Haiti

(Quelle: BBC) Heavy gunfire has broken out in Haiti's capital near the presidential palace, where US Secretary of State Colin Powell was holding talks at the time. The government blamed supporters of the former President, Jean Bertrand Aristide, for the shooting. UN forces returned fire. There were no immediate reports of any injuries.

(Quelle: UN News) The Security Council today renewed for another six months the 8,500-strong United Nations peacekeeping force in Haiti after hearing a report from Secretary-General Kofi Annan outlining a deteriorating security situation with a surge of violence in the impoverished Caribbean country. … It stressed the urgency of conducting Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) programmes and urged the Transitional Government to establish without delay the National Commission on DDR, in line with Mr. Annan’s call to remove all illegal weapons from the streets.

(Quelle: BBC) Thousands have marched in Haiti's capital to express support for former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. They called on the international community to include the ousted leader in the search for peace in the violence-stricken Caribbean country. UN peacekeepers watched as protesters stuck to the slum areas of Port-au-Prince, where support for Mr Aristide runs deep. 'There cannot be peace, reconciliation and democracy without Aristide,' a rally organiser told Reuters news agency. On the streets of Port-au-Prince there is a growing sense of frustration with the interim government.

(Quelle: Reliefweb) The security situation in Haiti has deteriorated over the past three months with a surge of violence, underlining the need to remove all illegal weapons from the streets, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan says in his latest report on the impoverished Caribbean country. … He urges the Security Council to extend the Mission's mandate for a further 18 months, until 31 May 2006, in view of the timeline established for a series of elections culminating with the transfer of power to an elected president on 7 February that year.

(Quelle: UN News) More than two thirds of the military and police forces planned for the United Nations peacekeeping operation in Haiti have already arrived to help foster a democratic political transition in the strife-torn Caribbean country after widespread unrest last March led to the departure of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. In its latest update on the force, the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) said 4,489 soldiers out of the 6,700 mandated by the Security Council resolution were already on hand, while the civilian police strength totaled 1,228 out of the projected total of 1,622.

(Quelle: BBC) The interim government in Haiti says it is planning to issue a warrant for the arrest of the former president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Mr Aristide has been in exile in South Africa since he was forced from power in a rebellion earlier this year. Since June, a United Nations peace mission has been struggling to bring Haiti under control. Haiti's interim prime minister, Gerard Latortue, said the warrant would accuse Mr Aristide of corruption.

(Quelle: Washington Post) The head of a panel organizing elections in Haiti next year to replace ousted president Jean-Bertrand Aristide has resigned, warning that other panel members were trying to rig the ballot. Panel chairwoman Roselor Julien, a representative of the Catholic Church, cleared her desk on Tuesday after handing in her resignation the day before, and said the council was not capable of ensuring the 2005 election would be free and fair. 'I resign because I am not ready to condone an electoral farce,' Julien told Reuters.

(Quelle: UN News) More than 160 Moroccan soldiers arrived in Haiti yesterday to join the United Nations Stabilization Mission (MINUSTAH), bringing the operation’s uniformed strength to nearly 4,500 out of an authorized total of almost 8,000 troops and civilian police. 

(Quelle: UN News) Troops from Sri Lanka, Spain and Guatemala have arrived in Haiti to join the United Nations Stabilization Mission (MINUSTAH) currently working to maintain security and foster a democratic political transition in the strife-torn Caribbean country.

(Quelle: BBC) The former president of Haiti, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, has called for free and fair elections in his country. Mr Aristide's views were made public by the South African foreign minister on a visit to Brazil. … The BBC's Steve Kingstone in Sao Paulo says some will take that as a strong hint that Mr Aristide plans to return to Haiti. In the short term, he says, it is sure to inflame an already tense situation in the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince.