BBC News with Roy Lamar.

The French ambassador to the UN, Jean Maurice Ripert has accused Burmese military government of being on the verge of committing the crime against humanity by not allowing international aid to reach the victims of cyclone Nargis. Mr Ripert commented after the Burmese ambassador to the UN, Kyaw Tint Swe, accused France of sending a warship to the region. Paris says the ship is carrying 1500 tons of food and medicine. Here is Laura Trevelyan.

This bet between the two ambassadors is part of the wider tension between Burma and France. Soon after the cyclone struck, France called for the UN Security Council to pass a resolution forcing the Burmese to accept outside aid, saying the international community had to act because of the UN doctrine called responsibility to protect meaning countries should step in to protect people when their government can't or won't. France's efforts were unsuccessful.