Joint Chiefs Chairman Mullen visits Haiti, confers with government leaders, meets with troops

Mullen visits Haiti, talks to American troops

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — U.S. Adm. Mike Mullen met Friday with Haitian President Rene Preval and Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive in Mullen’s first trip to the earthquake-devastated country.

Mullen, who is chairman of the U.S. military’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, said he wanted to visit American troops and assess conditions there. He said that he hasn’t toured the rubble in the nearly seven weeks since the 7.0 magnitude quake struck because he wanted to give international relief efforts a chance to get under way.

At the beginning of the meeting, Preval interrupted Mullen to address two U.S. reporters. He said allegations of corruption in the Haitian government were false. Preval said, “If the government talks about corruption, it’s because we have a high sense of morality.”

Mullen’s visit was among trips here by several by VIPs in recent weeks, including French President Nicolas Sarkozy. Some 11,000 U.S. troops are on the ground and offshore in Haiti to provide security and aid relief efforts. That number is slightly down from its peak of about 15,000.