By PAISLEY DODDS, Associated Press Writer
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – U.N. peacekeepers are returning to Haiti once again, but with many of the problems that plagued their last mission here ? uncertainty about troop numbers and funding, a hazy mandate and no commitment to long-term aid.
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After watching foreign soldiers come and go it the last 10 years, many Haitians wonder why they should have any hope the United Nations (news – web sites) forces ? cobbled together from countries ranging from Argentina to Zimbabwe ? can succeed this time around. Bright flags of about two dozen participating nations dot empty barracks at the airport but only samples of the blue U.N. hats and berets have arrived ahead of a Tuesday handover. It was still unclear Monday even where the mission’s headquarters would be, said Adama Guindo, a U.N. representative heading the mission until a permanent one is appointed. Floods that killed nearly 1,700 people last week and stranded thousands in remote villages have forced U.S. troops to stay past their June 1 departure date. The Americans head a four-nation force that is passing the baton to the United Nations and controls the only helicopters ? essential to bringing aid to otherwise unreachable villages. Unless they get new orders, the 1,900 U.S. troops will leave at the end of June ? many to return to combat in Iraq (news – web sites). Some Canadian and French troops in the 3,600-force, which arrived in February when a rebellion ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, will join the U.N. mission. Chile was sending 165 sailors expected Tuesday to replace its soldiers in the U.S.-led force. “We’ve done an excellent job in working with the multinational task force and we look forward to working with the other nations,” said Canadian Capt. David Devenney. The United Nations says there will be 6,700 troops and 1,622 civilian police from 30 countries, led by 1,200 Brazilian troops. Whether the force will reach full strength is unclear. Brazil, Chile and Argentina have pledged up to 2,500 troops. Other countries, from strife-torn nations such as Nepal and Rwanda, have weighed in with promises of 750 troops each. Brazilian Army Gen. Augusto Heleno Ribeiro Pereira, the new commander of the U.N. force who arrived in Port-au-Prince Monday, is worried. “General Heleno has one preoccupation,” Brazil’s private Agencia Estado news agency reported Monday. “There is no definition yet of which forces will make up the mission. Only Brazil, Chile, Argentina and Paraguay have confirmed their participation.” The U.N. mission will again try to keep a tentative peace in the divided country, and again train an ill-equipped and understaffed police force, as well as work on development projects. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan (news – web sites) has asked member nations to make a long-term commitment to transform Haiti ? which has suffered more than 30 coups in 200 years ? into “a functioning democracy.” But only a fraction of the $35 million he requested has arrived and the mission mandated by the U.N. Security Council remains at six months. Asked why this mission should meet success, Guindo said one reason was a long-term commitment. “You can’t just fix the problem and run,” Guindo said. “I tend to believe that this time we are going to make a difference.” Haitians were not as confident. “I don’t understand what they’re coming to do yet,” said Marie Andre, 31, from the southern village of Fond Verrettes, one of the towns worst affected by the floods. “If they’re supposed to provide security, where are they?” Some Haitians are hopeful that without Aristide, the United Nations will be able to do more. U.S. troops last intervened in Haiti in 1994 to restore Aristide after a 1991 coup. In 1995, they were replaced by U.N. peacekeepers. That mission was supposed to last a year but continued until February 2001, unfolding as the Haitian government held disputed parliamentary and presidential elections, which ultimately soured relations with the international community. Foreign governments demanded a recount of flawed 2000 legislative elections swept by Aristide’s party. When Aristide refused, they froze tens of millions of aid dollars. The United States, Haiti’s largest bilateral donor since 1994, held up its $14 million share of the last mission’s $24 million budget, preventing U.N. advisers from deploying until months after the mission began. The mission was dealt another blow in 2000 when a mob dragged its transport chief from his car and killed him. Annan closed the mission, citing a “combination of rampant crime, violent street protests and incidents of violence targeted at the international community.” Haitian leaders blamed the troops, saying neither the Americans nor U.N. peacekeepers had done enough to disarm factions, particularly the army that Aristide disbanded in 1995 after soldiers helped oust him in a coup. Ex-soldiers are among leaders of several rebel factions that joined forces this year to oust Aristide again. Some boast that they carry the guns that never were taken from them nearly 10 years ago. There was no difference this time round. The Americans did little about disarmament. Although the U.N. troops have a mandate to disarm ex-rebels and pro-Aristide militants, they recognize that without an incentive the program could fail again. “Let us first go step by step,” said Touissant Kongo-Doudou, a spokesman for the new U.N. mission.