19208: (Chamberlain) Haiti-Rebel Attack (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

   CAP-HAITIEN, Feb 25 (AP) -- Rebel leader Guy Philippe said Wednesday his
troops are ready to attack the Haitian capital but want to "give a chance
to peace" and will hold off to see if President Jean-Bertrand Aristide
resigns.
   Philippe told The Associated Press that the rebels also were taking a
wait-and-see approach to proposals to end international peacekeepers to
Haiti.
   "If they do not attack the Haitian people, we won't attack them," he
said. "If they come to help us to remove Mr. Aristide, they will be
welcome."
   Philippe estimated his rebel force had grown from a couple of hundred to
5,000 with new recruits and more ex-soldiers joining the three-week-old
popular uprising to oust Aristide, and said they were ready to fight.
   "We're ready. We just want to give a chance to peace," he said. "We're
ready to talk to anyone. The only one the country doesn't want is Mr.
Aristide."
   Philippe has given various deadlines for his threatened attack on the
city, most recently this coming Sunday, his 36th birthday.