Third U.N. Soldier Killed In Haiti

A U.N. peacekeeper from the Philippines was shot and killed Thursday on the fringes of a Haitian slum where troops have clashed with politically aligned street gangs, underscoring the volatile situation as the U.N. Security Council discussed expanding the mission.

The soldier was killed as U.N. troops prepared to set up an observation post at the entrance to Cite Soleil, a slum dominated by supporters of ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, U.N. officials said. He was the third peacekeeper to be killed during the year-old U.N. mission in Haiti.

Philippine troops said the soldier, a 22-year army veteran, was driving an officer in a white U.N. sport-utility vehicle when he was shot. U.N. troops were barricading sidestreets and establishing a checkpoint at the slum's main entrance in an effort to clamp down on gangs.

Members of the U.N. Security Council, who were on a fact-finding trip, were meeting at the Hotel Montana on a hill overlooking the city.

Interim Prime Minister Gerard Latortue asked council members for more international help disarming an array of militant groups who could disrupt the electoral process, according to diplomats who attended the morning meeting.

Anne Woods Patterson, the United States' acting U.N. ambassador, said in an interview that adding officers to the 1,400-person civilian police force was also under consideration.

"There may be a very good argument here for more police, to strengthen the police contingent before the elections," she said.

Adding soldiers to the 6,200-member U.N. peacekeeping force is not under consideration, said Brazilian U.N. Ambassador Ronaldo Mota Sardenberg, who is leading the council's four-day fact-finding trip.

Some international observers say despite more aggressive U.N. moves against armed bands in recent months, tens of thousands of high-powered weapons pose a risk to stability and the upcoming elections.

Haiti is the Western Hemisphere's poorest nation, and residents desperate for fuel and cash have stripped its hillsides of trees, harming water quality and contributing to devastating floods.

By Michael Weissenstein