UN to send aid to Haiti via 'airbridge' as 'Barbecue' vows to fight on

The United Nations plans to set up an "airbridge" to get more aid into crisis-wracked Haiti from neighbouring Dominican Republic, and to transport personnel, the UN's Haiti mission has said.

"The UN in Haiti is establishing an airbridge between Haiti and the Dominican Republic to ensure seamless delivery of assistance and facilitate the movement of personnel," the mission said on Wednesday on X, formerly Twitter, noting it "expected [the] arrival of other crisis management personnel."

It comes as stakeholders were working toward establishing a transitional governing body to replace the outgoing prime minister.

The announcement came, however, as Jimmy Cherizier, a powerful Haitian gang leader known as "Barbecue," said his coalition of armed groups "do not care about [Prime Minister] Ariel Henry's resignation."

"We are going to continue the fight for Haiti's liberation," the UN-sanctioned former policeman told Spanish-language network W Radio.

Haiti has not had a national election since 2016, and there is currently no parliament or president. President Jovenel Moise, who was assassinated in 2021, was not replaced, with Henry leading the country after his death.

Henry has been stranded in Puerto Rico after a visit to Kenya, where he hoped to nail down the details of a plan for Nairobi to lead a UN-approved police force to restore order in Haiti.

He announced late on Monday that he had agreed to resign when the transitional council is stood up.

Kenya said it had temporarily put its plans on hold, but President William Ruto confirmed on Wednesday that his country still intended to follow through with the support mission once the transitional council is installed.

Tough talks

The transitional body is to have seven voting members drawn from political parties, the private sector and the Montana Group, a civil society coalition that had proposed an interim government in 2021 after Moise's assassination.

There will also be two non-voting seats on the council — one for civil society and another for the church.

The body is supposed to quickly name an interim prime minister.

The US State Department said on Tuesday the council should be formed in 24 or 48 hours, but the talks are turning out to be arduous and most parties contacted by the AFP news agency said they were not yet near agreement.

Parties close to Moise have selected their delegate to the transitional body, but politicians loyal to Henry are still in disagreement over who will represent them.

"We're talking about political parties, which have not been able to see eye to eye over the last few years," Ivan Briscoe, head of the International Crisis Group's Latin America and Caribbean program, told AFP.

Now that Henry is on his way out, "possibly they will look to the national interest and leave aside their party interests for a while until the elections," he said.