Brasília - The head of the UN peace mission in Haiti (Missão de Estabilização das Nações Unidas no Haiti) (Minustah), the Chilean diplomat, Juan Gabriel Valdés, says that mission troops will have to stay in the country after the elections at the end of the year to help the new government with reconstruction. The present Minustah mandate extends to February 15, 2006 [the first Minustah troops arrived in Haiti in June 2004].

Valdes says one of Haiti's problems is that it has a very small police force. "Based on the size of the population, they should have at least 25,000 policemen, but they only have 4,000," he explains. Another problem is funding reconstruction. "After the election there should be an international donor meeting to discuss this important issue," says Valdes.

Translator: Allen Bennett