Blinken arrives in Haiti to show US support for fighting gang violence

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived Thursday in Haiti to reaffirm the U.S. government’s commitment to a multinational mission to fight gangs in the Caribbean country and push for long-awaited general elections as he supported consideration of a peacekeeping operation.

Some 400 Kenyan police have been deployed to Haiti to lead a U.N.-backed mission to quell gang violence in the Haitian capital and beyond, but concerns have grown that the mission lacks resources.

“At this critical moment, we do need more funding, we do need more personnel to sustain and carry out the objectives of this mission,” Blinken told reporters.

He added that the U.S. is working to renew the mission, “but we also want to make sure that we have something that’s reliable, that’s sustainable. We’ll look at every option to do that. A peacekeeping operation would be one such option.”

On Wednesday, Brian Nichols, U.S. assistant secretary for Western Hemisphere affairs, confirmed the U.S. government is considering a U.N. peacekeeping operation as one way to secure money and resources to fight gangs that control 80% of Haiti’s capital.

Many Haitians have rejected the proposal of another peacekeeping operation, given the introduction of cholera and sexual abuse cases that occurred when U.N. troops were last in Haiti.

Blinken arrived a day after Haiti’s government extended a state of emergency to the entire country. It had been imposed earlier in the year in the capital and surrounding areas in an attempt to stem the ongoing violence.

Blinken met with Haitian Prime Minister Garry Conille and a nine-member transitional presidential council that was created after former Prime Minister Ariel Henry resigned. He also met with unspecified political party leaders, the head of the multinational mission and the chief of Haiti’s National Police.

He said the discussions centered in part on how to ensure that security personnel are well-trained, well=equipped and held accountable, adding that there's a “clear plan” on the mission's next steps. Talks also focused on the need to hold general elections.

“That is the critical next step,” he said. “We want to make sure Haiti is back on a clear democratic track.”

Haiti last held elections in 2016, and officials since then have blamed gang violence and political upheaval for preventing them from holding new ones.

In July 2021, former President Jovenel Moïse was assassinated, and gang violence since then has surged. In February, gangs launched coordinated attacks on police stations and the main international airport, which remained closed for nearly three months. They also stormed Haiti’s two largest prisons, releasing more than 4,000 inmates.

The violence subsided somewhat before the first contingent of Kenyan police arrived in late June, with Blinken noting that economic activity has restarted in some areas of Port-au-Prince, and that joint operations have led to successes including regaining control of Haiti's biggest public hospital.

However, gangs continue to attack communities surrounding Port-au-Prince.

“Taking back the streets from gangs is critical,” Blinken said.

After meeting with officials in Haiti, Blinken is scheduled to fly Thursday night to the Dominican Republic, which shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti.

On Friday, he is scheduled to meet with Dominican President Luis Abinader and other officials before returning to the U.S. later that day.

Nichols said the talks with Abinader will focus on three priorities: strengthening economic ties, advancing values including respect for human and labor rights and promoting increased security in the region, especially in Haiti.

Abinader has come under fire in recent years for his administration’s treatment of Haitian migrants and those born in the Dominican Republic to Haitian parents.

He also has largely closed the airspace with Haiti and is building a wall between the two nations.

People walk down a street covered with trash in downtown Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

Police officers patrol a street near the airport in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

People walk down a street covered with trash in downtown Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

A truck drives past a police officer standing guard outside the airport in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

The plane that carried U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrives at Toussaint Louverture International Airport in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

A street vendor walks past police officers ahead of the arrival of U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in sunglasses, speaks with Commander of the Multinational Security Support Mission Commander Godfrey Otunge in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024. (Roberto Schmidt/Pool photo via AP)

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in sunglasses, and Commander of the Multinational Security Support Mission Commander Godfrey Otunge chat at the MSS base in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024. (Roberto Schmidt/Pool photo via AP)

Commander of the Multinational Security Support Mission Commander Godfrey Otunge, third from right, shows U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, fourth from right, armored vehicles the U.S. government donated at the MSS base in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024. (Roberto Schmidt/Pool photo via AP)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, greets the Haitian National Police General Director Rameau Normal upon arriving at the MSS base for a meeting in Port Au Prince, Haiti, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024. (Roberto Schmidt/Pool photo via AP)

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, right, and Haitian Transitional Presidential Council Coordinator Edgard Leblanc Fils speak to the press at the U.S. Chief of Mission Residence in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024. (Roberto Schmidt/Pool photo via AP)

Haitian Prime Minister Garry Conille, left, and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken speak to the press at the U.S. Chief of Mission Residence in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024. (Roberto Schmidt/Pool photo via AP)

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, top right, and Haitian Prime Minister Garry Conille arrive to speak to the press at the U.S. Chief of Mission Residence in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024. (Roberto Schmidt/Pool photo via AP)

People watch the motorcade of U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024. (Roberto Schmidt/Pool photo via AP)

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, center, and Haitian Transitional Presidential Council Coordinator Edgard Leblanc Fils, left, arrive to speak to the press at the U.S. Chief of Mission Residence in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024. (Roberto Schmidt/Pool photo via AP)

Haitian Prime Minister Garry Conille, front, and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken enter the U.S. Chief of Mission Residence after speaking to the press in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024. (Roberto Schmidt/Pool photo via AP)

A plane that carried U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrives at Toussaint Louverture International Airport in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, right, and Haitian Transitional Presidential Council Coordinator Edgard Leblanc Fils speak to the press at the U.S. Chief of Mission Residence in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024. (Roberto Schmidt/Pool photo via AP)

Kenyan police officers, part of a UN-backed multinational force, drive past residents in armored vehicles on the streets of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

Kenyan police officers, part of a UN-backed multinational, work to tow away a broken down armored car during an operation in the Delmas neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

A man walks near armored vehicles of Kenyan police officers part of a UN-backed multinational in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

MAGDEBURG, Germany (AP) — Germany on Saturday was still in shock and struggling to understand the suspect behind the attack in the city of Magdeburg.

Identified by local media as 50-year-old Taleb A., a psychiatry and psychotherapy specialist, authorities said he has been living in Germany for two decades. He was arrested on site after plowing a black BMW into a Christmas market crowded with holiday shoppers Friday evening, killing at least five people and wounding about 200 others.

Prominent German terrorism expert Peter Neumann posted on X that he had yet to come across a suspect in an act of mass violence with that profile.

Taleb’s X account is filled with tweets and retweets focusing on anti-Islam themes and criticism of the religion while sharing congratulatory notes to Muslims who left the faith. He also described himself as a former Muslim.

He was critical of German authorities, saying they had failed to do enough to combat the “Islamism of Europe.”

He has also voiced support for the far-right and anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.

Some described Taleb as an activist who helped Saudi women flee their homeland. Recently, he seemed focused on his theory that German authorities have been targeting Saudi asylum seekers.

Neumann, the terrorism expert, wrote: “After 25 years in this ‘business’ you think nothing could surprise you anymore. But a 50-year-old Saudi ex-Muslim who lives in East Germany, loves the AfD and wants to punish Germany for its tolerance towards Islamists — that really wasn’t on my radar."

A person stands by flowers and candles placed outside St. John's Church near a Christmas Market, where a car drove into a crowd on Friday evening, in Magdeburg, Germany, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)