Stockholm, Sweden ? For four days, a C-130 transport plane ready to lift supplies to Katrina victims has stood idle at an air base in Sweden. The aid includes a water purification system that may be urgently needed amid signs deadly diseases could be spreading through New Orleans.

The one thing that stands in the way of takeoff? Approval by U.S. officials.

Although some foreign aid is on the way to the U.S., many international donors are complaining of frustration that bureaucratic entanglements are hindering shipments to the United States.

“We have to get some kind of signal (from the U.S.) in the next few days,” said Karin Viklund, of the Swedish Rescue Services Agency. “We really hope we will get it.” Aside from water purification units, the country has offered blankets and mobile network equipment.

The United States has accepted offers of nearly $1 billion in assistance from about 95 countries, said Harry K. Thomas Jr., the State Department’s executive secretary.

Thomas said “every country has heard from us, all have been told their offers are being evaluated and that ‘we may take your offers later.”‘

But Poland, Austria and Norway said they had not heard back on their offers, and countries outside Europe said they were also waiting for replies:

¢ India, which regularly is hit by flooding from monsoon rains, has said it has a planeload of supplies waiting. The United States said that it has accepted $5 million in aid.

¢ Taiwan said it was waiting to hear about its $2 million pledge. The U.S. said late Monday that it has the financial offer along with medical supplies.

¢ Even Honduras – the second-poorest country in Latin America and the Caribbean – has offered aid. It was told by the U.S. Embassy that “at this moment, the U.S. government is not asking for international assistance.”

However, some countries said they received detailed requests for help from U.S. authorities and have started shipping supplies.

The British government said it began sending about 500,000 military ration packs with food on Monday and that it was working closely with U.S. authorities in the recovery effort. German officials approved sending forensic experts to help identify Katrina victims after being asked by the U.S. government, spokesman Thomas Steg said.

Guard members returning

Hundreds of Louisiana National Guard soldiers deployed in Iraq were in Kuwait on Wednesday as a first stop on the way home, where the majority of their 3,700-strong brigade was likely to help with hurricane relief, U.S. military officials said.

Nearly 550 of the Louisiana brigade’s troops lost homes or loved ones or were otherwise affected by Hurricane Katrina, said Lt. Col. Debbie Haston-Hilger, a U.S. military spokeswoman in Kuwait. Scores of the soldiers have family members not yet accounted for, she said. The brigade, which served in Baghdad, was coming to the end of its normal rotation, military officials said.

Mexico sends military

A Mexican army convoy and a navy amphibian warship are on their way to New Orleans to assist in relief efforts, the first time the Mexican military has operated north of the Rio Grande since Texas won its independence in 1846.

The Mexican forces are bringing helicopters, 14 trucks, a mobile surgical unit, emergency personnel, three tons of purified water, food and giant kitchens.

None of the Mexican soldiers was armed, officials said.

The military convoy left Mexico City on Wednesday and was expected to arrive this morning in the Texas border city of Laredo.