MONTREAL (Reuters) – Haiti needs at least five to 10 years of reconstruction help after its people were “bloodied, martyred and ruined” by the devastating earthquake this month, Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive said on Monday.

“The people of Haiti will need more and more and more in order to complete the reconstruction,” Bellerive told an international aid conference, intended to survey immediate needs and then begin plotting Haiti’s long-term recovery.

“I bring you the thanks of a people who have been bloodied, martyred and ruined but who are standing,” he told U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner and representatives of 10 other countries.

The meeting was not intended to bring specific aid promises but instead to assess immediate needs and also to look beyond to a strategy to rebuild from the January 12 quake that killed up to 200,000 people and smashed the capital Port-au-Prince.

MONTREAL, Jan 25 (Reuters) – Haiti needs at least five to 10 years of reconstruction help after its people were "bloodied, martyred and ruined" by the devastating earthquake this month, Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive said on Monday. "The people of Haiti will need more and more and more in order to complete the reconstruction," Bellerive told an international aid conference, intended to survey immediate needs and then begin plotting Haiti’s long-term recovery. "I bring you the thanks of a people who have been bloodied, martyred and ruined but who are standing," he told U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner and representatives of 10 other countries. The meeting was not intended to bring specific aid promises but instead to assess immediate needs and also to look beyond to a strategy to rebuild from the Jan. 12 quake that killed up to 200,000 people and smashed the capital Port-au-Prince. The group decided to hold an urgent international pledging conference at the U.N. headquarters in New York in March. "We’re trying to do this in the correct order … Sometimes people have pledging conferences and pledge money and they don’t have any idea what they are going to do with it," Clinton told a closing news conference. "We actually think it’s a novel idea to do the needs assessment first, and then the planning, and then the pledging." A key theme that emerged was the importance of ensuring development and population was not so concentrated in Port-au-Prince, which sits right on a fault line. "In 30 seconds, Haiti lost 60 percent of its GDP (gross domestic product)," Bellerive said, referring to excessive centralization in the capital. "So we must decentralize." He noted that people have been steadily leaving the devastated city since the quake struck. Clinton said agriculture, which can act as a magnet back to the countryside, had not gotten the attention it deserved. "I was quite heartened to hear the prime minister say that … we should look at how we decentralize economic opportunity and work with the Haitian government and people to support resettlement," she told reporters. Bellerive said Haitian President Rene Preval had just called him to press urgently for an additional 200,000 tents for people who lost their homes. But U.N. Emergency Relief Coordinator John Holmes said stronger temporary structures would be needed for Haiti to face the start of the rains in April and hurricanes in June. "Tents, while the only shelter solution available quickly enough now, will not be much good for these purposes," he said. Oxfam called on the meeting to cancel Haiti’s foreign debt, which it said amounted to $890 million. Bellerive said this was not his main concern, although it would free up resources. "In the face of the real demands we have, our debt is minimal," Bellerive told CBC television before the meeting started. "What we’re looking for is a long-term commitment… At least five to 10 years." Harper went further: "It’s not an exaggeration to say that 10 years of hard work at least awaits the world in Haiti." Haiti’s neighbor on the island of Hispaniola, the Dominican Republic, proposed to donors last Monday the creation of a $10 billion, five-year assistance program for Haiti. Asked to confirm reports that he had asked for $3 billion, Bellerive said various academic and professional studies had come up with total needs, and he had seen that figure. But he said his government had no official number and had not put a number on the table in Montreal. PARTNERS NOT PATRONS "It’s important that we see ourselves as partners with Haiti, not patrons," Clinton said at a closing news conference, echoing a theme throughout the day that Haiti had to be in charge of its own reconstruction. Asked earlier about complaints the U.S. military had dominated the relief, she said effective aid delivery would not have succeeded without it. "It’s just easier for the United States to get there first because Haiti is our neighbor. We appreciate the very positive endorsement of our efforts that we have heard," she said. Bellerive said the government had received signals before Jan. 12 that a quake might be coming but did not act. "We must admit that our geological technicians had warned us of the possibility of an earthquake but dealing with social conflicts, such as the fight against poverty, meant we didn’t have the time or the means to take the measures needed to limit the damage," he said. (Additional reporting by Andrew Quinn in Washington and David Ljunggren in Ottawa; Editing by David Storey and Cynthia Osterman)

MONTREAL, Jan 25 (Reuters) – Haiti needs at least five to 10 years of reconstruction help after its people were “bloodied, martyred and ruined” by the devastating earthquake this month, Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive said on Monday.

“The people of Haiti will need more and more and more in order to complete the reconstruction,” Bellerive told an international aid conference, intended to survey immediate needs and then begin plotting Haiti’s long-term recovery.

“I bring you the thanks of a people who have been bloodied, martyred and ruined but who are standing,” he told U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner and representatives of 10 other countries.

The meeting was not intended to bring specific aid promises but instead to assess immediate needs and also to look beyond to a strategy to rebuild from the Jan. 12 quake that killed up to 200,000 people and smashed the capital Port-au-Prince.

MONTREAL, Jan 25 (Reuters) – Haiti needs at least five to 10 years of reconstruction help after its people were "bloodied, martyred and ruined" by the devastating earthquake this month, Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive said on Monday. "The people of Haiti will need more and more and more in order to complete the reconstruction," Bellerive told an international aid conference, intended to survey immediate needs and then begin plotting Haiti’s long-term recovery. "I bring you the thanks of a people who have been bloodied, martyred and ruined but who are standing," he told U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner and representatives of 10 other countries. The meeting was not intended to bring specific aid promises but instead to assess immediate needs and also to look beyond to a strategy to rebuild from the Jan. 12 quake that killed up to 200,000 people and smashed the capital Port-au-Prince. The group decided to hold an urgent international pledging conference at the U.N. headquarters in New York in March. "We’re trying to do this in the correct order … Sometimes people have pledging conferences and pledge money and they don’t have any idea what they are going to do with it," Clinton told a closing news conference. "We actually think it’s a novel idea to do the needs assessment first, and then the planning, and then the pledging." A key theme that emerged was the importance of ensuring development and population was not so concentrated in Port-au-Prince, which sits right on a fault line. "In 30 seconds, Haiti lost 60 percent of its GDP (gross domestic product)," Bellerive said, referring to excessive centralization in the capital. "So we must decentralize." He noted that people have been steadily leaving the devastated city since the quake struck. Clinton said agriculture, which can act as a magnet back to the countryside, had not gotten the attention it deserved. "I was quite heartened to hear the prime minister say that … we should look at how we decentralize economic opportunity and work with the Haitian government and people to support resettlement," she told reporters. Bellerive said Haitian President Rene Preval had just called him to press urgently for an additional 200,000 tents for people who lost their homes. But U.N. Emergency Relief Coordinator John Holmes said stronger temporary structures would be needed for Haiti to face the start of the rains in April and hurricanes in June. "Tents, while the only shelter solution available quickly enough now, will not be much good for these purposes," he said. Oxfam called on the meeting to cancel Haiti’s foreign debt, which it said amounted to $890 million. Bellerive said this was not his main concern, although it would free up resources. "In the face of the real demands we have, our debt is minimal," Bellerive told CBC television before the meeting started. "What we’re looking for is a long-term commitment… At least five to 10 years." Harper went further: "It’s not an exaggeration to say that 10 years of hard work at least awaits the world in Haiti." Haiti’s neighbor on the island of Hispaniola, the Dominican Republic, proposed to donors last Monday the creation of a $10 billion, five-year assistance program for Haiti. Asked to confirm reports that he had asked for $3 billion, Bellerive said various academic and professional studies had come up with total needs, and he had seen that figure. But he said his government had no official number and had not put a number on the table in Montreal. PARTNERS NOT PATRONS "It’s important that we see ourselves as partners with Haiti, not patrons," Clinton said at a closing news conference, echoing a theme throughout the day that Haiti had to be in charge of its own reconstruction. Asked earlier about complaints the U.S. military had dominated the relief, she said effective aid delivery would not have succeeded without it. "It’s just easier for the United States to get there first because Haiti is our neighbor. We appreciate the very positive endorsement of our efforts that we have heard," she said. Bellerive said the government had received signals before Jan. 12 that a quake might be coming but did not act. "We must admit that our geological technicians had warned us of the possibility of an earthquake but dealing with social conflicts, such as the fight against poverty, meant we didn’t have the time or the means to take the measures needed to limit the damage," he said. (Additional reporting by Andrew Quinn in Washington and David Ljunggren in Ottawa; Editing by David Storey and Cynthia Osterman)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – China has decided to send a lower-level official to talks among major powers in New York on Saturday about possibly imposing new sanctions on Iran over its nuclear programs, the U.S. State Department said on Thursday.

The development caused some consternation among others in the group, which includes Britain, China, France, Russia, the United States and Germany, and several diplomats said China had proposed New York as the venue for the meeting.

Diplomats said they did not know China’s motive, speculating it might be to illustrate Beijing’s resistance to punishing Iran with more sanctions or dismay at U.S. arms sales to Taiwan, which Beijing views as a renegade province.

However, one diplomat said China often sends a lower-level official to such gatherings.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – China has decided to send a lower-level official to talks among major powers in New York on Saturday about possibly imposing new sanctions on Iran over its nuclear programs, the U.S. State Department said on Thursday.

The development caused consternation among others in the group, which includes Britain, China, France, Russia, the United States and Germany.

Several diplomats said they did not know China’s motive, speculating it might be to illustrate Beijing’s resistance to punishing Iran further or its dismay at U.S. arms sales to Taiwan, which Beijing views as a renegade province.

The other nations are expected to send their foreign ministry political directors to the meeting, which the United States and its Western allies hope will focus on discussing fresh sanctions to impose on Iran over its nuclear activities.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Major powers are expected to meet in New York on Saturday to discuss possible new sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program, diplomats said on Monday.

The talks among the U.N. Security Council’s five permanent members and Germany may expose differences within the group, as the United States pushes for more sanctions while China has made clear that it does not think the time was ripe.

The United States accuses Iran of using its civil nuclear program as a cover to pursue an atomic bomb and has led the push for more punitive measures within the Security Council, which has already passed three rounds of sanctions on Tehran.

Iran, which has seen its most serious domestic unrest since the 1979 Islamic revolution in street protests over a disputed June election, says its nuclear program is to produce power so that it can export more of its valuable oil and gas.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States urged Israel and the Palestinians on Friday to resume peace talks and to focus immediately on borders and Jerusalem, suggesting this could break their deadlock over Jewish settlement building.

Speaking between meetings with the Jordanian and Egyptian foreign ministers, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made a case for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to drop his demand for a total settlement freeze before resuming negotiations.

Talks were halted a year ago over the war in the Gaza Strip and have not resumed, due largely to a Palestinian demand that Israel first impose a complete freeze on building in the West Bank and East Jerusalem and Israel’s refusal to do so.

While repeating U.S. concerns about Israeli construction in East Jerusalem, which the Palestinians want as the capital of a state, Clinton suggested the only way to deal with the issue was to get into talks.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States on Friday urged Israel and the Palestinians to resume peace talks and to immediately focus on borders and Jerusalem, suggesting this could break their deadlock over Jewish settlement building.

Speaking between meetings with the Jordanian and Egyptian foreign ministers, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made a case for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to drop his demand for a total settlement freeze before resuming negotiations.

Talks were halted a year ago over the war in the Gaza Strip and have not resumed largely because of a Palestinian demand that Israel first impose a complete freeze on building in the West Bank and East Jerusalem and Israel’s refusal to do so.

While repeating U.S. concerns about Israeli construction in East Jerusalem, which the Palestinians want as the capital of a state, Clinton suggested that the only way to deal with the issue was to get into talks.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States said on Monday it has begun discussing new sanctions to pressure Iran’s government and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to curb Tehran’s nuclear programs without hurting ordinary people.

“We have already begun discussions with our partners and with like-minded nations about pressure and sanctions,” U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said at a news conference with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani.

“Our goal is to pressure the Iranian government, particularly the Revolutionary Guard elements, without contributing to the suffering of the ordinary (people), who deserve better than what they currently are receiving,” she added.

The United States, which accuses Iran of secretly pursuing nuclear arms under cover of its civil nuclear program, plans to continue its “dual-track” approach of pursuing negotiations while also considering sanctions to change Tehran’s policy.