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24782: Hermantin (News) U.N. Security Council vows commitment to Haiti



leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

U.N. Security Council vows commitment to Haiti
By MIKE WILLIAMS
Cox News Service
Thursday, April 14, 2005
U.N. SECURITY COUNCIL VOWS COMMITMENT TO HAITI
by
Cox News Service

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Members of the U.N. Security Council pledged Wednesday to extend the United Nations' peacekeeping mission in troubled Haiti, saying they hope to pave the way for open, fair elections this fall.

"We expect the people of Haiti will get hold of this situation," said Ronaldo Sardenberg, Brazil's U.N. ambassador, who is heading the delegation on its first trip to a Latin American or Caribbean nation. "They will work toward assuming their responsibility by voting in elections that must be free and credible."

The poorest nation in the hemisphere, Haiti has been in turmoil since former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide fled in the face of an armed rebellion in late February 2004. U.S. Marines were initially dispatched to restore order, but were replaced by a U.N. peacekeeping force last summer.

Sardenberg said the 15-member Security Council would vote next month to extend the mandate for the international mission beyond its June expiration date.

But the 7,000-member force of U.N. police and peacekeeping troops has come under criticism here for not doing enough to quell continued crime and political violence that at times has turned several impoverished slums in the capital into virtual free-fire zones.

Sardenberg acknowledged the criticism, but said the U.N. mission only recently came up to full strength and has begun to make notable progress.

"The fact that there is a trend toward stabilization is quite clear in my mind," he said.

Last weekend, U.N. units backed up Haitian police in raids that triggered gun battles which left two gang leaders dead. The gang leaders were former Haitian military officers who police said terrorized their neighborhoods, vowing to fight Haiti's interim government.

In a hopeful sign, the capital has been largely quiet since the raids. Street vendors have returned to the sidewalks near Bel Air, one of the most troubled neighborhoods, and residents said the nearly constant gunfire of the past months has subsided.

U.N. patrols are out in force, augmenting a Haitian police force that is growing as new cadets graduate from a training academy overseen by U.N. advisers.

While many residents are still critical of the U.N., others are cautiously optimistic.

"Their presence here has been worthwhile," said Jean Pinod, a man in his 50s who sells electric fans on a downtown sidewalk. "Without them, the trouble would've been far worse."

Haiti has been ruled since shortly after Aristide's departure by Interim Prime Minister Gerard Latortue. While critical of the United Nations in the past, the U.S.-backed Latortue last week praised the international peacekeepers, saying they are making progress.

Under the U.N. plan, Latortue is to be replaced next year by a permanent government. Elections for local offices are scheduled for Oct. 9, with presidential and legislative elections set for Nov. 13.

Members of Haiti's elections council, charged with organizing the vote, said earlier this week that unless the security situation improves, the voting might have to be postponed.

Pierre Richard Duchemin, head of the voter registration effort, said the agency's main offices have been attacked by gunfire several times, although stepped-up security provided by the U.N. and Haitian police has helped.

The violence, however, has delayed the start of voter registration, a four-month process the council hopes to start by later this month.

Duchemin was hopeful the elections would not be delayed, stressing that the most important objective was to have a clean, fair vote that would begin to restore the Haitian people's confidence.

"This transition is so important," he said. "If we don't make it, we lose a chance to build and start another way of life. Everything is on hold waiting for a new government. If there is a question mark on the process itself, that is a big problem."



Mike Williams' e-mail address is mwilliams(at)coxnews.com