29937: (news) Chamberlain: US gives Haiti $20 million, seeks longer UN mission (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

     WASHINGTON, Feb 1 (Reuters) - The United States said on Thursday it
will give Haiti $20 million to create jobs in a volatile slum and called
for the U.N. peace-keeping force in the impoverished Caribbean nation to be
extended for a year.
     U.S. Under Secretary of State Nicholas Burns said the United States
would give Haiti $20 million to help create jobs in Cite Soleil, a
Port-au-Prince shantytown run by warring gangs and so overcrowded some
residents sleep in shifts.
     Speaking to reporters after a Haiti "contact group" meeting that
gathered officials from 15 nations and seven international organizations,
Burns also told reporters there was unanimity among the group to push for a
12-month extension of the U.N. military mission in Haiti, whose mandate
expires on Feb. 15.
     "The presence of that mission is essential for stability and peace and
to deter crime in Haiti and to renew it for anything less than 12 months
would not be right," Burns said, saying the force could continue at its
current levels.
     The United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti had nearly 8,400
uniformed personnel at the end of last year, including 6,684 troops and
1,692 police, according to U.N. figures.
     U.N. Security Council diplomats say China initially opposed renewal of
the U.N. mission in Haiti because of Haitian ties to Taiwan, but has since
relented. However, China continues to argue for limiting any extension to
six months, arguing the Council should keep a closer eye on its
peacekeeping missions.
     The U.N. force has been in Haiti since shortly after former president
Jean-Bertrand Aristide was ousted in an armed rebellion in February 2004.
     Politically motivated violence appears to have eased since President
Rene Preval, regarded by the country's poor as their champion, was elected
almost a year ago. But poverty, joblessness and the drug trade fuel
widespread crime.