19267: (Chamberlain) US questions for first time if Aristide can stay (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

     By Saul Hudson

     WASHINGTON, Feb 26 (Reuters) - The United States on Thursday urged
Jean-Bertrand Aristide to consider if he should stay on as Haiti's
president, the first time it had questioned his ability to remain in power
in the face of a deadly revolt.
     After Aristide again on Thursday vowed to finish his term, which ends
in 2006, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell took a similar line as France
a day earlier and urged Aristide to "examine" whether he could effectively
rule.
     With rebels controlling half of the Caribbean nation and threatening
to attack the capital, critics say the United States has acted too slowly
to stem the revolt with a policy that inevitably will lead to Aristide
losing power.
     "I think, as a number of people have commented, whether or not he is
able to effectively continue as president is something he will have to
examine," said Powell. "I hope he will examine it carefully considering the
interests of the Haitian people. I know that President Aristide has the
interests of the Haitian people at heart."
     Washington has been unable to mediate a settlement. Unless Aristide
quits, the remaining alternatives are unpalatable to the United States:
either Aristide is ousted or foreign forces would have to quell the revolt
that has killed at least 60 people.
     A U.S. official, who asked not to be named, said Powell on Thursday
was "leaving the door open" for Aristide to quit. He recalled how a similar
crisis late last year in Bolivia was resolved when the embattled president
stepped down, allowing a transition government to take over.
     "He (Aristide) is not there -- yet," the official said.
     Powell said the Bush administration was ready to support "an
international force that would go into Haiti to help sustain a transitional
government."
     Against a backdrop of rebels vowing to overthrow him and the
opposition urging him to quit, the United States has failed to negotiate a
way out out of the crisis but has also rejected Aristide's appeals for a
foreign force to quell the violence.
     Aristide, who was restored to power by the United States a decade ago
after a coup, said it would be good for democracy if he finished what is
his second term in the poorest country in the Americas.
     But Powell earlier told a Senate committee hearing that "the
democratic political process in Haiti has essentially collapsed."
     "It's a great disappointment to me to find ourselves in this position.
I regret over those ten years we have not seen the kind of progress we had
hoped for," he said.
     The United States blames Aristide for fomenting violence by using
armed gangs to intimidate opponents.
     Aristide warned on Tuesday that a rebel advance on the capital could
result in a bloodbath and that Haitians could take to the sea. Tens of
thousands of Haitians fled political turmoil in boats and tried to reach
Florida in the 1990s.
     Powell said he was "very sensitive" to "a spurt" of refugees that have
been picked up by the U.S. Coast Guard.