PORT-AU-PRINCE — The United Nations is likely to withdraw its peacekeeping troops from Haiti, a top UN official said on Thursday, scaling back the 12-year mission blamed for a 2010 cholera epidemic. About 4,800 troops and police are deployed in the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), along with 1,200 civilians who were sent after the Caribbean country descended into violence that ended with the departure in 2004 of president Jean-Bertrand Aristide. "The military component of MINUSTAH is expected in all likelihood to be withdrawn in the relatively near future," said UN peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous, who traveled to Haiti to assess the mission. The mission has also been hit by allegations of sexual abuse and exploitation of Haitians, including minors. The UN Security Council will decide in April on the future of the mission, which Ladsous said is likely to be "reconfigured" and renamed.

Source: Viet Nam News February 10, 2017 05:11 UTC