18910: (Chamberlain) Diplomats begin Haiti peace efforts, Americans flee (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

     By Michael Christie

    PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, Feb 20 (Reuters) - As missionaries and aid
workers scrambled to flee revolt-torn Haiti on Friday, opposition leaders
prepared to meet with U.S., Canadian and regional diplomats trying to ease
political tensions and broker an end to the violence.
     Some opposition leaders warned they would not accept any peace plan
that does not include the resignation of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide
-- signaling a possible continuation of a three-year standoff.
     As the first serious diplomatic efforts began to help this polarized
and lawless Caribbean country of 8 million make peace, American
missionaries and aid workers clogged the airport in the capital,
Port-au-Prince, waiting for flights.
     Washington on Thursday advised its citizens to leave the country.
     Haiti's long-standing political dispute spiraled into crisis two weeks
ago when an armed gang took over the city of Gonaives in a revolt that
spread to several towns in the north and on the central plateau, and has
been joined by former soldiers and a death squad leader.
     Armed government supporters and police are fighting back, often
executing suspected rebel sympathizers.
     The opposition Democratic Platform was to hold talks with diplomats
from the United States, Canada, France, the Organization of American States
and Caribbean Community (Caricom) on Friday to lay the groundwork for a
peace mission on Saturday.
     The international delegation's proposal appears to be based on a
recent deal brokered by Caricom that calls for the establishment of a
broad-based advisory council, a new prime minister and the disarming of
gangs aligned with Aristide's Lavalas Family party.
     "I hope they're not coming back with the same position," said Charles
Baker, a wealthy industrialist and fervent foe of Aristide. The president
led Haiti into democracy after decades of dictatorship but now faces
accusations of corruption and political violence.
     "We'll both be wasting our time," Baker said.
     Evans Paul, of the opposition coalition Group of 184, said the
political opposition was distinct from the armed gangs and former soldiers
who now control a swathe of the north after kicking out police in a
rebellion that has killed more than 50 people.
     The revolt has heightened pressure on Aristide, who dismisses the
opposition as a wealthy mulatto elite intent on maintaining its dominance
over Haiti's legions of poor.
     "As days go by, (the opposition) gets stronger and stronger. If
Aristide leaves, it might be under force of arms. We hope he will leave
peacefully and voluntarily," Paul said.
     The rebellion was sparked by a gang that once acted as enforcers for
Aristide and have now declared an independent "country" in areas where they
wrested control from the government. It capped a three-year political
impasse over parliamentary elections in 2000 that were declared flawed.
     Aristide, a former parish priest ousted by a military coup shortly
after first taking office in 1991 but restored in a U.S.-led invasion three
years later, won a second term of office that year. The 2000 presidential
elections were boycotted by the opposition.
     While fighting has not reached Port-au-Prince, the occasional gunshot
can be heard at night in the capital, where princely mansions on lush
mountaintops overlook the sprawling shanties where most of the city's 2
million people live in abject poverty.
     The Pentagon is sending a team of military advisors to review security
at the U.S. Embassy.
     "Our organization has told us it's safer for us to go and not be here
anymore," said Nancy McWilliams, a Catholic relief agency volunteer, as she
arrived at the airport.

    (Additional reporting by Amy Bracken)