United Nations' relief coordinator John Holmes said he was extremely frustrated by the Myanmar government's refusal to allow aid workers into the cyclone-stricken country, a French newspaper reported Friday.

In an interview published in the Le Monde daily, Holmes is quoted as saying he did not understand the military government's decision to accept international aid but not the foreign experts and staff to deliver it.

But, he added, he had no choice but to try to persuade officials to change the policy, the report said.

"I am extremely frustrated, more and more each day and each hour," Holmes is quoted as saying.

His organization is ready to provide medical aid, food, water and shelter to the estimated 1 to 1.5 million people affected by Cyclone Nargis, he was quoted as saying. At least 62,000 people are reported dead or missing after the storm, which hit the country's Irrawaddy delta May 3.

Asked whether government foot-dragging could lead to more deaths, Holmes responded "it's a risk," the report said.

Logistical obstacles were also slowing down the process of getting aid to those who need it, he said, adding that much of the country's infrastructure was swept away in the storm, Le Monde reported.

Holmes said the port in the capital, Yangon, was unusable and that he feared the city's airport would quickly become over-saturated, the report said, but he backed away from the idea of air-dropping aid without permission floated by an American disaster assistance official calling the method "quite rudimentary."

"We can't completely rule out (the idea), but to do so without the government's authorization and therefore risk a confrontation with the army or planes being shot down, that would be a very big decision," Holmes is quoted as saying. "For the moment, we have chosen to cooperate with the government".

Source: Associated Press Worldstream