Myanmar says no need for foreign aid distribution

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"We're outraged by the slowness of the response of the government of Burma to welcome and accept assistance," U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Zalmay Khalilzad told reporters.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he was seeking direct talks with the junta's senior general, Than Shwe, to persuade him to remove obstacles. A U.N. spokeswoman said Ban believed it might be "prudent" for the government to postpone the referendum.

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said on Friday he wanted Southeast Asian nations and China to apply more pressure on Myanmar. "The Burmese regime is behaving appallingly," he said.

But U.N. humanitarian affairs chief John Holmes questioned the value of voicing outrage with the junta over the aid delays.

"It's not clear to me at this stage anyway that bludgeoning them over the head is going to make any difference or make it any better. We have to work with them," he told U.S. National Public Radio.

While Holmes said the United Nations estimated at least 1.5 million people were "severely affected", Britain's U.N. ambassador, John Sawers, said it may be in the millions.

China, the closest thing Myanmar has to an ally, urged patience in dealing with the junta.

"(The international community) should take Myanmar's willingness and ability to receive (the aid) into full account, and have patient and close communication with Myanmar," Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang told reporters.

(Additional reporting by Louis Charbonneau and Claudia Parsons at the United Nations; Kerstin Gehmlich in Berlin, Matthew Bigg in Atlanta; Nopporn Wong-Anan, Grant McCool and Darren Schuettler in Bangkok; Writing by Bill Tarrant; Editing by Alex Richardson)

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