WASHINGTON, September 7.—Democratic Senator Hillary Clinton has asked the George W. Bush government to launch an "independent investigation" into the official reaction to the disaster caused by Hurricane Katrina, after learning of documents that expose the belated response of the federal agency in charge of tackling such emergencies, ANSA reports.

The senator for the state of New York said today that the investigation should be carried out in an independent manner.

Speaking on television Clinton stated that she did not believe that the government should investigate itself, or that the government or Congress could undertake an objective inquiry.

The U.S. press notes that Michael Brown, head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, waited for at least five hours after Katrina hit land before asking for authorization to send in rescue workers.

The official reaction unleashed fierce criticism of the administration, which led the president himself to acknowledge that the rescue tasks were "inadequate" in many cases.

While the U.S. government is planning to ask for an additional $50 billion for the area devastated by Katrina, there are growing charges of international aid getting bogged down for bureaucratic reasons.

According to the State Department, Washington has accepted the offers of more than 90 countries – including Spain, Mexico and Venezuela – amounting to close to $1 billion in cash or kind.

Some of the countries that have offered aid to the United States for the victims of Hurricane Katrina affirmed on Wednesday that they have not received the necessary authorization to send it, reports AP from Stockholm.

The U.S. authorities have decided to evacuate, for better or for worse, those who are resisting leaving New Orleans, due to the risk of it becoming a focus of infection after the passing of Hurricane Katrina, EFE reports.

Police agents have been authorized to resort to force, after the mayor, Ray Nagin, issued a new obligatory evacuation order for all those who turned a deaf ear to his initial instructions.

Thousands of New Orleans residents have sworn to remain in the devastated city, clinging on to their possessions and defying the City Council threat to remove them by force, AP reports.