19320: (Chamberlain) Haiti-Uprising (later story) (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

   By MICHAEL NORTON

   PORT-AU-PRINCE, Feb 27 (AP) -- Rebels who have overrun half of Haiti
seized another town Friday and closed in on the tense capital, where
looting erupted and supporters of embattled President Jean-Bertrand
Aristide fired guns in the air.
   A new rebel group seized Haiti's third-largest city, Les Cayes, on the
southern coast, in the 3-week-old uprising.
   As the United States and France made clear that Aristide should resign,
the rebels freed about 67 prisoners in Mirebalais, about 25 miles northeast
of Port-au-Prince, witnesses said.
   "The police ran. They left everything and went into Port-au-Prince,"
rebel leader Guy Philippe said from his base in the northern port of
Cap-Haitien. "They left hours before" the rebel advance, he said.
   Philippe said he did not expect much resistance from the outgunned and
demoralized Haitian police force, and that he did not want to fight
die-hard Aristide supporters.
   At a police station in Croix-des-Bouquets, officers had shed their
uniforms for civilian clothes, appeared to have abandoned their guns and
were ready to flee.
   People went about their business, though, with street vendors hawking
goods.
   Haiti's third-largest city, the southern port of Les Cayes, fell
Thursday to the Base Resistance, a group allied with Haiti's opposition
Democratic Platform but not tied to the rebels.
   In Port-au-Prince, armed Aristide loyalists set up more blazing
barricades to protect the presidential palace, and some fired shots into
the air. Dozens of roadblocks were built overnight, where Aristide
supporters were robbing motorists.
   Hundreds of people attacked the port. In a chaotic scene, people looted
containers of food, TVs and furniture. No police were in sight.
   "There's a lot of humanitarian aid down there. If it gets worse, it
could all go," said Wyk Lemke, head of the Haitian Shipping Association.
   The international community continued efforts to resolve the crisis
through diplomacy, demanding a political settlement between Aristide and
opposition politicians before they would agree to send peacekeepers. But it
appeared to be too late for that.
   In Paris, French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin met with
Aristide's chief of staff Jean-Claude Desgranges and his Foreign Minister
Joseph Antonio about the crisis in its former colony. Neither side would
comment afterward, and Antonio abruptly canceled a scheduled news
conference.
   De Villepin, who on Wednesday urged Aristide to step down, had been
expected to explore ideas for new leadership. France has taken the lead
among nations in seeking the departure of Aristide. On Thursday, Secretary
of State Colin Powell came close to telling Aristide he should bow out
before his term expires in February 2006.
   "Whether or not he is able to effectively continue as president is
something he will have to examine carefully in the interests of the Haitian
people," Powell said.
   Aristide told CNN on Thursday he would not resign.
   He also said it wouldn't take much international aid to crush the
insurgency, which has been joined by former Haitian army death squad leader
Louis-Jodel Chamblain and Philippe, an army officer who was Aristide's
assistant police chief for north Haiti.
   "From my point of view, if we have a couple of dozen of international
soldiers, police, together right now, it could be enough to send a positive
signal to those terrorists," Aristide said. "Once they realize the
international community refuses (to allow) the terrorists to keep killing
people, we can prevent them to kill more people."
   Jamaica's Foreign Minister K.D. Knight, speaking for the 15-nation
Caribbean Community that includes Haiti, appealed to the U.N. Security
Council for immediate military assistance.
   But Powell and his counterparts from France and Canada said Haiti's
government and opposition politicians must reach a political agreement
before any peacekeepers go.
   The rebellion erupted Feb. 5 in western Gonaives, the fourth-largest
city. Cap-Haitien, the second-largest city, fell easily Sunday.
   About 80 people, half of them police officers, have been killed so far.
   The crisis has been brewing since Aristide's party swept flawed
legislative elections in 2000 and international donors froze millions of
dollars in aid.
   Aristide, a former priest of Haiti's slums who in 1990 became its first
freely elected leader, has lost popularity amid accusations he condoned
corruption, failed to help the poor and had thugs attack political
opponents.
   He has agreed to a U.S.-backed plan that requires him to share power
with his opponents, but the opposition rejected the proposal, insisting he
resign.
   Many foreigners and Haitians have fled the country.
   Americans with M-16s guarded a convoy of U.N. workers and their families
on the way to Port-au-Prince's airport Thursday, passing the barricades of
wrecked cars, rocks and tires.
   Military helicopters of the Dominican Republic, which shares the island
of Hispaniola with Haiti, ferried people from its embassy to the airport,
which was packed.
   American Airlines canceled flights to the United States, saying its
workers couldn't reach the airport.
   Brazil dispatched troops to evacuate its citizens and protect its
embassy, as did the United States and Canada.
   Haitians were fleeing their country in boats, but not in great numbers.
The U.S. Coast Guard intercepted a dozen small craft carrying 546 Haitians
near the Haitian coast this week, spokesman Luis Diaz said.