The European Union has agreed to release $20 million in donor aid to the strife-torn nation of Haiti.
The majority of the money is earmarked for Haiti's general elections to be held in October. The rest go to disarming former soldiers and helping reintegrate them into society.
Haiti's interim Prime Minister Gerard Latortue received the first installment of the aid from an EU representative Friday in the capital, Port-Au-Prince.
The United Nations Development Program will be in charge of disbursing the money.
Haiti has been wracked with civil conflict prior to the departure of former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide last year. He has said he left under pressure from the United States and France. He now lives in South Africa.
Since June 2004, a U.N. stabilization force has been in Haiti, one of the poorest nations in the region.
Some information for this report provided by AFP.
