U.N. troops leaving, but Haiti still in crisis
Poverty, violence still the rule 6 years after intervention

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti -- Six years after U.S. troops landed in Haiti hoping to shore up democracy and promote stability, the international force that followed is leaving the island much as it was found: in a state of political crisis, crushing poverty and deep uncertainty.

Long-delayed elections to replace the Parliament that President Rene Preval dissolved a year ago have once again been postponed. A spate of attacks on election offices has sharpened doubts about the police's ability to fight increasing street violence. And many Haitians say they've lost all faith in the government.The remnants of a U.N. force deployed in 1995 flew home last week, leaving Haiti's security in the hands of local authorities -- which a recent U.S. State Department report describe as "an immature force that is still grappling with problems of corruption and human rights abusers," as well as narcotics traffickers "at all levels of the force."

President Clinton sent 20,000 American troops to Haiti in 1994 to oust the country's military dictatorship after thousands of Haitians risked their lives in rickety boats to flee the Caribbean island and reach U.S. shores.

The operation restored President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, the first democratically elected leader since the founding of the Haitian republic in 1804.

The United States passed the peacekeeping baton to the United Nations in 1995. Three years later, the U.N. mission had been reduced mainly to a training operation for Haiti's police force, which replaced the disbanded army. Some U.S. troops continued a humanitarian mission, which shut down in January.

A new U.N. mission takes over this week to help organize elections, continue police training and coordinate international aid.

But the elections remain uncertain, and the police training has so far produced a force that seems incapable of handling the escalating violence.

Preval, Aristide's hand-picked successor, first called for new elections in January 1999, after he dissolved Parliament in a dispute with lawmakers over 1997 polls that opponents say he rigged to pack the legislature with allies.

Haiti's electoral council has rescheduled the vote for a second time. It's now set for April 9 and May 21 -- but Preval has challenged the council's authority to set new dates.