UN extends Haiti political mission after US-China dispute

By EDITH M. LEDERER
Associated Press

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. Security Council has voted unanimously to extend the U.N. political mission in Haiti after a dispute between China, which has no diplomatic relations with Latin America’s poorest country, and many other members who stressed the importance of the long-term presence of the United Nations in the crisis-wracked nation. The U.S. and Mexico reached a compromise with China just hours before the mission’s mandate ends at midnight Friday  to extend  the mission’s mandate for nine months — less than the year Washington wanted and more than the six months Beijing was seeking. Diplomats said this averted a Chinese veto.