UNITED NATIONS, March 1 (UPI) -- The U.N. Security Council, acting unusually quickly, unanimously approved a resolution Sunday authorizing a Multinational Interim Force for Haiti, effective immediately.
The MIF will be allowed to stay for up to three months before it has to make way for a U.N. force.
Asked what kind of signal this sends to the people of Haiti, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan told reporters it tells them, "The international community has not forgotten them; We understand their need and we are standing by them in their hour of need. And the international community will do whatever they can to help stabilize the situation. I know some of them may think that it's a bit late, but it's always better than never."
Ambassador John Negroponte of the United States said, "There is no question that we are much better off today than we were several days ago with regard to the situation in Haiti," an apparent reference to the council's statement Thursday insisting on a political settlement before international intervention.
"It's a new page in the political life of Haiti," he said. "I think it was also a very positive step as far as the Security Council is concerned."
Ambassador Jean-Marc de La Sabliere agreed, saying, "The council has given a swift response to an urgent deal." He said passage of the resolution showed the panel had the "capacity to respond in a very swift manner to an urgent need."
Added La Sabliere, "Nobody can predict what the situation will be in the coming months, but what we can say is that it will certainly be more stable."
France, Haiti and the United States had called the 15-member panel into an unusual Sunday evening session after the Caribbean nation's acting President, Boniface Alexandre, appealed for urgent international support in restoring peace and security. The former chief justice assumed his new role after President Jean-Bertrand Aristide departed.
The council considered the three-page draft for about four hours before approving it just before 10 p.m. EST Sunday.
It was drafted across the street at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations by the Friends of Haiti, centering around Canada, France, the United States and the two Latin American nations currently on the council, Brazil and Chile.
The measure was adopted under Chapter VII of the U.N. Charter, allowing for the use of military force.
Canada and France reportedly were readying or already have dispatched troops to the Caribbean nation. A U.S. official earlier told United Press International the U.S. Marines ordered in earlier Sunday would "establish a beachhead" for the MIF.
The operation was mandated to contribute to a secure and stable environment in the country, to facilitate the provision of relief aid to those in need, and to help the Haitian police and the Haitian Coast Guard maintain law and order and protect human rights.
The council decided that the MIF would be stationed in Haiti "for a period of not more than three months" while approving establishment of a follow-on U.N. stabilization force to support the continuation of a peaceful and constitutional political process and the maintenance of a secure and stable environment.
The council demanded that all the parties to the conflict halt the violence, reiterating as in the statement that "there will be individual accountability and no impunity for (human rights) violators."
It also demanded respect for the constitutional succession and the political process under way to resolve the current crisis.
The resolution called on the international community, in particular the United Nations, the Organization of American States and the Caribbean Community to work with the people of Haiti in a long-term effort to promote the rebuilding of democratic institutions and to assist in forging a development and poverty alleviation strategy.
Annan was requested, in consultation with the Organization of American States, to make recommendations on the size, structure and mandate of the follow-on U.N. operation. He was also asked to set out a program of action for the world organization's political, humanitarian, human rights and development work in support of Haiti.
U.N. members were asked to contribute personnel, equipment, financial and logistic resources to the MIF.
Before the council meeting, the secretary-general had pledged United Nations help for Haiti. He also said, "We are not only going to help stabilize the current situation, but assist the Haitians over the long haul and really help them pick up the pieces and build a stable country."
Annan called on the Haitian people to "remain calm, to work with the new president, and to think of their country and their future, not individual ambitions."
