Thursday, October 12, 2006

WASHINGTON, USA (AFP): The United States has partly lifted a 15-year-old arms embargo on Haiti so police, UN forces and others can obtain weapons and gear to protect themselves from "rampant criminality", an official said Wednesday.

The embargo was eased "to permit the provision of defense articles for security units under government command and UN forces in Haiti," said State Department spokesman Edgar Vasquez.

The move will also allow for the export of personal protective gear for use by journalists and aid workers in the troubled Caribbean nation, he said.

Haiti has suffered a recent upsurge of kidnappings and armed attacks by criminal gangs after a lull in violence that followed the election in February of Rene Preval as president.

Vasquez said the arms and equipment were needed to help police and the UN "address rampant criminality and gang activity preying on the residents of Haiti's poor areas."

The United Nations in August extended by six months the mandate of the UN Mission for the Stabilization of Haiti (MINUSTAH), a force of more than 7,000 police and soldiers deployed to restore order following the ouster of former president Jean Bertrand Aristide in February 2004.

The UN mission has come under heavy criticism from Haitians who see it as lax and ineffective against crime and violence.

The State Department described the partial lifting of the arms embargo as a vote of confidence in Preval's government.

"Revising the embargo recognizes Haiti's return to elected democracy and the new government's efforts, working closely with UN forces in MINUSTAH, to promote security and stability throughout the country," Vasquez said.

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