25342: (news) Chamberlain: Haiti reassures UN elections to be held on time (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

     By Irwin Arieff

     UNITED NATIONS, June 7 (Reuters) - Elections in Haiti will take place
as scheduled later this year, the troubled country's interim prime minister
told the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday as he renewed an appeal for more
peacekeepers.
     Gerard Latortue said the council had a "very enthusiastic" response to
his assurances on elections and a request for U.N. reinforcements,
delivered in a closed-door session.
     But it was unclear whether he won full council support for a 12-month
extension of the U.N. peacekeeping mission's mandate, due to expire June
24.
     The mandate's duration "is still under discussion," Latortue told
reporters after the council meeting.
     The United Nations sent peacekeepers to Haiti to help prop up the
interim government appointed after Jean-Bertrand Aristide, the country's
last elected president, fled into exile in South Africa in February 2004
under foreign pressure and in the face of a violent rebellion.
     To restore an elected government, local elections are to be held on
Oct. 9 and legislative and presidential elections are scheduled for Nov.
13, with a run-off set for Dec. 18.
     But voter registration and other steps are falling behind schedule.
     The U.N. mission now numbers 6,200 troops and nearly 1,300 civilian
police, and U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has recommended an additional
750 soldiers and 275 police officers, to help prepare for elections. "What
I have suggested is to have more police if possible," Latortue said.
     Chinese Ambassador Wang Guangya has objected to a full-year mandate,
preferring six months.
     While China has contributed a contingent of riot police to the Haiti
mission, it does not have diplomatic relations with Haiti, which recognizes
the self-governing island of Taiwan.
     Guangya was irritated to encounter Taiwanese officials at a government
reception during a recent council visit to Haiti.
     French Ambassador Jean-Marc de la Sabliere, the council president for
June, said the mandate should extend beyond the elections to ensure
security throughout the campaign.
    "I am confident this has been understood and that we will have a good
result," he said.