Rashid Khalikov, director of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs at the United Nations in New York, said that the world organization had urged Myanmar's government to waive visas for aid workers, as Iran and Pakistan did after earthquakes in 2003 and 2005.
"So far we have not gotten visas for people we wanted to go there," he said at a news conference. "We really hope it will happen quickly. It will help us to better aid the people when we are able to assess their needs."
Khalikov said that the U.N. team was unable to apply for visas until Tuesday because the Myanmar Embassy in Bangkok, the Thai capital, was closed Monday for a holiday, and diplomats would not open it without permission from officials in Myanmar.
White House Press Secretary Dana Perino, citing a U.N. summary, said the most urgent needs were for plastic sheeting, water purification tablets, cooking sets, mosquito nets, emergency health kits, food and fuel.
She said U.S. assistance did not hinge on U.S. personnel working inside Myanmar.
"The assistance that we are providing is needs-based and it's dependent on only us wanting to help them," the press secretary said.
Perino said a U.S. team was in Bangkok. "But certainly the relief that the Burmese people need would be much better handled if we could get into the country."
Analysts said the military rulers would be making a huge concession by agreeing to let in foreign humanitarian groups.
"I think this military regime totally gets that the people are angry," said Monique Skidmore, a professor at Australian National University. "And they're going to do what they can to be seen as helping the population. It's really the least distasteful path at the moment."
Last summer, the government summoned foreign diplomats to the new capital, Pyinmana, and accused them of meddling in Myanmar's internal affairs, human rights groups said. And just last week an article appeared in the local press accusing foreigners of trying to hinder the referendum.
A ramped-up U.N. presence and the arrival of dozens of humanitarian groups in the coming days and weeks could tax the system in Myanmar on several counts, analysts said.
For one thing, there are huge logistical problems in an impoverished country with an inflexible government and where most resources are tightly controlled by the military.
