18505: (Hermantin) Miami-Herald-Police won't fire on rebels, Aristide says (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

CRISIS IN HAITI


Police won't fire on rebels, Aristide says

Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide says he will not take drastic
actions in trying to return peace to towns seized by armed groups demanding
his resignation.

BY TRENTON DANIEL AND MICHAEL A.W. OTTEY

tdaniel@herald.com


PORT-AU-PRINCE -- President Jean-Bertrand Aristide on Wednesday said he
would not take drastic actions to crush a bloody week-old rebellion that
appears to have reached an uneasy stand off.

Anti-Aristide gunmen killed one man and torched several homes as police
sought to drive armed rebels from one of their last redoubts in the western
port city of St. Marc, The Associated Press reported.

Another victim was an alleged pro-Aristide militant in the central port of
Gonaives, where the rebellion started, who was killed in a ''`necklacing''
-- bound in car tires and set aflame, the AP reported.

But in his first news conference since the violence erupted Thursday, a
subdued Aristide said he would go slow in trying to return peace to some of
the dozen towns and villages seized by armed groups demanding his
resignation.

''In our plan, dialogue is essential,'' he told foreign journalists, adding
that he ``will not give any order to the police to open fire. We prefer to
go slowly. We will not be willing to go fast and make mistakes.''

Aristide acknowledged that Haiti lacks adequate police manpower. This nation
of eight million has only a 5,000-strong force. By comparison, New York
City, with a similar population, has a 62,000-member police force. The army
was abolished after the 1994 U.S. invasion that restored the former priest
to the presidency after a coup in 1991.

But Aristide vowed he would not resign.

''I will leave the palace Feb. 7, 2006,'' he said, the end of his elected
term, adding that the armed groups were simply ''terrorists'' being used by
his political opponents -- who have steadfastly distanced themselves from
the armed groups.

WASHINGTON BRIEFING

In Washington, a State Department official told three Florida House members
that U.S. agencies are discussing the possibility of putting 15,000 to
20,000 Haitians in the U.S. Naval Base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, in case of a
massive exodus attempt -- although she stressed there's no evidence of such
an exodus.

Mary Ellen Gilroy, who heads the Caribbean desk, made the comments in a
briefing for Miami Democrat Kendrick Meek, Palm Beach County Republican Mark
Foley, Bartow Republican Adam Putnam and about a dozen staff members.

U.S. officials also continued to deny American media reports that
unidentified Bush administration officials have hinted that Aristide should
resign as a way of resolving the 3-year-old political deadlock, and more
recently the violence, sparked by disputed legislative elections in 2000.

White House spokesman Scott McClellan stuck to the week-old line that
Washington is concerned about the violence and wants the Haitian government
to respect the human rights of its citizens but is not planning any specific
actions.

''We fully support the efforts of the Caribbean countries and the
Organization of American States to promote a peaceful resolution to the
crisis in Haiti. So that's what we're doing,'' McClellan said of so-far
unsuccessful mediating attempts by the 15-member Caribbean Community and the
OAS.

Wednesday's developments came amid signs that despite the new deaths, which
pushed the death toll to about 45, the violence appeared to be leveling off
in some of the dozen towns struck by the anti-Aristide gunmen, such as the
northern city of Cap Haitien.

The remnants of torched tires, beat-up cars and other debris used to block
streets continued to clog the thoroughfares. Both pro- and anti-Aristide
graffiti competed for attention on brightly painted but crumbling walls. And
armed police officers stood guard at gas stations to safeguard dwindling
supplies.

But fear, mixed with confusion and uncertainty, lingered.

Residents say private stations like Radio Vision 2000 have stopped airing
broadcasts because of threats. Haitis privately owned media have been
unsympathetic to Aristide and suffered scores of attacks from the
president's followers.

FEAR OF ATTACKS

Some businesses remain shut down, fearing attacks by arsonists such as the
one Monday that destroyed a restaurant owned by Charlot Remy, 44, a known
Aristide opponent.

He said pro-Aristide militants broke the locks, doors and windows, poured
gasoline on the wooden tables, and dropped a lit match. Remy, who lives
behind the eatery, fled.

``We want a new government because Monsieur [Aristide] cant make things
work, Remy told a Herald reporter. ``You can be president, my friends can be
president, anybody can be president -- but him.''

Aristide was hugely popular when he was first elected in 1990, a former
priest who promised to help the poor in one of the hemisphere's poorest
nation. But his opposition has grown amid complaints of vote fraud and an
authoritarian government that enforces its will by arming gangs of street
toughs.

It was one of those government-armed gangs, once known as the Cannibal Army,
that started the rebellion last Thursday by attacking a police station in
Gonaives. The gang turned on the president after the murder last year of
their leader, which they blame on Aristide.

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