HAITI NEWS: Tuesday April 8 2008.

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The UN Security Council on Tuesday pledged renewed support to the Haitian government and the UN mission in Haiti as the Caribbean nation grappled with mounting protests against rising prices and rampant poverty.

The 15-member council issued its statement backing the government in Port-au-Prince and the 10,000-strong UN stabilization force in Haiti (MINUSTAH) After hearing a briefing from the UN special envoy to the country, Hedi Annabi.

"The members of the Security Council reiterated their sustained support to the government of Haiti and MINUSTAH in their efforts toward ensuring stability, consolidating democracy and sustaining conditions conducive to economic growth, social development and delivery of humanitarian assistance," the statement said.
It was issued amid renewed unrest across Haiti in protest at rising prices and poverty.

Monday, one person was reportedly shot dead in Cayes, Haiti's third most populous city located 190 kilometers (118 miles) south of Port-Au-Prince.

Barricades of burning tires were laid down in Cayes on the fifth day of protests in the city.
Protests also took place in Port-au-Prince Monday, with hundreds of people massed before parliament and the palace where the office of the president is located.

Tuesday, Council members "strongly deplored" last Friday's violence in Cayes in which one person was shot dead and four wounded during an anti-poverty demonstration and "condemned the attack against MINUSTAH facilities" there on that day.
In his briefing, Annabi told the council that the current unrest appeared "to have a political dimension, in addition to expressing mounting frustration about the rising cost of basic food commodities."
He later told reporters that there was a need "for urgent (international) assistance to alleviate the suffering of the population."
Annabi also said the overall security situation appeared to have improved due to MINUSTAH's crackdown on gangs in Port-au-Prince and Gonaives early last year.
But he also cited a resurgence of kidnappings in the past few months, with an average of about 30 abductions per month between last December and the end of last month.

"There are also recurrent indications that gangs may be trying to reorganize themselves," he said, adding that "these kinds of threats, which appear criminal in nature, may be manipulated for political purposes."
Annabi rejected a suggestion that the military component of MINUSTAH -- around 7,000 troops -- should be reduced.

"This is not the time to downsize (the force)," he told reporters.

"This is the time we should stay the course and consolidate the emerging stability."
MINUSTAH was deployed in volatile Haiti after then-president Jean Bertrand Aristide fled an uprising in February 2004.
The council meanwhile welcomed Haiti's call for a high-level international donors' conference in Port-au-Prince on April 25. The Haitian government is seeking funds to finance growth programs and reduce poverty.

Haiti, home to 8.5 million people, is the poorest country in the Americas.

Eighty percent of its population earns less than two dollars a day, below the UN-established poverty rate.
SOURCE:
news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080408/wl_afp/h...

Claude, April 8 2008, 5:32 PM

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