Call For UN Probe Of Aristide's Leaving Haiti

Only Security Council Can Call For UN Probe Of Aristide's Leaving Haiti - Annan

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today said the Security Council was responsible for deciding whether there should be an investigation of how President Jean-Bertrand Aristide came to leave Haiti.

"This is an issue that the Council will have to discuss and determine whether it takes it up or not, because the Council acted on the assumption that the President had resigned and they had a letter of resignation before them," he <"http://www.un.org/apps/sg/offthecuff.asp?nid=559">said as he entered UN Headquarters, replying to a question on calls for a probe from the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the African Union (AU).

"If they want to get into the investigation and they gave me the mandate, I would be duty-bound to undertake it. And so this is an issue that we will need to discuss with the Council," he said.

Meanwhile, Mr. Annan's spokesman said a security and humanitarian mission reached the northern Haitian city of Cap Haitien by way of Gonaïves today, but concern was rising that food stocks in Gonaïves could soon run out because of roadblocks impeding access to the strategically located town.

The mission included representatives of the UN World Food Programme (WFP), the UN Children's Fund ( http://www.unicef.org/ UNICEF), spokesman Fred Eckhard told journalists in New York.

Tomorrow an assessment mission will examine access along the road joining the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, and the border of the Dominican Republic, he said.

The Norwegian Government has provided 100 trucks to help logistics, Mr. Eckhard said, and the French Red Cross has given UNICEF seven ambulances. UNICEF has also received $300,000 worth of medical supplies, while the distribution of water by truck has resumed in Port-au-Prince.

The UN is concerned because many hospitals and schools still have not been functioning, he added.

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