Reprinted from Caribbean Net News
caribbeannetnews.com

UN expresses dismay over Haiti abductions
12-22-2006

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (UPI): United Nations officials said on Wednesday that they were alarmed by the increase in kidnappings in Haiti, where UN peacekeepers have been stationed for nearly three years.

Recently, kidnappings have increased in the capital and elsewhere in the embattled Caribbean nation, particularly the abduction of children, the United Nations said in a statement.

In response to the kidnappings, Sophie Boutaud-de-la-Combe, spokeswoman for the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti, said UN forces have two special intervention or anti-kidnapping units working with the national police to conduct arrests, searches and security operations.

UN forces first arrived in Haiti in April 2004, several weeks after the departure of then-President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who left the country amid an armed rebellion aimed at toppling his government.