Friday, February 16, 2007

by Gerard Aziakou

UNITED NATIONS, (AFP): The UN Security Council on Thursday unanimously agreed to extend for eight months the mandate of UN peacekeepers in Haiti and directed them to crack down harder on criminal armed gangs preying on slum-dwellers.

The 15-member council passed a Peruvian-drafted resolution that extended the mandate of the 9,200-strong UN stabilisation force in Haiti (MINUSTAH) - which expires Thursday- until October 15, 2007 "with the intention to renew for further periods."

The agreement resulted from a compromise between the one-year extension initially suggested by Peru and a group 25 donor countries, including the United States, Canada, Brazil, Britain and France, and the six months pushed by China, which does not have diplomatic ties with Port-au-Prince.

China's Ambassador to the UN Wang Guangya said that in the interest of consensus, he voted for the resolution, even though he would have preferred a six-month extension "in keeping with the general practice of UN peacekeeping operations."

Citing progress on the security and reconstruction fronts in Haiti, Wang said: "It is necessary for the UN, MINUSTAH in particular, to respond to the changed situation by updating its mandate; reordering its priorities and readjusting its composition with a view to better meet the actual needs of the Haitian people."

He urged the Haitian government to "take positive measures" for "credible, competent and transparent" governance.

More than half of the impoverished Caribbean nation's 8.4 million people live on one dollar a day, according to UN officials.

Chinese diplomats have dismissed suggestions that Haiti's recognition of rival Taiwan was a factor in China's stance on MINUSTAH.

Haiti is among 25 countries that maintain diplomatic ties with Taiwan instead of rival China. Beijing regards the Taiwan as a rebel territory.

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 resolution adopted Thursday also directed MINUSTAH "to 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."

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.

But Wang told the council that the resolution "over-emphasises military means but fails to pay adequate attention to political reconciliation and economic recovery."

"While necessary in the short run, such military operations cannot be a long-term strategy," said the Chinese envoy, who stressed that the central task for MINUSTAH in its next phase was "to assist Haiti in its transition from peacekeeping to peacebuilding."

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.

The resolution also strongly condemned attacks against MINUSTAH personnel and demanded an end to "acts of intimidation or violence against UN and associated personnel and other international and human organisations."

It stressed the need for "a combination of measures ... to effectively disarm, demobilise, and reintegrate gang members."

Haiti 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.

The UN resolution also recognizes Port-au-Prince's "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."

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