New Campaign Aims to Disarm Gangsters

Haiti’s government and U.N. peacekeepers will launch a major campaign seeking to persuade hundreds of gangsters to disarm with promises of money, food and job training, but top gang leaders will not be eligible.

Special U.N. envoy Edmond Mulet said officials would begin airing radio and television ads in coming days to inform the public about the disarmament plan.

The move represents the most sweeping effort to persuade gangsters to lay down their weapons and rejoin society since U.N. troops arrived in the nation two years ago.