18764: Slavin: AP/Caribbean Won't Help With Peacekeeping (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: JPS390@aol.com

Caribbean Won't Help With Peacekeeping

.c The Associated Press

KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) - Fourteen Caribbean nations rejected joining any
peacekeeping force for Haiti Wednesday, criticizing Western nations in their
response to the rebellion against President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

Prime Minister P.J. Patterson said the Caribbean Community was ``extremely
disappointed'' at the involvement of ``Western partners'' in the hasty departure
of Aristide.

Speaking for the 15-nation trading bloc, Patterson claimed that the council
failed to respond to its appeals to help Aristide by sending an international
armed force to restore order in Haiti.

``We believe that we put forward a very compelling case before the Security
Council on Thursday of last week. The Security Council failed to respond
then,'' said Patterson.

Aristide fled into exile on Sunday as rebels closed in on the capital
following a weeks long rebellion. Aristide claimed U.S. troops forced him to flee.

``We could not fail to observe that what was impossible on Thursday could be
accomplished in an emergency meeting on Sunday. We are disappointed in the
extreme at the failure to act,'' Patterson said.

``In the prevailing circumstances, the leaders do not envisage their
participation in the multinational peacekeeping force authorized by the U.N. Security
Council,'' the leaders said in a statement ending an emergency meeting on
Haiti.



03/03/04 17:34 EST


Copyright 2003 The Associated Press.