A senior U.N. official is to leave Wednesday, for a five-day trip to Haiti to review efforts by the U.N. peacekeeping force to combat violence in the country.
| Jean-Marie Guehenno |
U.N. peacekeepers and Haiti's interim government have been struggling to contain violence since former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide was removed from power in February 2004.
Rising violence Tuesday prompted Canada to warn its citizens against traveling to Haiti, the Western Hemisphere's poorest country.
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan recently recommended the peacekeeping force be increased to about 9,000 soldiers and police officers. About 8,000 peacekeepers are now in the country.
Some information for this report provided by AP and Reuters.