19383: haiti info: White House Wants Aristide to Surrender (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Haiti Info <hainfo@starband.net>

White House Wants Aristide to Surrender
20 minutes ago - AP
By GEORGE GEDDA, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration, concerned that armed groups in Haiti
may seize power, believes the best hope for democracy is for President
Jean-Bertrand Aristide to surrender power to his constitutional successor, a
senior official said Friday.

Pentagon (news - web sites) officials also are weighing the possibility of
sending troops to waters off Haiti to guard against a possible refugee
crisis and to protect the estimated 20,000 Americans there. Many are
Haitian-American dual citizens.

Rebels were believed in control of half the country Friday and were closing
in on Port-au-Prince, the capital.

Secretary of State Colin Powell (news - web sites) signaled a more assertive
U.S. stand against Aristide Thursday evening, when he voiced doubts about
Aristide's ability to run the country during his remaining two years in
office.

"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.

Powell's remarks, coupled with France's statement this week that Aristide
should step down, increased pressure on Aristide to reconsider his vow not
to quit before a new elected president takes office in February 2006.

The official said arrangements could be made for the United States to ensure
Aristide's safe departure if he chooses to step down.

If armed groups take over Haiti, they would have virtually no international
support and little chance of gaining popular support. The administration
distinguishes between these groups and the country's peaceful opposition
forces.

According to the Haitian constitution, the next in line to succeed Aristide
is Supreme Court Chief Justice Boniface Alexandre. Among Haitians, Alexandre
has a reputation for honesty.

The administration official said a transfer of power would be followed by
early elections. In the interim, a broad-based government would run the
country, consistent with a transition plan outlined a month ago by the
15-nation Caribbean Community.

Aristide has said he accepts the plan's concept of the establishment of a
transition government that would permit him to remain in power, albeit with
diluted authority. Opposition leaders are demanding his resignation and
oppose the plan.

The administration was continuing efforts to bring the two sides together.

"We're interested in achieving a political settlement," President Bush (news
- web sites) said during an Oval Office photo session with German Chancellor
Gerhard Schroeder.

A senior State Department official said that the administration is not
calling for Aristide's resignation. He added that the administration was
still hopeful that Aristide and his opponents can work out a deal.

The State Department issued a travel advisory Friday night warning Americans
that the security situation in Haiti had deteriorated significantly.

"Safe travel out of the country by regularly scheduled commercial means is
not possible at this time," it said. "U.S. citizens who remain in Haiti
should seek a safe haven and remain there until the situation improves or
safe transport out the country becomes available."

Bush decided to support the tougher line on Aristide after an extended
debate within the administration over how to proceed in the face of the
intensifying crisis in the Caribbean nation, the official said, speaking on
condition of anonymity.

Bush's spokesman, Scott McClellan, was cautious about the possibility of a
U.S. deployment off Haiti.

"I wouldn't over-interpret the planning that's going on right now,"
McClellan said. "We make appropriate contingency plans for circumstances.
But right now we remain focused on finding a peaceful and democratic and
constitutional solution to the situation in Haiti."

If Bush decides a troop deployment is necessary, a likely choice would the
24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, whose 2,200 Marines are based at Camp
Lejeune, N.C.

The unit's Web site quoted Lt. Gen. H.P. Osman, commander of the 2nd Marine
Expeditionary Force at Lejeune, as telling Marines of the 24th MEU a week
ago that they might be called on in Haiti.

"Things are bubbling right now in a nation in our own hemisphere, and ...
you're the Marines I'm going to be looking at to possibly answer that
contingency," Osman was quoted as saying.

The Coast Guard was returning some migrants to Haiti on Friday.

State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said 531 would-be migrants picked
up by Coast Guard cutters are being returned to Haiti in cooperation with
Haitian authorities.

He said U.S. policy concerning boat migrants is to return them to their
country of origin, absent credible concerns that they may face persecution
once they are repatriated.