19272: (Chamberlain) Kerry-Graham (later story) (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

   WASHINGTON, Feb 26 (AP) -- Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry
asked President Bush on Thursday to name Sen. Bob Graham of Florida as a
special envoy to Haiti to help find a political solution to the violence
there.
   Graham, who plans to endorse Kerry for president in the next week, has
been critical of the Bush administration's handling of the crisis in Haiti,
where opposition forces are threatening to overtake the capital and oust
President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
   "He knows the situation in Haiti extremely well and knows the cost that
widespread violence will cause not only in Haiti, but on our shores," Kerry
said of his Senate colleague, who abandoned his own Democratic presidential
bid last October and has since expressed interest in the No. 2 spot on the
ticket.
   Graham, 67, called this week for a police force -- either U.S. or
multinational -- to restore order in the Caribbean country. His spokesman,
Paul Anderson, said the senator would be willing to serve as an envoy if
Bush asks him.
   Bush said the United States is encouraging the international community
to provide a security presence in Haiti. He also said the U.S. Coast Guard
would turn back Haitian refugees reaching American shores.
   Bush campaign spokesman Steve Schmidt said Kerry was playing politics
with "the volatile situation in Haiti."
   "While the president and the administration are engaged in the hard work
of diplomacy, Senator Kerry is engaged in political posturing and
grandstanding," Schmidt said.
   Kerry campaign spokesman Chad Clanton responded: "This administration
has shown that diplomacy doesn't come naturally to it. Had they been
engaged in the 'hard work' of diplomacy before now, they might have
prevented this crisis from getting out of control."