YANGON, Myanmar - Myanmar's military leaders seized aid shipments headed for cyclone survivors and told the top US diplomat there Friday that they're not ready to let in American aid workers despite warnings the country is on the verge of a medical catastrophe.
Another 4 inches of rain was forecast to fall next week as more than 1 million people waited for food, clean water, shelter and medicine to reach them. Diplomats and aid groups warned the number of dead could eventually exceed 100,000 because of illnesses and said thousands of children may have been orphaned.
The UN World Food Program said two planeloads of supplies containing enough high-energy biscuits to feed 95,000 people were seized Friday, prompting the world body to say it was suspending aid flights.
Later, WFP chief spokeswoman Nancy Roman said the flights would resume on Saturday while negotiations continued for the release of the supplies.
Myanmar's government acknowledged taking control of the shipments and said it plans to distribute the aid itself to the affected areas.
In a statement e-mailed to The Associated Press, government spokesman Ye Htut said the junta had clearly stated what it would do and denied the action amounted to a seizure.
"I would like to know which person or organization (made these) these baseless accusations," he said.
The WFP's regional director, Tony Banbury, directly appealed to Myanmar's military leaders in an interview with Associated Press Television News.
"Please, this food is going to people who need it very much. You and I, we have the same interests," Banbury said. "Those victims