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AFP: "Security Council renews mandate of UN force in Haiti"

Source: Agence France-Presse English Wire Date: October 15, 2007

UNITED NATIONS , Oct 15, 2007 (AFP) - The Security Council on Monday voted unanimously to renew the mandate of the UN mission in Haiti for one year and urged the force to help the country boost its police capacity in addressing drug and arms trafficking.

The 15-member body passed a resolution renewing the mandate of the force known as MINUSTAH, which expired Monday, until next October 15 and endorsed recommendations that the force be reconfigured to comprise 7,060 troops and a total of 2,091 police.

The resolution called on MINUSTAH to continue helping Haitian authorities to undertake "coordinated deterrent actions to decrease the level of violence."

UN peacekeepers spearheaded a series of raids in the Haitian capital's crime-riven Cite Soleil last December to crack down on armed gangs, subsequently arresting hundreds of gang members and confiscating dozens of their weapons.

Last month, UN chief Ban Ki-moon, in a briefing to the council on his recent trip to Haiti, identified the fight against corruption and narcotics trafficking as key priorities.

The resolution adopted Monday also urged member states, including neighboring and regional states, in coordination with MINUSTAH, to help authorities "address cross-border illicit trafficking of drugs, arms and other illegal activities, and to contribute to strengthening the HNP (Haitian National Police) capacity in these areas."

The council also highlighted the need for the Brazilian-led MINUSTAH to establish patrols along maritime and land border areas in support of border security activities by the Haitian police.

The resolution was sponsored by Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, France, Guatemala, Italy, Panama, Peru and the United States.

MINUSTAH was deployed in the impoverished Caribbean country after then-President Jean Bertrand Aristide fled an uprising in February 2004.

Its main troops contributors are: Brazil, Uruguay, Sri Lanka, Jordan, Nepal, Argentina and Chile.

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

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