UN peacekeepers in Haiti want to reduce troops

Uruguay: The head of the United Nations mission in Haiti said on Thursday he will ask the U.N. Security Council next week to allow a gradual reduction in peacekeeping forces in the Caribbean country.

The proposal was backed by South American defense and foreign ministers meeting in Uruguay's capital, Montevideo, whose countries have contributed the bulk of the peacekeepers. The seven-year-old mission was expanded by 2,000 troops to nearly 12,300 after a crippling earthquake struck Haiti early last year, but officials said conditions have since improved.

"The proposal is under way, and we agree that the increase ... due to the earthquake can now be reduced. Montevideo, Friday, Reuters