By Stevenson Jacobs
03/15/2005

Below is an excerpt of an article from the AP Newswires:

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) - Canada's foreign minister will visit Haiti on Wednesday to discuss U.N.-led stabilization efforts, including a stalled plan to disarm rival factions blamed for hundreds of recent killings and preparations for general elections later this year.

Pierre Pettigrew will also attend a donor's meeting in French Guiana aimed at speeding the flow of aid to Haiti a year after an uprising ousted former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, Canada's Foreign Affairs Ministry said.

...

Meanwhile, a Washington, D.C.-based human rights group on Tuesday questioned the ability of Haitian police to secure the capital and recommended giving the U.N. Civilian Police executive policing authority.

Refugees International also noted that Haitian police have been accused of unlawfully killing civilians, including two Aristide supporters allegedly shot to death at a Feb. 28 street march.

"The U.N. Civilian Police cannot address this (security) problem until their mandate is amended to allow them to do more than mentor and advise," the group said in a statement.

Pettigrew's visit comes ahead of Friday's donor's conference in Cayenne, French Guiana, where officials will explore ways of quickly implementing aid projects to improve infrastructure, health care and education.

Several countries and multilateral lending institutions pledged more than US$1 billion in economic aid to Haiti last year, but only a fraction of the money has reached the Western Hemisphere's poorest country.

On Monday, the Inter-American Development Bank approved US$270 million in loans and grants to improve roads and air and seaports, as well as bolster the agriculture sector.