MapleLeafInfantry
03-05-2004, 10:40 AM
Canada to send more soldiers to Haiti
Last Updated Fri, 05 Mar 2004 10:31:15
HALIFAX - Canada will send at least 120 soldiers Friday to help bring order to Haiti, CBC News has learned.
India Company is standing by to go Haiti.
The troops are members of India Company of the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Canadian Regiment, based at CFB Gagetown in New Brunswick.
The unit specializes in the evacuation of civilians, and will help secure the urban areas of Haiti.
The soldiers are part of the 425 Canadian Forces personnel set to join an international stabilization force, The Canadian Press reported.
The unit at Gagetown has been on eight-hour standby since Canada promised to send support to join an international peacekeeping mission after president Jean-Bertrand Aristide fled the country on Sunday.
INDEPTH: Haiti
Armed rebels had been clashing with Haitian police for weeks as they advanced toward the capital of Port-au-Prince to seek Aristide's resignation. As many as 130 people died.
Defence Minister David Pratt was expected to formally announce the troop allocation on Friday in Halifax.
On Thursday, United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan urged Canada to do more to contribute to the Haiti mission, particularly by sending well-equipped troops.
"Canada has produced such men and women, and I hope they will continue to invest in them and make some of them available to us," said Annan.
RELATED STORY: Annan urges Canada to help Haiti
Also on Thursday, members of Canada's Haitian community met with Prime Minister Paul Martin and asked him to help rebuild the poverty-ravaged country.
Canada already has about 100 military personnel in Haiti. The U.S. and France have sent larger groups of soldiers.
Written by CBC News Online staff
Last Updated Fri, 05 Mar 2004 10:31:15
HALIFAX - Canada will send at least 120 soldiers Friday to help bring order to Haiti, CBC News has learned.
India Company is standing by to go Haiti.
The troops are members of India Company of the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Canadian Regiment, based at CFB Gagetown in New Brunswick.
The unit specializes in the evacuation of civilians, and will help secure the urban areas of Haiti.
The soldiers are part of the 425 Canadian Forces personnel set to join an international stabilization force, The Canadian Press reported.
The unit at Gagetown has been on eight-hour standby since Canada promised to send support to join an international peacekeeping mission after president Jean-Bertrand Aristide fled the country on Sunday.
INDEPTH: Haiti
Armed rebels had been clashing with Haitian police for weeks as they advanced toward the capital of Port-au-Prince to seek Aristide's resignation. As many as 130 people died.
Defence Minister David Pratt was expected to formally announce the troop allocation on Friday in Halifax.
On Thursday, United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan urged Canada to do more to contribute to the Haiti mission, particularly by sending well-equipped troops.
"Canada has produced such men and women, and I hope they will continue to invest in them and make some of them available to us," said Annan.
RELATED STORY: Annan urges Canada to help Haiti
Also on Thursday, members of Canada's Haitian community met with Prime Minister Paul Martin and asked him to help rebuild the poverty-ravaged country.
Canada already has about 100 military personnel in Haiti. The U.S. and France have sent larger groups of soldiers.
Written by CBC News Online staff