19738: Chamberlain: Haiti rebels to lay down arms, new violence (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

     By Jim Loney and Alistair Scrutton

     PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, March 3 (Reuters) - Haiti's rebel leader said
on Wednesday he was disarming his forces and pulling them off the capital's
lawless streets, where gunfights had erupted three days after the president
was driven into exile.
     "We have decided to lay down our arms," said Guy Philippe, one day
after announcing that he was chief of the military and police in defiance
of the United States, which is heading a U.N.-authorised mission to restore
order in the country.
     "The Front from now on has no men patrolling the streets," Philippe
said, referring to the rebel forces.
     He said he did not have political ambitions and hoped the
international community would create institutions that would ensure that
"no tyrants will come back to power" in Haiti, which has suffered more than
30 coups.
     Philippe, speaking to reporters outside the capital Port-au-Prince,
said he had made the decision because international security forces were
moving to disarm supporters of ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in
the city.
     U.S. officials had demanded that the rebels disarm and disband, saying
they were working with prominent Haitian figures to form a new
administration to fill the power gap.
     Philippe spoke after gunfights flared between rebels and Aristide
supporters as the first wave of foreign forces, including Americans, French
and Canadian troops, guarded key sites but kept a low profile on the
streets.
     Old women with stacks of groceries balanced on their heads ran
screaming as shots rang out at a crossroads near the La Saline slum. A
truck was overturned on the road.
     Another gun battle erupted in a traffic jam in a nearby street market,
where panicky drivers reversed at high speed down pavements to avoid cross
fire. Hundreds of people, saying they heard gun shots, fled the streets
around the U.S.-guarded National Palace.
     U.S. Marines had not begun street patrols on Wednesday morning despite
a pledge to increase their presence after Philippe declared himself Haiti's
military chief on Tuesday and his men spread out through the decrepit
streets.
     "We have not been missioned to patrol as yet," Marine Staff Sgt.
Timothy Edwards said in a briefing at the airport. More than 1,000 U.S.
troops are in Haiti as part of a multinatio Sgt. Timothy Edwards said in a
briefing at the airport. More than 1,000 U.S. troops are in Haiti as part
of a multinatio nal force that is expected to grow to around 5,000.
    With government ministers in hiding and no president at the palace,
Prime Minister Yvon Neptune told Reuters Haiti was running "as best as it
can at the moment."
    "There is no legislature. The ministers are in hiding. I am in my
office but my latitude to function is severely curtailed," he said in a
telephone interview from his office.
    With the power off and no preserving chemicals, decomposing bodies
littered the floor of the Port-au-Prince morgue, where officials said they
had received 30 corpses since since Aristide left on Sunday morning.
    More than 100 people have died since a rebellion against Aristide broke
out in the Caribbean country on Feb. 5.
    Hundreds of Haitians clamored for food in front of the National Palace
as an aid agency distributed 14,000 pounds (6,350 kg) of food. Hands
reached up to scoop up cereal and cans of vegetables.
    Philippe on Tuesday declared himself "military chief" of Haiti's
security forces, including the rebel forces and the Haitian National
Police.
    The rebels, whose leaders include convicted murderer Louis Jodel
Chamblain, forged a swift alliance with the police after routing them in a
march through cities and towns in the north.
    Celebrating their victory over Aristide, about 50 rebels, accompanied
by prostitutes, about 50 rebels drank heavily in a luxury hotel late on
Tuesday, slugging back beer as pistols and rifles lay casually on tables or
a their sides.
    Philippe's table ordered three bottles of $90-a-bottle champagne, which
hotel sources said they failed to pay for.
    Washington is trying to create a council of a dozen prominent Haitians
to organize early elections. The State Department said on Tuesday the
rebels had no role in the political process and should disband and go back
to their homes.

 (Additional reporting by Joseph Guyler Delva and Amy Bracken in
Port-au-Prince)