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UN Security Council meets on spiraling Haiti crisis
The UN Security Council held an emergency meeting Wednesday on violence-wracked Haiti, as the United States ramped up pressure on absent Prime Minister Ariel Henry to usher in a political settlement.
Armed gangs who control swaths of the country launched a coordinated effort to oust Henry last week, attacking the airport, prisons and police stations and threatening a full-scale civil war.
The United States called for the prime minister to hold free elections, but did not urge his resignation -- a key demand of powerful gang leader Jimmy "Barbecue" Cherizier.
In power since the 2021 assassination of president Jovenel Moise, Henry was due to leave office in February but instead agreed to a power-sharing deal with the opposition until new elections are held.
Cherizier warned Tuesday that the worsening chaos would lead to civil war and mass bloodshed unless Henry stood down.
At least 15,000 people have fled the worst-hit parts of Port-au-Prince, and United Nations rights chief Volker Turk said Wednesday the situation was "beyond untenable" with 1,193 people killed countrywide this year by gang violence.
Amid the latest unrest, Henry has been unable to return home.
He was in Kenya to push for the deployment of a UN-backed multinational police mission to help stabilize his country when the attempt to oust him began.
Gunfire has shut down some flights at Toussaint Louverture International Airport, and he was denied permission to land in neighboring Dominican Republic.
He touched down in the US territory of Puerto Rico, a spokesperson for the island's governor said Tuesday, although it was not clear how long he would stay.
- Gangs rule the streets -
Haitian officials have been pleading for months for international assistance to help their overwhelmed security forces, as gangs push beyond the city and into rural areas.
The government has declared a state of emergency and a nighttime curfew, which has been extended through Wednesday.
Citing the "rapidly deteriorating security situation," UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called this week for urgent financial support for the multinational police mission.
Maria Isabel Salvador, the UN representative in Haiti, was to brief the Security Council remotely during its closed-door meeting.
"Hundreds of thousands of children and families are displaced and cut off from lifesaving services and aid as armed groups rule the streets," Catherine Russell, head of UNICEF, said Tuesday. "The world must not stand idle."
Haiti, the Western hemisphere's poorest nation, has been in turmoil for years, and Moise's assassination plunged the country further into chaos.
No elections have taken place since 2016 and the presidency remains vacant.
"We are definitely not pushing for the prime minister to resign," White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters.
"But we have underscored that now is the time to finalize a political accord to help set Haiti on a path to a better future."
She added the United States would not assist Henry to return to his country, or discuss his travels.
Between violence, the political crisis and years of drought, some 5.5 million Haitians -- about half the population -- need humanitarian assistance.
After months of delays, the UN Security Council finally gave its greenlight in October for a multinational policing mission led by Kenya.
But that deployment has been stalled by Kenyan courts.
Nairobi and Port-au-Prince signed a bilateral agreement on Friday on the mission, but it remains without a firm start date.
L. Andersson--BTZ
