A veteran United Nations peacekeeping official was appointed Friday to head the organization's mission in Haiti, where insecurity and underdevelopment woes have required a long-term international military presence, according to dpa. Hedi Annabi of Tunisia will on August 1 become chief of the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), which oversees nearly 7,000 military and civilian personnel from 19 countries. Brazil and Uruguay have each provided about 1,100 troops to the effort. Annabi is an assistant secretary general in the peacekeeping department at UN headquarters. He will replace Edmond Mulet of Guatemala. The appointment was made by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who plans to visit Haiti and Barbados next week, his first visit to the Caribbean region since taking up his post in January.
