23137: (Chamberlain) Spanish parliament to approve troops for Haiti (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

MADRID, Sept 10 (AFP): The Spanish parliament will Friday approve the
dispatch of a joint Spanish-Moroccan battalion to Haiti as part of a UN
mission to stabilise the strife-torn country, El Pais daily reported on
Thursday.

According to the report, Spain will dispatch 200 navy personnel and Morocco
150 soldiers to Haiti.

In July, Spain's parliament voted to increase the size of the country's
military contingent in Afghanistan and also send a detachment of military
police to Haiti, shortly after the Socialist government which took power in
April had carried out a pre-election pledge to pull out the 1,400 Spanish
troops from Iraq.

The joint Spanish-Moroccan force will serve in northern Haiti along the
border with the Dominican Republic, El Pais quoted military sources as
saying, their deployment initially for renewable six-month periods,
although a relief force will arrive after four.

In October Spain plans to send in an additional 29 police to assist in
security and training.

The UN force in Haiti (MINUSTHA) is expected eventually to total 6,700
soldiers, 1,622 police officers and 900 civil servants.

Brazilian General Augusto Heleno Ribeiro has overall command of the force
deployed in the Caribbean nation to replace US and French troops who took
over security after former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide fled into exile
at the end of February.