UN extends Haiti mission by 9 months

The United Nations Security Council extended the UN mission in Haiti by nine months on Friday after an 11th-hour compromise was struck between Western powers and China.

The council passed a resolution extending the mandate by less than the one-year that the United States had sought, but more than the six months Beijing wanted.

The proposal was passed unanimously by 15 votes to zero.

The vote came shortly after 6pm (5am Thailand time), just hours before the political mission was due to expire, extending it to July 15 next year.

Haiti is currently in the grip of a deep political, economic, social and security crisis.

It has not had a sitting parliament for more than a year and a half amid disputes, with the country put under oneman rule by president Jovenel Moise, who was assassinated in July.

Beijing had signalled it would veto a US draft extending the mandate by a year.