Hti: France to help rebuild

PORT-AU-PRINCE, April 15 (AFP) - Visiting French Defence Minister Michele Alliot-Marie Thursday pledged to help Haiti regain its footing following months of crisis and violence.

"We want to help Haitian authorities restore the normal institutional functions and economic development that are essential for the country," she said after a 45-minute meeting with Prime Minister Gerard Latortue.

France will notably help create conditions for elections to be held as soon as possible, said Alliot-Marie, the first French minister to visit Haiti since February 29, when then-president Jean Bertrand Aristide resigned and left the country.

"We will also try to help them rebuild the police, justice, education and health sectors as well as technical sectors such as road-building," she said.She said France would send police and gendarmes to participate in a future UN security force in Haiti.

Latortue said France would also help assess the role former insurgents could play in the police force.

Does all this help amount to $22 billion?