YANGON, Myanmar, May 9 (UPI) -- The World Food Program said Friday it will send relief aid airplanes to Myanmar despite the government's seizure of previous aid shipments.

"The World Food Program has decided to send in two relief flights as planned (Saturday), while discussions continue with the government of Myanmar on the distribution of the food that was flown in (Friday) and not released to WFP," Nancy Roman, the organization's director of public policy and communications, said in a statement.

The military junta ruling the country formerly known as Burma Friday seized contents of two WFP flights -- high-energy biscuits that could feed " 95,000 hungry people in Myanmar," Roman said. The relief organization suspended its relief operation after the food was confiscated.

The reclusive military has been criticized for its handling of the crisis in the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis, which killed tens of thousands and left millions homeless, the BBC reported.

Myanmar's foreign ministry said in a statement Friday it was not ready to allow foreign aid workers to enter the country. Government leaders said they would accept aid, but insisted they would handle the distribution.

John Holmes, U.N. emergency relief coordinator, said the situation of trying to provide relief to Myanmarese was becoming "increasingly desperate."

"Frustrations have been growing that this humanitarian response is being held back because of difficulties of access in different ways," he said, noting that many visas are pending. Holmes said in a U.N. news release he would appeal to the junta authorities to "step up their own relief efforts" and "to change their attitude completely to the efforts that we are making."

Lebanese MP asks army to protect Tripoli

BEIRUT, Lebanon, May 9 (UPI) -- A member of the ruling alliance in the Lebanese parliament, worried about the city in the wake of violence in Beirut, Friday asked the army to defend Tripoli.

Mesbah al-Ahdab expressed concern about moves "the opposition bloc was likely to make in Tripoli," calling on the army to prevent possible unrest in the city considered a stronghold for a government loyalists, reported KUNA, the Kuwaiti news agency.

Three days of fighting between Shiite Hezbollah and pro-government forces in Beirut have left at least 11 people dead as anti-government troops seized Sunni West Beirut, shutting down the country's port, virtually closing the Beirut airport and blocking highways into the Lebanese city.

"We hope that the ongoing conflict in Lebanon will not lead to incurable wound," he said in a statement. "Two-thirds of the people are against holding Lebanon hostage (by Hezbollah)."

Meanwhile, the deputy chief of Lebanon's Supreme Shiite Islamic Council repeated his call for the government to reverse its decision to close Hezbollah's telecommunications network and restore Hezbollah supporters to positions at Beirut airport.

Sheik Abdel-Amir Kabalan also urged political leaders to reopen communications with Hezbollah.

"Dialogue is the only way out of the current unrest," the Shiite cleric said. "The painful experience seen by Lebanon over the last 35 years resulted from sticking to personal interests and shunning reason."

General's posting in Pakistan scrubbed

WASHINGTON, May 9 (UPI) -- The Pentagon has quietly canceled the assignment of U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Jay Hood as senior American officer in Pakistan, U.S. military reports said.

Hood formerly was commander of the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. And, that brought on a rash of attacks in newspapers and elsewhere, The New York Times said Friday. Several leading Pakistani military and foreign affairs commentators have called on their new government to block the appointment.

Hood was at Guantanamo from 2004-06. The alleged treatment of detainees at the prison is a point of contention in much of the Muslim world.

The job of the U.S. commander in Pakistan is considers key in the fight against the Taliban and al-Qaida believed operating in the country's tribal areas along the border with Afghanistan.

U.S. military officials said they had concluded that Hood's effectiveness would be hindered and his personal safety could be at risk, the Times said.

Canadian train quarantined after death

SUDBURY, Ontario, May 9 (UPI) -- Canadian officials in northern Ontario quarantined a Via Rail passenger train Friday after a passenger died and 10 others became sick.

Via Rail spokeswoman Catherine Kaloutsky told CTV News one person died on the Toronto-bound train from British Columbia carrying some 260 passengers and 30 crew in the small town of Foleyet, near Sudbury.

Ontario Provincial Police Sgt. Laura Nichols told the broadcaster one sick person was airlifted to a hospital while the others were taken by land ambulances.

She said there was no immediate explanation for the flu-like symptoms that swept the passengers in two cars.

CN Rail spokesman Frank Binder told CTV rail operations in the area have shut down.

"Our crews have come to a complete stop at that location and they are dealing with emergency personnel there," he said.

Holocaust memorial train completes voyage

OSWIECIM, Poland, May 9 (UPI) -- A German Holocaust memorial train has ended its six-month voyage with a final stop at the former Auschwitz death camp in Poland.

Organizers of the memorial, which was viewed by more than 225,000 people, said its final arrival at the former Nazi death camp, where 1.1 million people were killed between 1941 and 1945, was timed to coincide with the anniversary of the May 8, 1945, end of World War II in Europe, Deutsche Welle reported Friday.

The exhibit focused on the biographies of several children and teenagers deported by Germany's Nazi regime from October 1940 to December 1944.

"It's not easy to confront ourselves because we are not the victims but we are the sons and daughters of the perpetrators," organizer Hans Minow told Deutsche Welle. "We say this knowing that perhaps our fathers and mothers -- if not participated -- did not do what they had to do when the crimes started."