欧盟外交部长已同意向海地派遣一支300多名的援助队伍、以保证海地震后的物品顺利发放。援助队伍主要由法国和意大利组成，英国曾反对派遣该援助队，坚称目前美国在海地的200人援助队已经足够应付当地的安全需要……

EU to send 300 police to Haiti

EU foreign ministers have agreed to send a mission of just over 300 police officers to help ensure aid distribution in quake-ravaged Haiti.

'There is an agreement on a collective contribution of gendarmes,' an EU diplomat told reporters in Brussels, adding that the contingent, whose biggest contributors will be France and Italy, would number 'a little over 300 people.'

Britain had opposed the idea, insisting that the US, with some 20,000 troops in the area, had more than enough personnel to provide for security needs.

It comes as the UN Chief of Mission in Haiti, Edmond Mulet, called for more manpower and vehicles to help relief efforts following the devastating quake 13 days ago.

Mr Mulet's predecessor was killed when the UN headquarters in Port-au-Prince collapsed on 12 January.

International donors are meeting in Montreal to discuss rebuilding Haiti after the worst recorded disaster to hit the Americas.

At the conference, the US, Canada, France, Brazil and other donors will attempt to craft long-term strategies to lift crippled Haiti, the poorest nation in the western hemisphere, on to a path to recovery.

Japan has meanwhile announced that it will pledge $70m (€49.5m) in aid to quake-hit Haiti and deploy as many as 300 peacekeepers to the UN mission in the Caribbean nation.

The aid includes $25m in emergency assistance and $45m for long-term reconstruction.

An Irish aid team has been examining how the Irish Government can respond to the disaster.

A report on what Ireland can do in the aftermath of the Haiti earthquake will be made to the Minister for Foreign Affairs later this week.

It will be presented to Minister Martin by four members of an Irish aid team that spent the last few days examining what kind of help the country needs.

The confirmed death toll from the earthquake is now being put at 150,000 - that is based on bodies collected in and around Port-au-Prince.

However, it does not include the thousands more that remain buried in the rubble of collapsed builds.

Following a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels this morning the Irish Government has decided to commit a further 40 tonnes of emergency aid for Haiti.

This is in addition to a consignment of 80 tonnes sent last week, and more than €2m in direct funding to the UN and Irish NGOs.