Sarkozy offers Haiti millions in aid and debt relief
By DPA, IANSWednesday, February 17, 2010
Paris/Port-au-PRINCE - French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Wednesday in the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince that France would give the earthquake-ravaged country 326 million euros ($450 million) in reconstruction aid.
That amount includes a cancellation of Haiti’s debt to France of 56 million euros, the French president said during his brief visit to the Caribbean nation.
On his arrival, Sarkozy was greeted by his Haitian counterpart, Rene Preval, and the two leaders then flew by helicopter over the devastated areas.
“Such a people does not die,” Sarkozy said during an address to French rescue workers in the capital Port-au-Prince, and promised that “France will make a large contribution to support its Haitian friends”.
Sarkozy’s visit was the first by an EU head of state to Haiti and the first ever by a French president to the former French colony.
It came five weeks after Haiti was struck by a powerful quake that killed more than 217,000 people and left some 1.2 million of its residents homeless.
