Rabat, Morocco/Washington - The United States Sunday gave a resounding "no" to a request by the Cuban government that it lift its decades-old embargo for a limited time to allow relief goods and reconstruction materials to be traded to the disaster-struck island.

Hurricane Ike was headed for landfall on the communist island in the Caribbean Sunday evening, little more than a week after Hurricane Gustav left 100,000 homeless. Over the weekend, Cuba evacuated at least 250,000 people to safety from its eastern regions from the newest storm.

Speaking to reporters in Rabat, Morocco, Rice criticized the authoritarian passing of power from one Castro to another earlier this year, which she said is "not acceptable in a Western hemisphere that is democratic, and it is not acceptable for the Cuban people."

"So, I don't think that, in the context that we see now, that a lifting of the embargo would be wise," she said, according to a transcript released in Washington.

In February, the ailing Cuban leader Fidel Castro ended nearly half a century of rule by passing on the presidency to his brother, Raoul.

"What we cannot do is to have the transfer of power from one dictatorial regime to another," she said.

She also cited human rights abuses on the island.

The Cuban government on Saturday asked the US to lift its embargo on trade in certain materials needed to survive and rebuild after hurricane devastation. Russia has been ferrying materials such as tents and refugee materials to Cuba in recent days.

The appeal from Cuba's foreign ministry asked Washington to allow North American companies to extend credit to Cuba to buy goods needed during the desperate recovery efforts, Cuban media reports said.

The call echoed an appeal last week from Cuban dissident groups who sent an open letter to United States President George W Bush asking for a temporarily lift of restrictions on Cuba so that voluntary organizations and Cubans living abroad could send aid to the victims of Hurricane Gustav. (dpa)