Annan to visit Haiti, wants to keep strong UN force
Tue Aug 1, 2006 4:55 PM ET

By Irwin Arieff

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan announced plans on Tuesday to visit Haiti as he advised the Security Council against cutting back the U.N. peacekeeping mission there after elections last February.

The U.N. mission now numbering nearly 7,100 troops and 1,700 police was sent into Haiti in June 2004 to support an interim government installed after President Jean-Bertrand Aristide fled into exile under international pressure.

After new President Rene Preval took office in May, the level of violence declined only to spike again in July, Annan said in a progress report on Haiti to the 15-nation council.

A thriving illegal trade in drugs and arms, gang violence and kidnappings will remain a problem, Annan's report said.

The Security Council should maintain its troop ceiling at 7,500 and keep in place the 1,000 officers serving in trained riot police units while increasing the number of civilian police to 1,951 from the current ceiling of 1,897, he said.

The mission's mandate, due to expire August 15, should be extended an additional 12 months -- the minimum needed to make progress in reforming the legal system and improving local and national governance, he said.

"It would also send an important signal to the Haitian people of the enduring commitment of the international community," said Annan, who has complained that previous international aid efforts in Haiti failed because they ended before reforms could take hold.

U.N. spokeswoman Marie Okabe said Annan would travel to Haiti on Wednesday, where he will meet with Preval and address a joint session of parliament. He will then go on to the Dominican Republic, where he will meet President Leonel Fernandez before returning to New York over the weekend.

© Reuters 2006.