ByRory Carroll
Earthquake survivors fear mass pullout of troops is a sign of dwindling international support

US army soldiers load their duffels prior to their departure from Haiti at the international airport in Port-au-Prince. Photograph: Andres Leighton/AP

Thousands of US troops are leaving Haiti in a swift scaling back of US military involvement in post-earthquake security and reconstruction.

A gradual reduction from a peak of 20,000 in early February has accelerated in recent days and by the end of this week fewer than 8,000 are expected to remain in Haiti and on offshore vessels.

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BY TRENTON DANIEL/ tdaniel@MiamiHerald.com

Tired of living off of Port-au-Prince’s crumbs, rural areas are pushing for a decentralization of power and resources.

L’ESTERE, Haiti — This town in the Haitian hinterlands has a mostly unpaved main road, scant public services, a main hospital that closes on weekends and few jobs besides farming.

The situation in L’Estère is typical of small towns in Haiti, where resources — what little there are — flow to the central government in Port-au-Prince and little if any return. The archaic relationship between the provinces and the capital will likely be another casualty of Jan. 12′s devastating 7.0-magnitude earthquake.

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(Reuters) – Government planners and international experts are racing to produce a blueprint this week to reconstruct Haiti’s economy after the earthquake that killed up to 300,000 people and devastated its infrastructure.

A team of 150 Haitian government officials and 90 international experts is to submit the plan to the government by Friday, said Doekle Wielinga, a World Bank disaster recovery specialist in charge of the effort.

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Leader of the group, Laura Silsby, to remain in jail
Reuters is reporting Friday that Judge Bernard Saint-Vil has signed an order to free one of two Americans who has been detained in a Port-au-Prince jail since Jan. 29, but she probably won’t be returning home until next week.

Laura Silsby, 40, and Charisa Coulter, 24, both of Idaho, were part of a group of 10 who tried to bus 33 children from Haiti to the Dominican Republic. They were arrested at the border on kidnapping charges.

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By MICHELLE FAUL (AP)

American missionaries arrested on child kidnapping charges Laura Silsby, 40, center, and Charisa Coulter, 24, both of Meridian, Idaho, walk towards the courthouse in Port-au-Prince, Tuesday, March 2, 2010

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — A U.S. Baptist missionary detained on suspicion of child trafficking in Haiti said Wednesday she would be ready to return again to the earthquake-ravaged country to work with children.

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