18668: Esser: Haitian death squad commanders join rebels (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: D. Esser torx@joimail.com

The Independent
http://news.independent.co.uk/

Haitian death squad commanders join rebels in bid to topple president Aristide

By Andrew Gumbel in Port-au-Prince

16 February 2004

Armed rebels demanding the overthrow of Jean-Bertrand Aristide,
Haiti's president, were back on the offensive yesterday, pushing out
from their stronghold in Gonaives into three small northern towns
with the help of former army officers and death squad commanders
returning from exile in the Dominican Republic.

The rebels, calling themselves the Anti-Aristide Resistance Front,
were reported to have retaken Dondon, a small town they briefly held
last week, and attacked police in Sainte Suzanne. Both are on the way
to the real prize, the northern port of Cap-Haitien, which is the
country's second-largest city. Trou-du-Nord, near the Dominican
border, was also reported to be under attack.

Since the rebellion broke out 10 days ago, police and armed civilians
loyal to the president have fought to maintain control in
Cap-Haitien; burning houses of suspected opponents and intimidating
others with constant volleys of gunfire. Much of the north has been
without power or fuel supplies, and food convoys have not been able
to get past Gonaives on the road north, raising the risk of a major
humanitarian crisis.

The pro-government forces now face a new challenge, as prominent
members of the army that Mr Aristide disbanded in 1994 have appeared
in Gonaives, claiming to have brought the men, money and firepower
needed to take over the country.

Visiting journalists have seen only a handful of uniformed men and no
heavy weaponry, but the rebels say they are concentrating their
forces in another town about 30 miles east of Gonaives. The new
leaders include Louis-Jodel Chamblain, who commanded army death
squads in the 1980s, following the end of the Duvalier dictatorship,
and went on to found a militia called the Front for the Advancement
of Progress in Haiti, which fomented trouble after the 1991 coup that
toppled Mr Aristide following his first ascent to the presidency.

Another key figure is Guy Philippe, a sworn enemy of the president's,
who participated in the 1991 coup and was later police chief in
Cap-Haitien.

Opinions differ on how quickly, or how effectively, the rebellion
might spread, but international observers are increasingly concerned
about the prospect of a protracted, low-level civil war. The United
States is particularly concerned that protracted unrest in Haiti
could lead to a flood of refugees heading towards Florida; something
the Bush administration wants to avoid at all costs in an election
year in which Florida could, like last time, play a pivotal role in
determining the next occupant of the White House.

Colin Powell, the US Secretary of State, met representatives of a
number of western hemisphere groups in Washington on Friday, to try
to agree a coherent response following a spate of ambiguous, even
contradictory, statements concerning Mr Aristide's future.

In the end, they said they would accept "no outcome that in any way
illegally removes the elected president of Haiti". Mr Powell ruled
out US military intervention, although the group said that some
lesser form of support, such as sending police reinforcements, might
be possible. Unofficial reports from Haiti and the US suggest the
latter may be making contingency plans to receive tens of thousands
of Haitian refugees at its Guantanamo Bay naval base in Cuba.

Outside support of Mr Aristide is likely to remain lukewarm. The
European Union and US withdrew aid from Haiti three years ago in
protest at what they said were flawed legislative elections won
overwhelmingly by Mr Aristide's Lavalas party.

Many observers in Haiti blame the withdrawal of aid for the
president's increasingly repressive leadership and dependence on
armed gangs and drug dealers from the slums.

They say the West over-reacted, since the only question in the
contested election was the extent of Lavalas's victory, and is,
therefore, partly to blame for triggering the present crisis in the
country.

.