Tuesday, February 13, 2007

LIMA, Peru (AFP): Peru called for a one-year extension of the UN stabilisation force in Haiti (MINUSTAH) as representatives from nine Latin American countries on Monday discussed the future of the security operation.

"Peru wants a renewal for one year; we hope a clear message to this effect emerges from the meeting," Peruvian Foreign Minister Jose Garcia Belaunde said as the one-day talks got under way.

Earlier this month, Peru submitted a draft resolution to the UN Security Council asking that the MINUSTAH mandate be extended until February 15, 2008.

The mandate for the force of 7,200 soldiers and 2,000 police was extended in August for six months and expires February 15, and some opposition leaders in trouble-torn Haiti have called for the force to be withdrawn.

Peruvian Defense Minister Allan Wagner told journalists on Monday that troops from Peru and Chile planned to carry out joint social and humanitarian projects in Haiti.

"We are trying to create synergies and at the same time gain experience in working jointly. This with a view toward the Combined Peruvian-Chilean Peace Force we have agreed to create in order to participate with it in UN peacekeeping operations," Wagner said.

Peru reiterated its willingness to deploy military engineers to work alongside Chile on reconstruction projects in Haiti.

The meeting was attended by representatives of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Guatemala, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay - the nine Latin American countries that participate in MINUSTAH.

UN Special Representative to Haiti Edmond Mollet, and Organization of American States chief Jose Miguel Insulza also attended the meeting.

Haiti has suffered from two decades of violence and instability that was further fueled by the resignation of then-president Jean Bertrand Aristide in February 2004 amid a popular uprising.

MINUSTAH has regularly clashed with armed gangs who control some of the poorest neighborhoods of the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince.

  Most popular articles: viewed, printed and e-mailed

  Printable version