USA plays down Kenya’s plan to put on hold police mission to Haiti
The United States downplayed Kenya’s declaration of suspending a police mission to Haiti, stating that a transition agreement will facilitate the formation of a new administration, as desired by Nairobi.
“I would be concerned of course about any delay, but we don’t think that there will need to be a delay,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters.
Kenya offered to assume leadership in an international mission, supported financially by the United States and Canada, with the objective of establishing stability in Haiti, where armed gangs have taken control of a significant portion of the country.
Following a legal dispute within the country, Kenya announced its deployment of troops to Haiti in accordance with a mutual arrangement with Prime Minister Ariel Henry.
However, Henry agreed on Monday to step down as a piece of a plan supported by the United States, which would establish a presidential transition council to establish a fresh administration.
“It’s a perfectly natural thing to expect that they want to know that there’s a government that can host them, that can make a request for them to deploy a mission,” Miller said of Kenya.
The new transitional council should be formed “in the very near future, and that would pave the way for this mission to go forward without delay,” Miller said.
Miller stated that the formation of the new transitional council, responsible for appointing a prime minister and government before to elections, should occur within the next 24 to 48 hours.
He commended Henry’s resignation, as he had a conversation with Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday over his choice.
Blinken participated in an urgent conference in Jamaica over Haiti’s escalating crisis. Following the meeting, Henry declared that he had accepted the transition agreement.
“We commend Prime Minister Henry for his statesmanship and putting his country first,” Miller said.
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USA plays down Kenya’s plan to put on hold police mission to Haiti
