have not been welcomed despite appeals to the Myanmar military by the grouping, which had been slammed in the past by international groups for not being able to rein in the troublesome member.

'We are trying to work around a very, very stiff resistance, mentality and mindset that have been there for a long long time,' Mr Surin said.

The cyclone crisis, which has left around 62,000 dead or missing, erupted a year after the 10-nation bloc signed a landmark charter committing it to human rights and democratic ideals and setting out principles and rules for members.

Mr Surin said he had asked the UN's top humanitarian official John Holmes 'to get in touch with governments at the highest level' in the region to help organise a relief aid delivery and logistical support system so that it could swing into action once the junta gave the greenlight.

Asked whether the Asean-led coalition would facilitate the full range of international assistance and delivery mechanism, Mr Surin said, 'I think at this point, we cannot afford to think only of relief assistance.

'We have to think ahead. We also have to think of the medium term,' he said, citing rehabilitation and reconstruction of the areas ravaged by the cyclone.

Asean ministers' meeting

Asean foreign ministers are to meet in Singapore on May 19 to review the assessment team's report on the disaster and decide how member states can help the survivors.

'They too know that the world is expecting Asean to rise to the challenge,' Surin said, indicating that they could make some major decisions.

Aside from Myanmar, Asean comprises Brunei, Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. - AFP