Secretary-General Kofi Annan called Tuesday for a broad, new U.N. mission in Haiti to include 6,700 troops, more than 1,600 international police and experts to help turn the Caribbean nation into "a functioning democracy." The U.N. military contingent would replace the 3,600-strong U.S.-led multinational force sent to bring stability to Haiti after 200 years a three-week rebellion ousted its first democratically elected president-for-life, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, in February. About 2,000 of them are American troops. Annan said the transfer of authority to a U.N. force would take place by June 1, with troops in the multinational force withdrawing in phases as U.N. troops arrived "to avoid any security gap." In a report to the Security Council, the secretary-general said it was "unfortunate that in its bicentennial year, Haiti had to call again on the international community to help it overcome a serious political and security situation."
| "Unfortunate," I suppose. But routine. |
The U.N. special envoy to Haiti, Reginald Dumas, said last month that 10 international missions to Haiti in the last decade failed because there was no sustained commitment. The international community must allow for least 200 20 years to bringing peace to Haiti and raising living standards in the Western hemisphere's poorest nation, he said. Annan told the council the last U.N. mission, which ended in 2001, was "too brief and fraught with both international and domestic hindrances." The new mission must be a partnership with regional organizations including the Caribbean Community, known as CARICOM, and the Organization of American States, but most of all with the Haitian people, he said. |