Haiti's leaders ask for US Marines' extended presence

Six US legislators said on Friday they will push for US Marines to extend a three-month mission to stabilize Haiti, acting at the request of the Caribbean nation's new US-backed interim leaders.

The bipartisan delegation led by Republican Mark Foley of Florida made the announcement at a news conference after a few hours visit to meet with interim President Boniface Alexandre, interim Prime Minister Gerard Latortue and other officials.

"We are hopeful that this will not be just a few short months that we will be here. We want to be part of helping Haiti in the long term," Foley said.

Elijah Cummings, a Democrat from Florida, said Haiti's leaders told them the country was "at a critical stage in its history" and that "the solutions must be critical" following the Feb. 29 departure of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Aristide fled under pressure from the US and France, and a popular rebellion led by ex-soldiers of the disbanded Haitian army.

"Both the president and prime minister have made it clear that they would like to see some presence of United States Marines beyond June 1," Cummings said.

"This is a message that we will take back to the United States" to ensure Haiti has the security needed for development.

US Marines arrived within hours of Aristide's hasty departure and lead a multinational force of 3,600 troops from France, Chile and Canada that is to hand over to UN peacekeepers on June 1.

The US legislators gave no details of how many Marines they would like to see remain in Haiti, nor how they would interact with the UN force.

On Tuesday, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan called for the new Brazilian-led mission to include 6,700 troops and more than 1,600 international police and experts to turn the most impoverished country in the Western Hemisphere into a "functioning democracy."

But Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Tuesday that was conditional on "a firm commitment by the international community to rebuild Haiti" and participation by the 15-nation Caribbean Community that has refused to recognize Latortue's government.