US troops will leave Haiti by 1 June

The US military mobilisation in support of Haitian earthquake relief and recovery efforts is winding down and will be concluded for the most part by 1 June, the American army said yesterday. The deputy chief of US Southern Command, Lieutenant- General Ken Keen, says there are about 2,200 American troops still there, compared to 22,000 at the peak of the US effort. And he says that, by June, only about 500 National Guard and Reserve personnel will be stationed in Haiti to help aid workers. The 12 January earthquake was estimated to have killed as many as 250,000 people.