The UN Security Council held an emergency meeting over violence-ridden Haiti after the US stepped up pressure on the country's ousted Prime Minister Ariel Henri to reach a political settlement.
Armed gangs that control much of the country launched a coordinated effort to oust Henri last week, attacking the airport, prisons, and police stations and threatening full-scale civil war. The US called on the prime minister to hold free elections but did not demand his resignation, a key demand of influential gangster leader Jimmy "Barbecue" Cherizier.
Henri has been in power since the assassination of President Jovenel Moise in 2021 and was due to step down in February, but instead agreed to a power-sharing deal with the opposition until new elections are held. Chérizier warned on Tuesday that the worsening chaos would lead to civil war and mass bloodshed unless Henry relented.
At least 15,000 people have fled the worst-hit parts of Port-au-Prince, and UN human rights chief Volker Turk said on Wednesday the situation was "intolerable" with 1,193 people killed across the country this year of gang violence. Amid recent unrest, Henri is unable to return to his country. /BGNES, AFP
