U.S. giving Haiti aid through military but no troops for UN security force

[Freddie Stubbs]

The U.S. military is planning an exercise in Haiti to 'show the flag' in support of the country's beleaguered interim government.
BY PABLO BACHELET
[e-mail]

WASHINGTON - The Pentagon is organizing a major humanitarian exercise in Haiti as a show of support for the embattled government of Prime Minister Gerard Latortue, but it is stopping short, for now, of offering troops for the U.N. peacekeeping force deployed there, officials say.

The exercise is part of the Department of Defense's New Horizon program, a civic assistance program to help train U.S. military units in construction and medical care services. It will start in mid-February and end in May.

The Haiti exercise will ''have a footprint of about 250 U.S. military personnel,'' said Raúl Duany, spokesman for the Southern Command. Besides Haiti, U.S. troops will carry out New Horizons exercises in Panama, El Salvador, Nicaragua and the island nations Antigua and Dominica.

The Haiti portion is significant because of the deteriorating security situation there, as clashes between supporters and opponents of ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide have left more than 70 dead in recent weeks and because it is the first time such an effort will take place.

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