US vows to stay course as Haiti battles hunger

The battle-stretched US military yesterday vowed to help Haiti as long as needed, as the Caribbean nation struggles to feed up to a million people left destitute by a huge quake.

Colonel Gregory Kane, one of the top US commanders in the field, said American involvement in Haiti would last as long as the conditions in the earthquake-shattered country required their presence.

But he said military operations could end as little as 45 days after they began in the aftermath of the January 12 quake.

"We are in Haiti as long as needed and are welcomed by the government of Haiti" said Kane, who directs US Joint Task Force Haiti.

Asked how long the mission would last, Kane replied: "The military portion of the operation, if you follow historical trends, probably 45 to 50 days."

The US military's main task has been to provide security to 16 food supply points across the city.

But during a visit to Port-au-Prince on Friday, former US president Bill Clinton warned that was not enough to supply the million left homeless by the 7.0-magnitude quake.

Yesterday hundreds of desperate Haitians gathered at one of the drop-off points opposite Petionville's putrid cemetery, on the outskirts of the ruined capital city, Port-au-Prince.

Surrounded by dozens of heavily-armed US soldiers, old ladies and even young men struggled under the burning tropical sun to carry away sacks of rice to waiting tap-taps, the brightly coloured collective taxis that snail through the capital's streets.

But with Haitians increasingly angry that a massive international aid effort is not succeeding in reaching them, Kane said supply chains were gradually improving.

At Haiti's wrecked port, where the off-angle tilt of gantry cranes still attest to the violence of the January 12 quake, Kane said the flow of goods was now beating pre-quake levels.

On Friday the port dealt with the equivalent of 750 20-foot containers, a pittance for major ports, but as much as 15 times more cargo than before the earthquake. Much of it was food aid, he said.

While the US military pondered its presence in the country, the fate of 10 American missionaries detained for child smuggling was also in doubt.