U.S. Will Not Send Troops In Haiti
WASHINGTON, July 1 -- The United States
has turned down a request from U.N. Secretary-General Kofi
Annan for U.S. troops in Haiti, the Miami Herald reported
Friday
Earlier this week Annan made the request in a meeting with
U.S. Secretary of States Condoleezza Rice.
"We continue to believe that a focused and robust
response by MINUSTAH (the U.N. peacekeeping force) is the key
to security in Haiti and will lay the groundwork for
successful elections and economic growth in the long
term," said a State Department spokesman, the Herald
reported.
Annan's request comes amid continued violence in Haiti, as
the 7,500 U.N. solider and police force struggle to bring
security to the embattled Caribbean nation.
The United Nations has elected to send at least 1,000 more
troops to back up the existing force ahead of presidential
elections scheduled for the end of the year.
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