Burma's junta announced yesterday that its new, pro-military constitution has won overwhelming support in a referendum held while the country was reeling from a devastating

cyclone that may have killed up to 128,000 people.

State radio said 92.4 percent of the 22 million eligible voters approved the constitution, dismissed by critics as a sham designed to solidify the military's rule. It gave voter turnout as more than 99 percent.

Voting was postponed until May 24 in the Irrawaddy Delta and Rangoon areas, both battered by cyclone Nargis. State radio said results of the late balloting could not mathematically reverse the approval.

Rights groups have dismissed the vote, which was held on May 9, as a sham because in a country ruled by the feared military since 1962 few would have dared to reject the constitution.

The voting was also marred by widespread complaints of intimidation and rigging.

The junta says the new constitution will lead to a general election in 2010. But it guarantees 25 percent of parliamentary seats to the military and allows the president to hand over all power to the military in a state of emergency.

"People are dying and they are talking about the referendum?" said Kyaw Muang, a food store owner.

"[The generals] don't even care about dying people, you think they care about democracy for living people? I don't care about the referendum. It doesn't mean anything."

The government says 43,318 people are known to have died, and 27,838 are missing. But the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies estimate the death toll to be between 68,833 and 127,990.

The United Nations and the Red Cross say between 1.6 million and 2.5 million people are in urgent need of food, water and shelter.

The Hawaii-based Center for Excellence in Disaster Management and Humanitarian Assistance said seven UN agencies, more than 60 nongovernmental organizations and about 45 nations or regional blocs are directly or indirectly involved in the aid operation.

But the junta has issued only a few visas to their international staff, and the few allowed into the country have been forbidden from leaving Rangoon. Tim Costelloe of World Vision said his aid group has delivered supplies to some 100,000 people in spite of the "narrow parameters."

ASSOCIATED PRESS