Katrina: US accepts UN help

Faced with criticism on the slow pace of aid for victims of Hurricane Katrina, the United States has accepted the United Nations' offer of help.

A small UN coordination team reached Washington on Sunday and consulted with government officials on how best the UN can complement the US' own emergency efforts.

This coordination team will be based at the newly-established USAID Hurricane Katrina Operations Center in Washington, where offers of international assistance are being coordinated.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the World Food Programme, the World Health Organization, UNICEF and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees are ready to provide emergency staff and a wide variety of relief supplies as and when necessary, the United Nations said.

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