Key lawmakers in Haiti say the incoming prime minister is likely to win speedy ratification in the nation's parliament.

	Haitian authorities want to quickly put in a new PM to help push for foreign investment

The Senate is expected to meet as early as Friday to consider economist Jean Max Bellerive's appointment.

One leading senator, Joseph Lambert, has said he expects Mr Bellerive to win easy confirmation.

Senator Lambert was a leading critic of former prime minister Michele Pierre-Louis, who was fired by the Senate on 30 October.

Parliamentarian Steven Benoit, a deputy lawmaker in the Lower House, also thinks the ratification process will be a lot quicker this time around.

Muslims demand apology

Muslim groups in Trinidad and Tobago are up in arms after a Saudi diplomat visiting the country to issue visas for the Hajj pilgrimage was questioned by the police in Port of Spain.

The Muslims say the Saudi diplomat, Fawaz Abdul Rahman Alshubaili, received an unexpected visit by the police at his Hyatt Hotel room in the capital.

The chairman of the Muslims of Trinidad and Tobago group, Imtiaz Mohammed, said the officers ignored Mr Alshubaili's efforts to show them his diplomatic passport.

The group said it had informed the authorities well in advance of the visit and that the police action was unjustified.

But Trinidad and Tobago police say it is not normal for a diplomat to install himself in a hotel and to start distributing visas.

Hunt for gunmen continues

Police in Guyana have made a formal link between Wednesday's shootings and attacks on the police in Georgetown and the torching of the Ministry of Health in July.

In this week's attacks one person was killed as gunmen opened fire on two police stations and the Supreme Court.

Earlier in July the main building of the Ministry of Health was destroyed by fire, with vital records going up in smoke.

On the heels of Wednesday's attacks joint police and army patrols have been intensified.

The security forces are hunting for a gang of heavily armed men who they say were at the time of the attacks, wearing clothing that resembles police uniforms.

Hundreds seek amnesty

Hundreds of people lined up outside an immigration office in Dutch St Maarten on Wednesday, eager to take advantage of a six week Dutch Antillean amnesty programme.

The programme is intended to provide residence and working papers for thousands of illegal immigrants.

As many as 70,000 immigrants are estimated to be living on the five Dutch islands in the Caribbean without valid residency papers or work permits.

These migrants are said to be mostly Haitian, Guyanese and Jamaican.

Under the programme called the Brooks Tower Accord, papers will be given to those who can prove they have lived in the territory since 31 December 2006, or can show a valid contract from an employer.

Cable and Wireless revenues fall

British telecoms group Cable and Wireless said on Thursday that it has had a 10% fall in revenues from operations in the Caribbean, where the company is a major player.

	Cable and Wireless suffers a 10% fall in revenues

Explaining that its Caribbean performance reflects a difficult economic backdrop, the company said revenue from its operations in the region was down 10% to US$427 million.

Cable and Wireless said trading conditions in its operations there continue to be challenging, and blamed the recession for the drop.

But the company, which has rebranded as LIME in the Caribbean, said it had been able to maintain its mobile phone market leadership and expand its mobile and broadband customer bases.