Secretary-General Kofi Annan called Tuesday for a broad new U.N. mission in Haiti that would include 6,700 troops, over 1,600 international police and experts to help turn the Caribbean nation into "a functioning democracy."
News Source: Mercury News
The U.N. military contingent would replace the 3,600-strong U.S.-led multinational force sent to bring stability to Haiti after a three-week rebellion led Haiti's first democratically elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, to flee in February.
Annan said the transfer of authority from the multinational force to a U.N. force would take place by June 1, with troops in the multinational force withdrawing on a phased basis as U.N. troops arrived "to avoid any security gap."
In a report to the Security Council, the secretary-general said it was "unfortunate that in its bicentennial year, Haiti had to call again on the international community to help it overcome a serious political and security situation."
The U.N. special envoy to Haiti, Reginald Dumas, said last month that 10 international missions to Haiti in the last decade had failed because there was no sustained commitment.
The international community must make a commitment of at least 20 years to bring peace to Haiti and raise living standards in the Western hemisphere's poorest nation, he said.
Annan told the council the last U.N. mission, which ended in 2001, was "too brief and fraught with both international and domestic hindrances."
Full Story: Must be in partnership with CARICOM
