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The U.N. has grown increasingly critical of Myanmar's refusal to let in foreign aid workers who could assess the extent of the disaster with the junta apparently overwhelmed. None of the 10 visa applications submitted by the WFP has been approved.

Shari Villarosa, the U.S. charge d'affairs in Yangon, said she met with Myanmar Deputy Foreign Minister Kyaw Thu on Friday to discuss American relief operations.

Myanmar says it will accept aid from all countries, but prohibits the entry of foreign workers who would deliver and manage the operations. The junta is not ready to change that position, Villarosa said she was told.

But Myanmar, which is also known as Burma, has agreed to allow a single U.S. cargo aircraft to bring in relief supplies for victims of a cyclone, said Maj. Stuart Upton, a Pentagon spokesman.

"We hope that this is the beginning of broader support between the United States and Burma to help the Burmese people," he said.

The U.S. has an enormous ability to deliver aid quickly, evident during the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami that killed 230,000 people in a dozen nations.

Three Red Cross aid flights loaded with shelter kits and other supplies landed Friday in Myanmar without incident. "We are not experiencing any problems getting in, (unlike) the United Nations," said Danish Red Cross spokesman Hans Beck Gregersen.

More than 60,000 people are dead or missing and entire villages are submerged in the Irrawaddy delta. International aid organizations say the death toll could climb to more than 100,000.

The U.N. estimates 1.5 million people have been severely affected and has voiced concern about the disposal of dead bodies.

"Many are not buried and lie in the water. They have started rotting and the stench is beyond words," Anders Ladekarl, head of the Danish Red Cross.

About 20,000 body bags were being sent so volunteers from the Myanmar chapter of the Red Cross can start collecting bodies, he said.

The U.N.'s World Meteorological Organization said its models forecast three days of strong rain that could dump 4 inches in Myanmar beginning May 15-16. Heavy rain could worsen the situation in the storm-affected coastal region, the agency said, although it cautioned that forecasts beyond five days could change.

The lack of food and water have led to dramatic price increases. In Yangon, Myanmar's main city, the cost of water has shot up by more than 500 percent, and rice and oil by 60 percent in the last three days, the Danish Red Cross said.

The United Nations is seeking $187 million in pledges from donor nations to help survivors.

"If we do not act now, and if we do not act fast, more lives will be lost," said John Holmes, the undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs.

U.N. officials said the pledges are needed to provide food, water purification tablets, emergency health kits, mosquito nets, cooking sets, plastic sheeting and water jugs for at least 1.5 million people in the next three months.

"Myanmar intends to cooperate with the international community to address this great challenge," said Kyaw Tint Swe, Myanmar's U.N. ambassador. But, he added: "It has to be orderly and systematic."

The U.N. requires that experienced aid workers accompany relief supplies in every recipient country until they are delivered, officials said.

"Those are the rules," said Elisabeth Byrs, spokeswoman for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. "We have to be sure the aid is reaching the victims."

The junta said it was grateful to the international community for its assistance but the best way to help was to send in material rather than personnel.

Relief workers have reached 220,000 cyclone victims, only a fraction of the number of people affected, the Red Cross said.

"Believe me, the government will not allow outsiders to go into the devastated area," said Yangon food shop owner Joseph Kyaw. "The government only cares about its own stability. They don't care about the plight of the people."

One relief flight was sent back after landing in Yangon on Thursday because it carried a search-and-rescue team and media representatives who had not received permission to enter, the junta said. It said the plane had flown in from Qatar.

According to state media, 23,335 people died and 37,019 are missing from Cyclone Nargis.

Grim assessments were made about what lies ahead. The aid group Action Against Hunger noted that the delta region is known as the country's granary, and the cyclone hit before the harvest.

"If the harvest has been destroyed, this will have a devastating impact on food security in Myanmar," the group said.

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