Haiti violence fears lift, US troops help deliver aid

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PORT-AU-PRINCE, Jan 20 (Reuters): Fears of violence and looting eased in earthquake-devastated Haiti as US troops provided security for water and food aid deliveries, and thousands of displaced Haitians heeded the government's advice to seek shelter outside Port-au-Prince.
Medical care, handling of corpses, shelter, water, food and sanitation remain the priorities for the international operations, UN relief officials said a week after the magnitude 7.0 earthquake rocked Haiti.
While military escorts are still needed to deliver relief supplies, the United Nations said security problems were mainly in areas considered "high risk" before the January 12 quake. Some 4,000 criminals escaped from damaged prisons soon after the temblor hit.
"The overall security situation in Port-au-Prince remains stable, with limited, localized violence and looting occurring," the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said.
US Black Hawk helicopters swooped down on the grounds of Haiti's wrecked presidential palace on Tuesday, deploying troops and supplies and immediately attracting crowds of survivors who clamored for handouts of food.
Around 12,000 US military personnel are on the ground in Haiti, on ships offshore or en route, including the USNS Comfort hospital ship, which was to arrive in the area on Wednesday, providing essential capacity for complex surgeries.
At least one Latin American leader, Venezuela's socialist President Hugo Chavez, a fiery critic of what he calls U.S. "imperialism," has already accused Washington of "occupying" Haiti under the pretext of an aid operation.
But Haitian President Rene Preval has said US troops will help UN peacekeepers keep order.
In a bid to speed the arrival of aid and stem looting and violence, the UN Security Council this week unanimously agreed to temporarily add 2,000 UN troops and 1,500 police to the 9,000-member peacekeeping mission in Haiti.
Watching the soldiers, quake survivor Gille Frantz said: "We know the world wants to help us, but it has been eight days now and I have not seen any food or water for my family."
The World Food Programme, which has fed 200,000 quake victims, aims to move the equivalent of 10 million ready-to-eat meals in the next week, the United Nations said. An additional 130,000 have been fed by other relief groups.