18181: Esser: Haiti talks move to Jamaica (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: D. E s s e r <torx@mail.joimail.com>

The Nassau Guardian
Posted: Friday January 30, 2004

Haiti talks move to Jamaica
PM's house new venue

By Mindell Small
Guardian Staff Reporter

Prime Minister Perry Christie is expected to travel to Kingston,
Jamaica today to participate in a meeting on Haiti, as CARICOM
continues its mission to find a solution to the crisis in that
politically torn republic.

The meeting will be hosted by Jamaican Prime Minister and CARICOM
chairman, P.J. Patterson and will include Haiti's president
Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Other CARICOM heads scheduled to attend are
Trinidad and Tobago's Prime Minister Patrick Manning and St. Lucia's
Prime Minister Kenny Anthony.

The meeting is scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday at Jamaica House, the
official residence of Jamaica's prime minister. It is expected to
last most of the day.

Prime Minister Christie's trip to Jamaica follows a trip to Haiti by
CARICOM's Assistant Secretary General Colin Granderson for a meeting
with Roman Catholic bishops.

CARICOM said the meeting with the bishops was critical, preventing
the church from arbitrarily duplicating the proposals by the
15-nation Caribbean body. Granderson also recently headed a
fact-finding mission to Haiti, the results of which prompted CARICOM
to engage in discussions with both the opposition and Aristide's
government.

The prime minister referred to his most recent meeting with Aristide
in Haiti as "fruitful and constructive" and said Aristide agreed with
the substance of CARICOM's proposals.

He also said the Haitian leader agreed to allow opposition groups to
demonstrate freely by disarming and removing gangs that threaten
protestors.

Mr. Christie is scheduled to return home Sunday.

© 2004 The Nassau Guardian
http://www.thenassauguardian.com/national_local/115009074280133.php