Kidnap accused missionaries for court soon

Ten American missionaries who have been charged with kidnapping children in Haiti could be called before the courts this weekend or as early as Monday.

The five men and five women are facing up to three months in detention as they wait to be tried.

The group was arrested last Friday after they attempted to take 33 Haitian children out of the country following the earthquake.

A BBC Caribbean correspondent said the courts may try to fast track the trial but the judiciary took a massive loss in the quake.

The president of the court who died in the disaster has only just been replaced.

It’s still not certain though if they will be tried in Haiti itself.

“Haitian authorities are saying that the state still exists so people cannot come here and violate the law,” Joseph Guyler Delva told BBC Caribbean.

The Haitian Prime Minister, Jean-Max Bellerive, said the trial was becoming a distraction.

He said people were talking more about ten missionaries than a million people suffering on the streets.

Jamaica stands-by
for IMF loan

The Jamaican government is on standby to receive an installment of US$640 million from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The IMF approved a $1.3 billion loan to the debt ridden country on Thursday to support Jamaica’s economic reforms and help it cope with the consequences of the global downturn.

Part of the first instalment will be used to establish a Financial Stability Support Fund and support key projects including health and education programmes.

But Jamaica has had past troubles with the IMF and it is the first time in 15 years that the country has gone to the institution.

While some Jamaicans welcome the loan, others have been expressing some concern about this renewal of a relationship with the Fund.