18575: (Hermantin)Miami-Herald-Opposition: Rebels need safety pledge (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

Posted on Fri, Feb. 13, 2004

Opposition: Rebels need safety pledge

As allies of Haiti's president derail an anti-Aristide march, opponents of
the president say armed militants will disarm only when their safety has
been assured.

BY MICHAEL A.W. OTTEY

mottey@herald.com

PORT-AU-PRINCE -- Opponents of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide said
Thursday that while they deplore violence, the gunmen fighting a week-old
revolt against the president should not lay down weapons until their safety
is assured.

The comments came at a news conference after pro-Aristide militants who
threw rocks and set up barricades with burning tires forced opposition
leaders to call off a protest in Port-au-Prince to demand the president's
exit.

Gangs of anti-Aristide gunmen who rose up last Thursday in a revolt that has
claimed nearly 50 lives still control some eight or nine towns and villages,
including Gonaives, astride the main road to northern Haiti.

NO `REGIME CHANGE'

In Washington, Secretary of State Colin Powell flatly denied American media
reports that the Bush administration wants Aristide to resign and issued the
strongest backing yet for the former priest-turned populist president.

''The policy of the administration is not regime change,'' Powell told the
U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee. ``Aristide is the elected president
of Haiti.''

Although Aristide's political opposition has tried to distance itself from
the gunmen, Evans Paul, a leader of the Democratic Convergence, a coalition
of political groups opposed to Aristide, told the news conference that their
revolt is a legitimate reaction to what they see as the president's misrule.

Asked whether legitimate insurrection involves burning of police stations
and killing Aristide supporters, Andy Apaid, a leader of the opposition
Group 184, stepped in to answer because ''we are all in agreement in what
we're going to say.'' Paul's English is limited.

''What he said is, he's not supporting or condoning the burning of police
stations and the violence that accompany it,'' the U.S.-born Apaid said.
``But the people are in their right to request Mr. Aristide's resignation
and start denying cooperation with Mr. Aristide.''

NOT IN AN ALLIANCE

He said the political opposition has nothing to do with the anti-Aristide
gunmen but recognizes that they would be targeted for attack if they simply
laid down their weapons.

''What we say is we need a procedure for them to deposit their guns, because
if they deposit their guns under Mr. Aristide's approach now, they will be
killed,'' Apaid said.

''We believe the fight should be nonviolent, as we do it. They should put
their guns down in a procedure where they are not killed and in which Mr.
Aristide also resigns,'' he said.

Asked to clarify whether Aristide has first to resign for the militants to
disarm, Apaid said, ``Not necessarily.''

``The violence in Gonaives we condemn, but we recognize that the people are
in a very difficult situation. We need good thinking into this, otherwise
people will be killed.''

Aristide on Wednesday condemned the violence by both his opponents and
supporters, and he said he would not order the police to fire on gunmen
entrenched in Gonaives and other towns but would proceed slowly toward a
peaceful outcome.

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