18071: (Hermantin)Miami-Herald-Disarm gangs, Haiti is told (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>


Posted on Thu, Jan. 22, 2004

Disarm gangs, Haiti is told
BY JACQUELINE CHARLES
jcharles@herald.com

NASSAU - Leaders of the 15-nation Caribbean Community called on Haitian
President Jean-Bertrand Aristide on Wednesday to immediately dismantle armed
gangs, provide clear rules for protest, and seek opposition backing for the
country's next prime minister.

The requests were among a half-dozen proposals that leaders of the Bahamas,
Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago agreed to during two days of talks in the
Bahamas to help solve Haiti's political crisis.

A 14-member delegation representing the country's opposition attended the
talks. Aristide did not send representatives, but Bahamian Prime Minister
Perry Christie was expected to travel to Port-au-Prince in the next few days
to present the proposal to Aristide.

''We believe that Haiti is at a perilous juncture,'' said P.J. Patterson,
prime minister of Jamaica, who led the talks. ``Opposing positions have
hardened, and what is really a fight for political power is taking place in
the streets with ensuing confrontations and incidents of violence. The
potential for greater violence and instability we regard as very elevated.''

A spokeswoman for Aristide said late Wednesday that the government would
have no comment until it had received the proposals.

''It seems to me that any proposals made by CARICOM would need to be
actually communicated with the government before it could make an informed
comment in response,'' said Michelle Karshan, the government spokeswoman.

The opposition delegation that attended the talks planned to hold a news
conference today to respond to the proposals. But Evans Paul, one of the
leaders of the Democratic Convergence, a coalition of political groups
opposed to Aristide, said Wednesday that his group would not accept any
proposal that does not include Aristide's resignation.

OPPOSITION'S VIEW

''This is the position of the opposition,'' Paul said in Haiti. ``Aristide
must go because Aristide is not credible. He has not respected any
accords.''

Paul said Prime Minister Yvonne Neptune is not the problem.

''We don't want to change the prime minister, we want to change Aristide,''
said Paul, a former mayor of Port-au-Prince and one-time Aristide supporter.
``We don't want to get rid of Neptune. We want to get rid of Aristide.
Aristide is the problem.''

While the heads of government said they were under no illusions that all of
Haiti's problems could be solved with one meeting -- especially one at which
the government is not present -- they still hailed the meetings as a
success. Patterson led the discussions along with Christie and Prime
Minister Patrick Manning of Trinidad and Tobago.

During the closed-door talks, several opposition leaders said they wanted an
international police force in Haiti to help prevent Haiti from becoming a
criminal state. The leaders support the idea of a security force, but it was
unclear Wednesday how many troops would be needed and for how long.

''The outcome of this meeting cannot be an agreement between CARICOM and the
leaders of the opposition groups,'' said Patterson, chairman of CARICOM.
``They have to take back to their groups and report to them certain
proposals that we have put on the table.''

After Christie meets with Aristide in the next few days, the leaders said
they hope to schedule a subsequent meeting in Kingston, Jamaica.

HAITIANS MARCH

Meanwhile, about 20,000 Aristide supporters marched in Port-au-Prince on
Wednesday after police fired tear gas into Haiti's state university, halting
an anti-government demonstration, the Associated Press reported.

Students were about to leave for the anti-government march when police
blocked them, telling them to take another route.

Several minor injuries were reported, and one medical student was arrested
for disturbing the peace, the AP reported.

CARICOM proposals for ending Haiti's political crisis:

Respect for freedom of the press
Allowing of peaceful protests
Provision of a process for the speedy release of people who have been
arrested
Establishment of conditions for holding elections
Financial and technical support from the international community to assist
with elections
Appointment of a prime minister with who has broad support
Release of international aid to Haiti


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Herald Caribbean correspondent Michael A.W. Ottey in Haiti contributed to
this report.

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