U.S. aid snubbed by rulers of cyclone ravaged country

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YANGON, Myanmar - Relief supplies from the United Nations arrived in Myanmar yesterday, but U.S. military planes loaded with aid were still denied access by the country's government five days after a devastating cyclone.

The military junta also continued to stall on visas for UN teams seeking entry to ensure the aid is delivered to the victims amid fears that lack of safe food and drinking water could push the death toll above 100,000.

Four airplanes carrying high-energy biscuits, medicine and other supplies arrived in Yangon yesterday, UN officials said. Two of four UN experts who had flown to Myanmar to assess the damage were turned back at Yangon's airport for reasons that were not immediately clear, said John Holmes, the UN relief co-ordinator. The other two were allowed to enter.

By rejecting the U.S. offer, the junta is refusing to take advantage of Washington's enormous ability to deliver aid quickly, which was evident during the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami that killed 230,000 people in a dozen countries.

"We have demonstrated in crises around the world ... our logistical capability to get humanitarian assistance quickly in to the people who need it," said Shari Villarosa, the top U.S. diplomat in Myanmar.

Gordon Johndroe, President George W. Bush's national security spokesman, said the United States was still working to gain permission to enter Myanmar. Another option being considered was air-dropping aid without permission, said Ky Luu, the director of the U.S. office of foreign disaster assistance.

But Defence Secretary Robert Gates said he couldn't imagine dropping aid into Myanmar without the military junta's permission.

France has argued that the UN has the power to intervene to help civilians because of an agreement by world leaders at a 2005 summit that the international body has a "responsibility to protect" people sometimes when countries fail to do it. But that agreement did not mention natural disasters.

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner and British Foreign Secretary David Miliband asked Myanmar to "lift all restrictions on the distribution of aid."