14034: (Chamberlain) Caribbean leaders call for new elections in Haiti (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

     HAVANA, Dec 8 (Reuters) - Caribbean leaders on Sunday called for the
immediate establishment of a provisional electoral council in Haiti to
allow for new elections to end a political stalemate.
     Heads of states of the Caribbean Community (Caricom), meeting at a
summit in Cuba, also urged opponents of Haitian President Jean-Bertrand
Aristide to cooperate with his government in establishing the electoral
council.
     The 14 leaders said in a statement they were deeply concerned with
"the continuing instability and the prospect of a breakdown in the social
order" in Haiti, where tensions and violence have been mounting.
     Aristide, whose country became the 15th member of Caricom in July,
told the meeting that he had picked his representative for the electoral
council, a step welcomed by his neighbors.
     "Heads of government call for the immediate establishment of the
Provisional Electoral Council. ... So that free, fair and transparent
elections can be organized during the first half of 2003," the statement
said.
     Aristide, who faces criticism at home over violence allegedly
committed by his supporters and a disintegrating economy, briefed the
Caribbean leaders on the political crisis.
     Caricom urged international financial institutions to "relaunch" aid
programs for Haiti, the hemisphere's poorest nation.
     The Caribbean leaders attended a weekend summit in Havana hosted by
Cuban president Fidel Castro to mark 30 years of diplomatic relations with
the Communist-led island.