Haiti commission recommends restoring army

HAITI: A presidential commission has backed the restoration of Haiti's army, which was disbanded in the mid-1990s after decades of coups and political sway, President Michel Martelly said Sunday.

"The commission has recommended the creation of a new army that will intervene in cases of natural disaster and work to safeguard our territorial integrity," Martelly said as Haiti celebrated its independence day.

Martelly, whose comments in the coastal city of Gonaives to the north, were shown on state television, said the commission's report would be submitted to other branches of government in the Caribbean nation for their review.

After decades of political interference and dozens of coups, Haiti's military was dissolved by then-president Jean-Bertrand Aristide after he returned to power in 1994.

But amid all the political turmoil the nation was scarred by brutal militias, which brought terror to the Amercias' poorest nation under various leaders.

Port- Au -Prince, Monday, AFP