Haitian judge recommends release of missionaries

The Haitian judge deciding whether 10 U.S. missionaries should face trial on charges of trying to take a busload of children out of the country said Thursday he will recommend that they be released.

Judge Bernard Saint-Vil must now send his recommendation to the prosecutor, who may agree or object, but the judge has the final authority to decide whether the Americans stay in custody or go free.

Saint-Vil made his recommendation a day after questioning the Americans and hearing testimony from parents who said they willingly gave their children to the Baptist missionaries, believing they would educate and care for them.

"After listening to the families, I see the possibility that they can all be released," Saint-Vil told The Associated Press. "I am recommending that all 10 Americans be released."

He would not elaborate, and it was not clear whether his decision means the charges may be dropped.

Gary Lassade, an attorney for one of the Americans, said he expects the judge to issue a final decision later Thursday recommending the case be dropped entirely, though the prosecutor could appeal that ruling.

The Americans, most from an Idaho Baptist group, were charged last week with child kidnapping and criminal association after being arrested Jan. 29 while trying to take 33 children, agestwo to 12, across the border to an orphanage they were trying to set up in the Dominican Republic.

Meanwhile, the European Union, criticized for its slow response to Haiti's earthquake, said Thursday it will mount a military operation to bring shelter to Haiti before the rainy season starts in the Caribbean.

"The Haitian prime minister and the United Nations have asked for my assistance in leading a European military response in addition to our continuing humanitarian and development aid," Catherine Ashton, the EU foreign affairs chief, said in a statement.

Ashton did not reveal any details of the upcoming mission, but an EU official said it would likely involve air force transport aircraft and army ground personnel.

"Shelter is now the most burning need," Ashton said. "The emergency phase is not yet over."

She released the statement as EU leaders met at a summit focused on supporting Greece through its current debt crisis.

Haiti's rainy season usually begins in April. The European Union's 27 nations pledged $575 million to Haiti following the devastating Jan. 12 earthquake, which may have killed 170,000 people though the Haitian government has issued wildly conflicting information.

The quake turned large sections of Port-au-Prince, the capital,into rubble.

EU criticized

In the days following the quake, the EU was criticized for the lack of a co-ordinated response. It took six days for Ashton to convene an emergency meeting of the development ministers.

EU spokeswoman Cristina Gallach saidThursday that EU leaders will evaluate ways to deliver emergency assistance more effectively in future disasters.

The recently signed Lisbon Treaty, designed to streamline decision-making procedures so the EU can act faster, will establish a continentwide humanitarian task force.

The treaty does not spell out whether the EU Volunteer Humanitarian Aid Corps will be led by the military or civilians, or whether it will integrate all existing national disaster response units. It also leaves unclear the role of non-governmental groups.

EU leaders will also discuss preparations for a UN-sponsored meeting of nations donating reconstruction aid to Haiti to be held in New York next month, Gallach said.