30013: (news) Chamberlain: UN-Haiti (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

   By EDITH M. LEDERER

   UNITED NATIONS, Feb 14 (AP) -- The Security Council will extend the U.N.
peacekeeping mission in Haiti for eight months following an agreement
between the United States and China on the length of the new mandate,
council diplomats said Wednesday.
   The council is expected to formally vote Thursday to lengthen the
mandate for the 8,800-strong force.
   In a report in December, former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan
recommended the mission be extended for one year after its mandate expires
Feb. 15, a view backed by the Friends of Haiti whose members include the
United States, Canada, Brazil, France and Britain.
   But China, which has no diplomatic relations with Haiti, pushed for a
six month mandate.
   Diplomats in Haiti have said China pushed for the shorter mandate
because of Haiti's support for Taiwan's bid to join the United Nations.
Haiti is one of a handful of countries that has diplomatic ties with
Taiwan. China and Taiwan split amid civil war in 1949, but Beijing still
claims sovereignty over the island.
   "We have agreed to eight months in the interests of continuing the
presence on the ground, but we did support the Friends of Haiti position of
12 month," said U.S. deputy spokesman Ben Chang.
   Peacekeepers arrived in Haiti in July 2004 to quell unrest sparked by an
uprising that ousted former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
   The U.N. peacekeeping force -- which includes about 125 Chinese police
officers -- has recently stepped up offensives to root out armed gangs that
hold sway in slums in Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince. The gangs are blamed
for a wave of kidnappings and other violence prompted by the uprising that
toppled Aristide.