Haiti expels UN observers

Port-au-Prince - Haiti's army-backed government ordered a UN-led international human rights mission to leave the country yesterday, a move denounced by the US and branded an outrageous provocation by a top UN official.

The more than 100-member UN-Organisation of American States mission has until 9am tomorrow to leave the country where virtually all flights have been cut off because of international sanctions.

In Washington, the expulsion order was strongly critcised but government officials declined to say if it made a US military invasion of the Caribbean country more likely.