19211: (Chamberlain) UN stays on fringe of efforts to end Haiti crisis (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

     By Irwin Arieff

    UNITED NATIONS, Feb 25 (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council on
Wednesday deplored the rejection of a deal to end Haiti's armed revolt but
chose to remain on the fringes of global efforts to resolve the Caribbean
nation's crisis.
     As a rebel threat to march on the Haitian capital stirred fears of a
bloodbath, a council statement called on President Jean-Bertrand Aristide
and opposition groups to accept a power-sharing settlement proposed by the
Caribbean Community (Caricom) and the Organization of American States.
     But the council again decided, as it did a week earlier, to leave it
to Caricom and the OAS to lead the international search for a way out of
the crisis.
     In a statement read by Council President Wang Guangya of China, the
15-member Security Council said the deal rejected on Tuesday by the
opposition had offered "the best opportunity to restore confidence and
dialogue."
     U.S. Ambassador John Negroponte told reporters after the council
meeting, "We have not abandoned our hope that the parties can be persuaded
to see the wisdom and the benefit of accepting such a plan."
     "Our view is that the best way to engage the international community
is for there to be a political agreement based on the Caricom and OAS plan,
and efforts continue to help bring that about," Negroponte said.
     Some Caricom members have considered asking for a U.N. peacekeeping
force to intervene in Haiti, and Caricom leader Jamaica asked for an urgent
Security Council meeting on grounds the crisis "affects peace and stability
in the region."
     The council agreed to schedule a meeting on Thursday but played down
the possibility of sending in peacekeepers before a political deal was in
place in Haiti.
     "We are as close to that as New York is to Beijing," said one council
diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity.
     Aristide accepted the settlement proposed by Caricom and the OAS and
backed by the United States, France and Canada, adding a condition that he
be allowed to serve out his full term ending in 2006.
     But the opposition rejected the deal, reiterating its demand that
Aristide leave office immediately.
     In the meantime, France on Wednesday proposed an international police
force to restore order and issued a statement seen as a call for Aristide
to resign. U.S. President George W. Bush said Washington could support an
international security presence but only once a political settlement was
reached.
     U.N. Undersecretary-General for Political Affairs Kieran Prendergast
told the Security Council the situation had in recent days "grown more
complex, more volatile, more impervious to mediation attempts, and it is
more difficult to discern a peaceful way forward."
     He warned that a rebel march on Port-au-Prince, the capital, could
encounter stiff resistance, resulting in deaths and human-rights
violations.
     Prendergast said the international community needed to work out a
long-range approach to Haiti rather than pay attention to it only in times
of crisis.