Reprinted from Caribbean Net News
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UN Security Council to vote on Haiti mission as deadline looms

Thursday, February 15, 2007

by: Gerard Aziakou

UNITED NATIONS, (AFP): The Security Council was set to vote Thursday on an eight-month extension of a UN force mission in Haiti that calls for a more aggressive crackdown on criminal armed gangs preying on slums.

A diplomat involved in the council deliberations expressed cautious optimism Wednesday that an amended Peruvian draft resolution on the mandate would be unanimously approved by the 15-member council, despite China's reservations.

The current mandate for the 9,200-strong UN stabilisation force in Haiti (MINUSTAH) expires Thursday.

Peru and a Contact Group of 15 donor countries had sought a one-year extension of the mandate but China wants it to run for another six months only, initially.

Some Haitian opposition leaders have called for the Brazilian-led UN force to be withdrawn.

The latest Peruvian draft, a copy of which was obtained by AFP, said the council intended to extend MINUSTAH's mandate "until October 15 2007 with the intention to renew for further periods."

"Our position is an extension of six months. It's the same rule that applies to all peacekeeping operations," said China's UN delegate Li Junhua. "We have not yet received instructions from headquarters (Beijing) on eight months."

Haiti is among 25 countries that maintain diplomatic ties with Taiwan instead of rival China. Beijing regards the island as part of its territory awaiting reunification, by force if necessary.

Last April, Taiwan said Beijing had blocked Taiwan Premier Su Tseng-chang's planned visit to Haiti by threatening to veto the mandate of MINUSTAH.

Su had planned to attend the inauguration of Haitian President Rene Preval on May 14 but was forced to drop the plan, Taiwan's foreign ministry then said.

Beijing was given the China seat at the United Nations in 1972 and since then Taiwan has been barred from joining the international body.

Taipei and Beijing have been bitter rivals since their split in 1949 and have long engaged in a diplomatic tug-of-war, trying to woo allies away from each other with generous economic and financial aid.

The Peruvian draft also "requests that MINUSTAH continue the increased tempo of operations in support of the (Haitian National Police) against armed gangs as deemed necessary to restore security, notably in Port-au-Prince."

The impoverished Caribbean country has been reeling 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, whose mandate began in 2004, and Haitian police launched a crackdown in late December on armed gangs which control some of the poorest neighborhoods of the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince.

The humanitarian group Doctors Without Borders said Tuesday that in a little over a month, clashes had left six people dead and 63 wounded in Port-au-Prince.

According to an unofficial tally, 15 people have been killed and about 30 have been wounded since the UN raid began with hundreds of soldiers, armored cars and helicopters.

The draft also recognises the Haitian governments "primary responsibility ... over all aspects of the country's stabilisation and good governance ... and encourages the government of Haiti to continue to take full advantage of international support to enhance its capacity."

It again urged MINUSTAH to "support the constitutional and political process under way in Haiti and ... to promote all-inclusive political dialogue and national reconciliation."

In Lima Monday, Peruvian Defense Minister Allan Wagner said after a meeting of nine Latin American countries contributing troops to MINUSTAH that Peruvian and Chilean troops planned to carry out joint social and humanitarian projects in Haiti.

The Lima meeting was attended by representatives of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Guatemala, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay,

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

Haiti is the poorest nation in the Western hemisphere. More than half of its 8.4 million people live on one dollar a day, according to UN officials.

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