19192: Esser: Mitchell wants troops deployed to Haiti (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: D. Esser torx@joimail.com

The Nassau Guardian
http://www.thenassauguardian.com

Mitchell wants troops deployed to Haiti
The Bahamas and France standing ready

Wednesday February 25, 2004

By MINDELL SMALL
Guardian Staff Reporter

Foreign Affairs Minister Fred Mitchell said he will be attending a
special meeting with delegates at the United Nations' Security
Council Thursday, to request the deployment of troops to Haiti to
prevent rebels from seizing the capital city and the power base of
that country.

He said the meeting is crucial as the situation in Haiti is worsening
by the hour as rebels move closer to Port-au-Prince, vowing to seize
it in a matter of days.

Rebel leader Guy Philippe, who initially predicted that he would have
control of Port-au-Prince by March 8, updated that projection, saying
instead that because he is turning 36 on Sunday he is pushing his
forces into the capital sooner and hopes to seize it on his birthday.
Mr. Philippe also said he would become the next president of Haiti.

France standing by

Mr. Mitchell said France, which initially indicated that it is
standing ready to send peacekeeping forces to Haiti, is anxious to
assist the troubled republic and is only awaiting the backing of a
U.N. resolution to act.

"What we do know by way of background is that the French have 3,000
troops in the area already and they can move them to Port-au-Prince
if they are needed within a day. But they won't go in without a U.N.
mandate," he said. He added that the Royal Bahamas Defence Force is
also standing ready and is likely to send marines into Haiti as part
of an international force.

Seeking support

Mr. Mitchell then underscored the importance of the mandate saying it
would be central to the discussion in New York as Caribbean nations,
including The Bahamas would be seeking support from the
industrialised countries for a resolution to support the peacekeeping
effort.

He said if the motion were not approved, Haiti's government may have
no choice but to fend for itself as no country would want to risk
going there alone. He also said the deployment of troops is not
popular in industrialised countries as opinion polls in European
nations; Canada and the United States indicate that the majority of
people do not support their military going into Haiti to engage in
combat.

Regarding the protection of president Jean-Bertrand Aristide, Mr.
Mitchell pointed out that the international community has no plans to
provide security for the president or any member of his family
Lavalas party, but is instead only concerned with restoring order to
Haiti. There were reports that members of Aristide's government were
asking their friends for places to hide.

Deploying security forces

The foreign minister said The Bahamas is quite strong, along with
other CARICOM countries, in its position that there is a need to act
quickly and deploy a formidable security force in Haiti to bring
about stability and order.

"Because there is no point with a president who we accept as the
legitimate authority in a country being a dead man and arguing it
after the case, while we sit and rely on legalisms, as a means of not
doing what we ought to do in the circumstances," he said.

Migration concerns

On the migration issue, Minister Mitchell said he spoke to the acting
director of immigration and again learned that there has been no
increase in migrant traffic from Haiti and no sightings of boats
north of Haiti, only a Haitian Coast Guard boat that was evacuating
from Cap Haitien to Port-au-Prince. Due to the significant increase
in patrols by the U.S. Coast Guard in the area, Mr. Mitchell said
this boat was intercepted, but after it was determined what its
occupants' intentions were, they were allowed to go to Port-au-Prince.

"But there have been no sightings of migrants in mass numbers or
otherwise coming to The Bahamas and we think that that is largely
because of the fact that the Coast Guard is pretty much in that
passage and also because the word has gone out in the North that if
you try and escape that way, you would not be allowed to land here or
in the United States," he said.

Also on Tuesday, the acting permanent secretary and acting head of
the foreign service, Marilyn Zonicle had meetings with
representatives of three of the four permanent members of the
Security Council, the United States, Great Britain and China asking
for their support of CARICOM efforts through the Latin American and
Caribbean group (GRULAC) of the UN, represented by Chile and Brazil.

Opposition rejects peace plan

Meanwhile in Haiti, even after being given an additional 24 hours by
the United States to examine a three-part peace plan aimed at
establishing the framework for elections, Haiti's opposition
officially rejected it Tuesday.

The opposition coalition indicated on Saturday and again on Monday
that they would reject the proposal because it calls for cooperating
with president Aristide. They reiterated that their only wish is for
Aristide to resign.

The plan would allow Aristide to remain president but in a diminished
capacity, sharing power with the opposition and other political
rivals.

Even if the opposition group had accepted the peace plan, the rebels
insist they will disarm only when Aristide is out of power.

President Aristide told a news conference that if the rebels come to
Port-au-Prince, thousands of people might be killed.

About 75 people have already been killed in the three-week-old
uprising in Haiti.

© 2004 The Nassau Guardian