Annan Seeks New Mission to Aid Haitians
Secretary-General Kofi Annan called Tuesday for a broad new U.N. mission in Haiti that would include 6,700 troops and more than 1,600 international police as well as experts to help turn the Caribbean nation into “a functioning democracy.”
The U.N. military contingent would replace the 3,600-strong U.S.-led multinational force sent to bring stability after a three-week rebellion ousted Haiti’s first democratically elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, in February. About 2,000 troops in the current force are American.
Annan said the transfer of authority to a U.N. force would take place by June 1, with the U.S.-led troops withdrawing in phases as U.N. military personnel arrived “to avoid any security gap.”
Annan told the Security Council that the last U.N. mission, which ended in 2001, was “too brief and fraught with both international and domestic hindrances.”
Annan said the mission must have experts on human rights, HIV/AIDS, and gender and civil affairs “to help create the necessary conditions for a functioning democracy.”
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