"US: says Haiti's airport security not up to international standards"

Thursday, December 23, 2004

US: says Haiti's airport security not up to international standards
The Associated Press


PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) - The United States is alerting travelers that
Haiti's main airport does not meet international security standards, though
U.S. officials are working to help the resolve the problem, an official
said. 

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has directed airlines that provide
flights between the United States and the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince
to notify travelers of the warning, Darrin Kayser, a spokesman for the U.S.
Transportation Security Administration, said Wednesday. 

Homeland Security also ordered U.S. airports to display the warning
prominently, Kayser said. 

For security reasons, Kayser declined to discuss the specific safety
weaknesses at the Toussaint Louverture International Airport in the Haitian
capital of Port-au-Prince. 

He said Transportation Security Administration inspectors found the airport
didn't meet requirements set by the International Civil Aviation
Organization, a group affiliated with the United Nations that sets aviation
standards. 

The Haitian airport is the only one in the world that the U.S. agency has
found not to meet international security standards, Kayser said. 

The U.S. agency only inspects airports with direct flights to the United
States, he said. 

But Kayser said U.S. officials are currently trying to help Haitian
officials correct the airport's deficiencies. 

Although the U.S. agency said it had informed Haitian officials of its
decision, Haitian government spokesman Mike Joseph said he knew nothing
about it and declined to comment. 

It's unclear how the U.S. warning will affect Haiti, where political
upheaval has deterred tourism for years. 

More than 100 people have been killed in politically related violence in the
capital since Sept. 30, when supporters of ousted President Jean-Bertrand
Aristide stepped up demands for his return from South Africa and threatened
Haitian police and U.N. peacekeepers with violence. 

Several provincial towns are still under control of the former soldiers who
ousted Aristide in February and refuse to lay down their arms. 

The violence has overwhelmed Haiti's ill-equipped police force and comes
despite the presence of a 7,000-member U.N. peacekeeping force. 

In October, the U.S. State Department warned U.S. citizens against traveling
to Haiti and urged Americans already in the country to leave. 

It also authorised nonessential U.S. Embassy personnel and family members of
employees to leave. 

On Wednesday, unknown assailants broke into the home of a U.S. Embassy
employee, shooting and seriously injuring a guard, an embassy official said
on condition of anonymity. 

The embassy employee was not harmed and was moved to another location, the
official said. 

The official declined to comment on possible motives for the attack, saying
only that U.N. and Haitian police were investigating. 

He said the U.S. Embassy did not implement new security measures for
employees, who already have a 9 p.m. curfew and must get to work by shuttle
bus.


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