UN chief welcomes Kenya’s offer to `positively consider’ leading police force to combat Haiti gangs

By EDITH M. LEDERER
Associated Press

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United Nations chief has welcomed Kenya’s offer to “positively consider” leading a multinational police force to help combat Haiti’s gangs and improve security in the violence-wracked Caribbean nation. Haiti’s Prime Minister Ariel Henry sent an urgent appeal last October for “the immediate deployment of a specialized armed force” to stop the gangs. Since then, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres has been appealing unsuccessfully for a lead nation. Kenya’s Foreign Ministry says its offer includes a commitment to send 1,000 police to help train and assist the Haitian National Police as they “restore normalcy.” U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq says Guterres “welcomes Kenya’s positive response to his call” and is grateful to Kenya for its “solidarity.”