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Haiti gang leader writes to Guterres seeking UN talks as missing-soldiers row deepens

4 November 2026 · Algeria Now

Haiti gang leader writes to Guterres seeking UN talks as missing-soldiers row deepens — Photo : w:International Crisis Group / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0

UNITED NATIONS — A gang leader wanted by the United States has written to UN Secretary-General António Guterres asking for a UN delegation to negotiate with his group, and the organization said on Monday that receiving the letter "does not constitute an endorsement" of its contents.

The author is Wilson Joseph, head of the 400 Mawozo gang, which kidnapped 17 US and Canadian missionaries in October 2021 and for whom the FBI offers a one-million-dollar reward. He wrote that he had "officially raised the white flag" and wanted dialogue with international forces. UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric stressed that all security operations in Haiti must respect international law, including human rights and humanitarian law.

The letter comes amid tension over four Salvadoran soldiers serving with the Security Council-authorised Gang Suppression Force, who disappeared on 18 October during an armed attack on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince. Joseph claims they are dead; Haitian authorities consider them missing, and El Salvador believes they are alive. At the end of October, El Salvador sent more than 2,000 troops to search for them. The UN says most of those troops are not deployed under the force, which was authorized at 5,500 personnel but remains well below that figure.

The humanitarian toll is heavy. According to the UN, more than 5,700 people were killed or injured between January and mid-September, nearly 1.5 million Haitians have been driven from their homes, and about 6.4 million, over half the population, need aid.

The episode illustrates a principle Algeria has long defended in international forums: that peace and security operations must rest on the UN Charter and a mandate from the Security Council, with respect for the sovereignty of the country concerned and for the protection of civilians.

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