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Kidnapping drama clouds Haiti relief
ANDREW BEATTY
February 6, 2010 - 6:44AM
AFP
Former US president Bill Clinton has arrived in earthquake-battered Port-au-Prince as controversy rages over the fate of 10 of his compatriots detained in Haiti on child kidnapping charges.
Clinton is expected to visit Haitian police headquarters on Friday near where ten Christian missionaries are being held, in a complex that has become the government's de facto headquarters since the January 12 quake.
The ten US missionaries face long prison sentences for smuggling 33 Haitian children across the border to the Dominican Republic.
The five men and five women were charged with child abduction and criminal conspiracy by Haitian prosecutors on Thursday. The group has denied ill intent.
The Haitian authorities, under pressure to clamp down on child trafficking and to show the country's crippled government can get on its feet, have insisted the ten be tried in Haiti.
The case has overshadowed the huge international relief effort which Clinton, as a special UN envoy for Haiti, has spearheaded.
An estimated 212,000 people were killed by the 7.0-magnitude earthquake that has left at least a million homeless, many of whom now live on the streets in make-shift camps which dot the capital.
The death toll is already the highest on record of any natural disaster in the Americas.
In a visit to Haiti days after the quake, Clinton defended the pace of incoming foreign aid and praised doctors working in shocking conditions.
Three weeks on, despite a massive international aid effort, there is growing anger on the streets at the slow pace of aid distribution with food and tents in short supply, with violence stalking the rudimentary camps.
The United States, which is spearheading the relief efforts, has deployed 20,000 troops, helicopters and transport planes, but coordination problems and the sheer scale of the crisis have hampered operations.
"More than three weeks after the earthquake, the relief efforts in Haiti have been increasing to meet staggering needs, but the long road to recovery has just begun," Clinton said in a statement ahead of his trip.
He is expected to visit Port-au-Prince's Gheskio medical clinic on Friday, where, according to his New York-based foundation the long-time UN special envoy to Haiti would deliver "water, food, medical supplies, solar flash lights, portable radios, and generators donated by Home Depot (and) Walmart."
In addition to his UN role, Clinton has been asked by President Barack Obama to join former president George W. Bush in private fund raising efforts.
© 2010 AFP
ANDREW BEATTY
February 6, 2010 - 6:44AM
AFP
Former US president Bill Clinton has arrived in earthquake-battered Port-au-Prince as controversy rages over the fate of 10 of his compatriots detained in Haiti on child kidnapping charges.
Clinton is expected to visit Haitian police headquarters on Friday near where ten Christian missionaries are being held, in a complex that has become the government's de facto headquarters since the January 12 quake.
The ten US missionaries face long prison sentences for smuggling 33 Haitian children across the border to the Dominican Republic.
The five men and five women were charged with child abduction and criminal conspiracy by Haitian prosecutors on Thursday. The group has denied ill intent.
The Haitian authorities, under pressure to clamp down on child trafficking and to show the country's crippled government can get on its feet, have insisted the ten be tried in Haiti.
The case has overshadowed the huge international relief effort which Clinton, as a special UN envoy for Haiti, has spearheaded.
An estimated 212,000 people were killed by the 7.0-magnitude earthquake that has left at least a million homeless, many of whom now live on the streets in make-shift camps which dot the capital.
The death toll is already the highest on record of any natural disaster in the Americas.
In a visit to Haiti days after the quake, Clinton defended the pace of incoming foreign aid and praised doctors working in shocking conditions.
Three weeks on, despite a massive international aid effort, there is growing anger on the streets at the slow pace of aid distribution with food and tents in short supply, with violence stalking the rudimentary camps.
The United States, which is spearheading the relief efforts, has deployed 20,000 troops, helicopters and transport planes, but coordination problems and the sheer scale of the crisis have hampered operations.
"More than three weeks after the earthquake, the relief efforts in Haiti have been increasing to meet staggering needs, but the long road to recovery has just begun," Clinton said in a statement ahead of his trip.
He is expected to visit Port-au-Prince's Gheskio medical clinic on Friday, where, according to his New York-based foundation the long-time UN special envoy to Haiti would deliver "water, food, medical supplies, solar flash lights, portable radios, and generators donated by Home Depot (and) Walmart."
In addition to his UN role, Clinton has been asked by President Barack Obama to join former president George W. Bush in private fund raising efforts.
© 2010 AFP
