30839: (news) Chamberlain: Haiti-UN-Peacekeepers (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

   By STEVENSON JACOBS

   PORT-AU-PRINCE, Aug 1 (AP) -- U.N. Secretary-General Ban-Ki-moon arrived
in Haiti on Wednesday to observe an 8,800-strong peacekeeping force that
has helped bring relative calm to the troubled country for the first time
since a 2004 revolt ousted the president.
   Ban's 24-hour trip comes as the U.N. Security Council prepares to renew
the Haiti mandate in October. Ban is expected to ask for more specialized
forces such as naval units to help the Caribbean country guard its
coastline from weapons and drug traffickers.
   The peacekeepers came to the impoverished nation in 2004 after a revolt
toppled former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, sparking a long turf war
against well-armed, slum-based gangs blamed for a wave of killings and
kidnappings.
   The secretary-general was greeted upon arrival by President Rene Preval
but made no public statements.
   Ban's visit, his first since becoming leader of the world body, comes as
the U.N. force begins a slow transition from a military to a policing role
-- a move officials say is essential to maintaining peace as this
impoverished Caribbean country rebuilds
   Today, blue-helmeted soldiers no longer get shot at or need to launch
large-scale raids into slums in search of gunmen. Neighbors simply call and
give soldiers the gang members' location.
   Despite the improved security, the top U.N. envoy to Haiti says it's too
soon to begin pulling out troops.
   "An early withdrawal right now would be a big mistake, 'big' with a
capital letter," Edmond Mulet recently told The Associated Press. "This is
a time to hold on, to make this work this time."
   He said gangs, drug trafficking and poverty still pose a threat to the
country and that peacekeepers would be needed at least until Preval's term
ends in 2011.
   Mulet, a Guatemalan who on Friday was appointed assistant
secretary-general for peacekeeping operations, said the U.N. mission hopes
to use more civilian police than soldiers but is hampered by a world
shortage of trained, French-speaking officers.
   The peacekeepers provide 85 percent of Haiti's security needs, but the
government is working to eventually take over. The national police academy
is preparing hundreds of recruits to bolster the nation's 6,000-police
force.
   Haiti is still struggling after a century marked by foreign occupations
and the 29-year Duvalier family dictatorship.
   Efforts to build an effective police force are still haunted by the
specter of the Duvalier-era's bullying Tonton-Macoute security forces and
armed gangs that emerged to defend Aristide.
   Aid groups say the delivery of foreign aid to the poorest areas of
Port-au-Prince is just starting because of red tape and logistical
problems.
   "Assistance is only starting to trickle into the capital, whose communes
have still not perceived the start of a new era," the International Crisis
Group stated this month in a report.
   Preval, a populist champion of the poor elected in 2006, authorized
peacekeepers to take a firm hand and warned gangs "to disarm or die" before
a crackdown earlier this year led to the arrest or killings of dozens of
alleged gang members.