18744: (Chamberlain) US-Haiti (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

   By GEORGE GEDDA

   WASHINGTON, Feb 17 (AP) -- With officials alert for a potential refugee
crisis, Secretary of State Colin Powell said Tuesday the administration had
"no enthusiasm" for using U.S. forces to quell unrest in Haiti.
   He added that some nations may be willing to send peacekeepers once
peace is restored.
   The White House said it was up to the Haitian people to decide whether
embattled President Jean-Bertrand Aristide should remain in power. But
Powell dismissed suggestions from some of Aristide's opponents that he step
down.
   "We cannot buy into a proposition that says the elected president must
be forced out of office by thugs and those who do not respect law and are
bringing terrible violence to the Haitian people," Powell said.
   With Haiti's crisis in its 11th day, U.S. officials said they saw no
sign at this point of a repeat of the refugee crisis of the early 1990s,
when the country was under military rule.
   Nevertheless, they said there are contingency plans at the U.S. naval
base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for a Haitian exodus. They added that no
refugee shelters were being constructed at the base.
   Thousands of Haitian refugees were picked up by Coast Guard cutters and
sent to Guantanamo during the crisis a dozen years ago. Those refugees were
returned to Haiti after the U.S. military forced out Haiti's military junta
in September 1994 and reinstated Aristide, who had been deposed in 1991.
Aristide served out the remainder of his term and was re-elected in 2000
after five years in which he did not hold office.
   The administration is reluctant to intervene militarily this time,
partly because there is no obvious successor. In 1994, Aristide had a
legitimate claim to take over after the junta was ousted, based on his
election in 1990.
   Powell said the United States, the Organization of American States and
other international organizations are sending officials to Haiti to assess
the humanitarian situation. He added that there is "no enthusiasm right now
for sending in military or police forces to put down the violence that we
are seeing."
   But Powell suggested that some nations may be willing to send police
forces to the region once a settlement is reached and peace is restored.
   Powell talked on Tuesday with French Foreign Minister Dominique de
Villepin, who told reporters on Tuesday that France is weighing the
possibility of sending peacekeepers.
   But, he added, it would be very difficult to do so while Haiti is in the
throes of violence. France has 4,000 military personnel on the Caribbean
islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe.
   Lt. Cmdr. Jeff Carter, a Coast Guard spokesman, said there has been a
slight increase in U.S. interdictions of Haitian migrants in recent days.
But, he added, "we have not seen nor are we are aware of nor do we
anticipate a mass migration."
   Nonetheless, a spokeswoman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees,
Joung-ah Ghedini, said the situation in Haiti "could go from precarious to
a full-blown emergency" on short notice.
   Agency representatives were meeting in Washington with U.S. officials to
discuss ways to cope with an exodus.
   Ghedini said the UNHCR has designated an emergency coordinator who would
be in charge. The agency also is evaluating its emergency supply situation
in the area.
   One sign that a refugee crisis may be imminent would be a large-scale
construction of boats. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said that
while there were no signs of such activity, the administration wants to
"make sure that we're prepared should something happen."
   An exodus of Haitians to Florida almost certainly would have an impact
on the November presidential election. At a hearing last week, Sen. Bill
Nelson, D-Fl., made clear his concern about the need to head off another
refugee crisis.
   The United States has been backing a plan by the 15-nation Caribbean
Community to bring about a political solution between Aristide and his
opponents.