Haiti PM Ariel Henry resigns amid security crisis

Haiti PM Ariel Henry has resigned. [Via VOA]

Haiti Prime Minister Ariel Henry has resigned following weeks of escalated tension and chaos in the Caribbean nation.

His exit comes at the back of a meeting by regional leaders in Jamaica on Monday to discuss a political transition in Haiti.

Guyana President and current Caribbean Chairman Irfaan Ali announced on Monday, March 11: "We acknowledge his resignation upon the establishment of a transitional presidential council and the naming of an interim prime minister."

Henry, 74, served in the unelected post since 2021, following the assassination of the country's last president.

The announcement to step down follows weeks of escalated violence in the capital, Port-au-Prince, and mounting pressure to resign by gangs in the country.

The Haiti PM had been locked out of the country and left stranded in Puerto Rico.

He had previously been in Kenya to sign a deal on the deployment of 1,000 Kenyan police officers to Haiti, to help quell the violence and fight the armed gangs in a multinational security mission okayed by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).