MONTEVIDEO, June 28 (Xinhuanet) -- Uruguay is to send peacekeepersto Haiti in mid-July after three Uruguayan officials of the mission made an inspection tour of the Caribbean nation, local press reported Monday.

    Col. Felicio de los Santos will head the 538-member contingent,the first batch of which is set to go on July 15.

    Uruguayan Defense Minister Yamandu Fau is scheduled to visit Haiti on July 7.

    A United Nations peacekeeping force began arriving in Haiti on June 1. Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay combine to contribute 6,700 troops to the force, which will take over from a 3,600-strong multinational force led by the United States that wassent in after armed rebels forced Haiti's first democratically elected president to resign in February.

    Jean Bertrand Aristide is now staying in South Africa.

    Uruguay has so far contributed 3,000 troops to UN peace missions in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and some other countries. Enditem