**Talks aimed at paving the way for Haiti’s reconstruction after its devastating earthquake have begun in the Canadian city of Montreal.**US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive are attending, along with delegates from 20 countries.
The meeting comes after the head of Italy’s civil protection service strongly criticised the relief effort.
It is believed the quake on 12 January killed as many as 200,000 people.
An estimated 1.5 million people have been left homeless.
Canadian Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon said the conference - which includes delegates from the UN and the World Bank - will review progress of the aid delivery to Haiti since the earthquake.
It will also lay the groundwork for a larger meeting to focus on long-term reconstruction.
“It’s not a donor or pledging conference, it’s to make sure we have an action plan,” he told the Associated Press news agency.
BBC HAITIAN CREOLE SERVICE
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Haiti quake: Survivors’ stories
‘An extraordinary operation’](http://www.paklinks.com/2/low/health/8477347.stm)
“We want to co-ordinate better in the short term and make sure we all know who is doing what and how.”
Mr Cannon said one goal was to “physically get the Haitian government back on its feet”.
The 7.0 magnitude quake destroyed key government buildings, including the National Palace.
Mr Cannon said the morning session would take stock of the relief efforts and in the afternoon ministers would work on the steps needed for a larger reconstruction conference, where money will be pledged.
He said he expected the time and place for that conference to be announced on Monday.
After arriving for the talks, Mr Bellerive expressed his gratitude to Canada, but added: “We are fully conscious that the prime responsibility for our future lies in the hands of the Haitian government and the Haitian people.”
UK-based charity Oxfam has urged donor countries to have Haiti’s foreign debts cancelled.
It said about $900m (£557m) owed to the UN, the World Bank and countries around the world should be written off.
‘Vanity parade’
Earlier, Guido Bertolaso, the head of Italy’s civil protection service, said there was a lack of leadership in the international aid operation.
He described it as “a terrible situation that could have been managed much better”.
“When there is an emergency, it triggers a vanity parade. Lots of people go there anxious to show that their country is big and important, showing solidarity,” he said.
Mr Bertolaso, an Italian government minister, said it was logical and “commendable” for the US to lead the relief efforts, but “too many officers” meant they had not been able to find a capable leader.
“We’re missing a leader, a co-ordination capacity that goes beyond military discipline,” he said.
“It’s a truly powerful show of force, but it’s completely out of touch with reality. They don’t have close rapport with the territory, they certainly don’t have a rapport with the international organisations and aid groups.”
As the relief operation continues, aid workers have criticised Haitian government plans to relocate hundreds of thousands of people from the capital, Port-au-Prince, to large camps outside the city.
Caroline Gluck, from Oxfam, told the BBC the move could be dangerous for the survivors.
“In the past, experience has told us establishing some huge camps can cause all kinds of security problems, for example, robberies, rapes and kind of gang activities if the camps are kept too big,” she said.
Oxfam was pressing for the camps to be smaller, she added.