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UN chief in Haiti to support relief efforts

(Agencies)
Updated: 2010-01-18 10:10

UN chief in Haiti to support relief efforts
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (2nd R) speaks with displaced Haitians in front of the Haitian National Palace during his trip to Port-au-Prince January 17, 2010. [Agencies]

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti: UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon made an emotional visit to the Haiti peacekeeping mission's devastated headquarters Sunday and delivered a message of hope to the country's earthquake victims, acknowledging that many of the survivors are growing desperate.

On a whirlwind trip to the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, Ban said he recognized "that many people are frustrated and they are losing their patience."

The UN World Food Program plans to start feeding 1 million people in two weeks and 2 million people in one month, the secretary-general said. WFP spokesman David Orr said the agency hoped to reach more than 60,000 Sunday.

With an estimated 3 million to 3.5 million people in need of aid, Ban was asked whether it would be enough to avoid riots.

"I sincerely hope and appeal to Haitian people to be more patient," he said. "We do not want to even imagine that kind of situation."

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Ban made a stop at the plaza in front of the severely damaged National Palace where thousands of Haitians were camped out and a group of men and boys were shouting that they needed food, water and work.

"I have seen and I have met many people on the streets in front of the presidential palace," he said. "They are appreciative of the help of the international community. From their faces and from conversations with them, I saw that they are committed. They are looking for a better future. ... I told them that I'm here to give them hope and to bring them a better future."

UN peacekeeping chief Alain Le Roy plans to ask the Security Council on Monday to send 850 additional peacekeepers and international police to Haiti temporarily, officials traveling with Ban said. About 9,000 peacekeepers and international police were in Haiti at the time of the quake, but those forces sustained heavy losses in the disaster.