Haiti food crisis shows need for action

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The situation in Haiti, where the government fell on Saturday after more than a week of food riots, highlights the need for action to deal with soaring global food prices, the World Bank said on Saturday.

"It is important that the international community responds quickly," Yvonne Tsikata, World Bank's country director for the Caribbean, said in a statement.

The Haitian Senate on Saturday fired Prime Minister Jacques Edouard Alexis. Sen. Youri Latortue, the leader of Saturday's vote, said Alexis had failed to ramp up food production, protect people against crime, heed calls to establish a new national security force and set a deadline for U.N. troops to leave.

(Reporting by Lesley Wroughton; Editing by Peter Cooney)