By Judy Aita
Washington File United Nations Correspondent

United Nations -- Responding to the deteriorating political and security situation in Haiti and the resignation of its president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, the U.N. Security Council voted unanimously on February 29 to send an interim peacekeeping force immediately to help secure and stabilize the country.

Acting under Chapter VII of the U.N. Charter, which authorizes the use of military force to fulfill its mandate, the council established a "multinational interim force" for "a period of not more than three months." It directed the force to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid and the access of aid workers throughout the country and to help the Haitian police and Coast Guard establish and maintain public safety, law, and order. In its resolution, the council authorized "the member states participating in the Multinational Interim Force in Haiti to take all necessary measures to fulfill its mandate."

The council also said that it is ready "to establish a follow-on United Nations stabilization force to support continuation of a peaceful and constitutional political process and the maintenance of a secure and stable environment." The council asked U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, in consultation with the Organization of American States (OAS), to recommend the size, structure, and mandate of such a force within 30 days.

The council met in the early evening of February 29 to respond to the resignation of Aristide, who left the country for Africa, and to the appeal from Haiti's acting president, Supreme Court Justice Boniface Alexandre, for an international force to help restore peace.

John Negroponte, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, called the council's action "an important step."

"We also can take some satisfaction that the council was able to react so rapidly to the situation. I think that's a very encouraging development, indeed," the ambassador said. "The fact that this was a presidential text reflecting the unity of the Security Council in the face of the situation is also an encouraging development."

"With the developments of today, Haiti has turned a new page in its history," Negroponte added. "It's got an opportunity, and the international community has an opportunity to assist the country of Haiti in getting back on the path towards the establishment of a stable and democratic society."

After the vote, Annan said that with its quick action "the international community has shown the will to help the Haitian people."

The secretary general also expressed the hope that the council's action is not merely a "Band-Aid," and that the international community "is ... not only going to help stabilize the current situation, but assist the Haitians over the long haul and really help them pick up the pieces and build a stable country."

The council also called on member states to contribute personnel, equipment and other necessary financial and logistic resources "on an urgent basis" to the multinational force.

In the resolution, the council demanded that all the parties to the conflict reject violence; respect international law, including human rights; and respect "the constitutional succession and the political process underway to resolve the current crisis."

On February 27, the U.N. secretary general appointed John Dumas of Trinidad and Tobago as his special advisor on Haiti. Dumas, the U.N. said, will coordinate U.N. actions with all relevant actors, including regional organizations and individual nations.