FRENCH PRESIDENT Nicolas Sarkozy has played down reports of a rift with the United States over its management of the airport in the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince, insisting the two countries are co-operating well in bringing aid to the beleaguered country.
Mr Sarkozy’s international co-operation minister, Alain Joyandet, had complained about the dominant US role in Haiti, saying international relief efforts were about helping the Caribbean country, not “occupying” it.
He was angered when US military air controllers in Port-au-Prince refused landing permission to a French aid aircraft carrying a field hospital last Saturday. “This is about helping Haiti, not about occupying it,” Mr Joyandet said.
Seeking to dampen reports of a row, Mr Sarkozy yesterday welcomed “the exceptional mobilisation of the United States towards Haiti and the essential role it is playing on the ground. The French authorities are . . . very satisfied with the co-operation between our two countries.”
Haiti was a French colony until 1804, when its modern state was founded after the first and only successful slave revolt in the Americas. But despite enduring recriminations over the terms under which the French withdrew, links between the two countries remain strong. The US, for its part, occupied Haiti from 1915 to 1934.
As efforts continued to bring food, water and medical supplies to the stricken Caribbean country, the UN Security Council unanimously agreed to boost the number of UN troops and police by 3,500 to help maintain peace and security and to support relief work. The full strength of the UN’s Haiti force, known as MINUSTAH, will rise to 12,651 from about 9,000.
In Port-au-Prince, the huge international relief operation was gaining momentum after being beset for days by logistical problems and delays. UN relief agency officials said the security situation was under control and had not hampered distribution of food rations to 270,000 Haitians so far.
Haitian officials say the death toll from the earthquake that destroyed much of the capital on January 12th was likely to be between 100,000 and 200,000.
Some 52 rescue teams from around the world continued the race against time to find people still alive under the rubble of collapsed buildings, having so far saved about 90 people. “There is hope, because of the conditions, a mild climate and air pockets in the debris due to the way houses are constructed,” Elisabeth Byrs, spokeswoman for the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said in Geneva.
Medical teams said disease would be the next big challenge for the tens of thousands left injured and homeless. The World Health Organisation reported that at least 13 hospitals were working in or around Port-au-Prince and the agency was bringing in emergency medical supplies yesterday to treat 120,000 people over the next month.
“We are not past the emergency phase yet, but we are starting to look at the long term,” said Margaret Aguirre of the International Medical Corps, whose staff had helped with 150 amputations so far. “There is a risk of cholera and tetanus, and a huge need for mobile medical units,” she added.