UN extends Kenya-led force to tackle gangs in Haiti, but sidelines call for UN peacekeepers

Associated Press

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. Security Council has voted unanimously to extend the mandate of the Kenya-led multinational force trying to tackle gang violence in Haiti. The vote came after it brushed off a call from Haiti’s government to start talks on transforming it into a U.N. peacekeeping mission. According to the final draft obtained by The Associated Press, China and Russia succeeded in eliminating a resolution paragraph that acknowledged the call by the president of Haiti’s transitional presidential council “to start a discussion” on moving to a U.N. peacekeeping mission. Nearly 400 Kenyan officers are in Haiti, joined by nearly two dozen police officers and soldiers from Jamaica. The officers fall significantly short of the 2,500 pledged by various countries.