19301: haiti-info: France Urges Aristide to Quit (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Haiti Info <hainfo@starband.net>

France Urges Aristide to Quit in Haiti Talks
Reuters
By Mark John

PARIS (Reuters) - French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin told a
Haitian government delegation on Friday that President Jean-Bertrand
Aristide should quit as part of efforts to end a bloody rebellion in
France's former colony.

Villepin made the appeal during one hour of talks with a team led by Haitian
Foreign Minister Joseph Philippe Antonio, the ministry said in a written
statement.

"The minister recalled that President Aristide bears a heavy responsibility
in the current situation and that he should draw the conclusions from the
impasse," the statement said.

"The minister recalled that each hour counts if we want to avoid an
uncontrollable spiral of violence...More than ever, it is up to Haitians to
put in place a transitional government of national unity."

The Haiti delegation left the ministry without speaking to reporters and
later issued a brief statement saying: "The two parties had a constructive
exchange on latest developments in Haiti's political situation and examined
ways that could lead to a peaceful resolution of the crisis in Haiti."

An embassy spokeswoman said a news conference due to be held later by
Antonio had been canceled. She gave no reason and said Antonio would leave
France by the weekend as planned.

The United States has joined France in urging Aristide to quit, faced with a
three-week-old rebellion in which more than 60 people have died. Even as
rebels advance on Port-au-Prince, Aristide has said he will see out his term
in office to 2006.

TALKS NEXT WEEK

France, Haiti's 18th-century colonial master until a slave uprising brought
independence in 1804, has played a growing role in international efforts to
resolve the crisis on the Caribbean island, the poorest country in the
Americas.

Haiti opposition leaders had been due in Paris in Friday for separate talks
with Villepin but were unable to get a flight out of Haiti. French officials
said they hoped these talks could take place early next week.

Aristide's opponents have insisted he can have no place in Haiti's future.
One of them signaled their support for French proposals that include the
immediate dispatch of a civilian peace force to restore order and support a
new government.

"We can join this initiative because it permits mechanisms that will allow
us to find a quick way out of the crisis," Micha Gaillard, spokesman for the
opposition group Democratic Convergence, told the French daily Liberation in
Port-au-Prince.

He said the plan, unveiled on Wednesday, appeared to be the fruit of regular
contacts between France, the United States and others, including Canada and
Haiti's Caribbean neighbors.

Asked what he thought Aristide's reaction would be, Gaillard said: "He can
and will understand it -- in the interest of Haiti, of the Lavalas (Family
party) and in his own interest. And we are ready to accompany him toward an
honorable exit."

The U.N. Security Council, where France is a permanent member alongside the
United States, has said it can approve a civilian peace force when
government and opposition reach agreement on sharing power and ending the
violence.

Asked whether such a force should be made up of police or soldiers, a French
Foreign Ministry spokesman said it should be a civilian force and the
question of whether it would be armed would be studied "relative to the
unfolding situation." Paris Newsroom +331 4949 5339))