19810: (Chamberlain) Haiti (later story) (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

   By MARK STEVENSON

   PORT-AU-PRINCE, March 4 (AP) -- U.S. Marines cleared streets of trash
and barricades Thursday and merchants wiped away graffiti supporting ousted
leader Jean-Bertrand Aristide, yet the score-settling and years-long
struggle for power continued in this troubled Caribbean nation.
   News of violence in outlying towns and cities continued reaching Haiti's
capital Thursday, despite a temporary show of U.S. military and diplomatic
muscle that prompted rebel leader Guy Philippe on Wednesday to say his
insurgents would disarm. At least 130 people have been killed since the
rebellion began Feb. 5.
   In Petit-Goave, 20 miles west of Port-au-Prince, residents on Wednesday
stoned an alleged pro-Aristide militant, doused him with gasoline and
burned him alive. The vengeful mob told two photographers that the man had
terrorized the town and they feared he would kill them if they didn't act
first.
   In the capital, at least three people died Wednesday during an hour-long
gunbattle between Aristide loyalists and rebels in La Saline slum near the
looted seaport.
   Thursday morning, the capital was calmer. Some gas stations opened,
drawing long lines. Colorfully painted Tap-tap pickup trucks -- the
capital's most popular form of transport -- were on the streets. Charcoal
vendors set up shop on the sidewalks, as did shoeshine boys and women
selling fruit and vegetables.
   Daphnee Saintilima, trying to sell papayas, voiced the concern of most
people in this country, where two-thirds of the population of 8 million
doesn't get enough to eat.
   "The most important thing for me is to feed my family. I'm tired of
politics. Politics doesn't feed me," she said.
   For some, the foreign peacekeepers were seen as an occupying force
cementing Aristide's removal.
   "People are still angry. Just because we have tanks patrolling, it
doesn't make things better," said Marie-Claude Augustine, 46. "The rebels
need to just go and so do the Americans."
   Many Haitians expressed doubt Thursday that peace truly was at hand.
   "The rebels want to take over the country," said Gracious Laguenne, a
54-year-old tailor. "As soon as the Americans leave, they're going to come
back, and it will be the same thing all over again."
   As some Marines cleared streets of heaps of debris from barricades set
by Aristide militants to protect the city from the rebels, others gingerly
used their rifles to lift piles of junk to check for booby-traps. Winches
mounted on Humvees pulled concrete barriers out of the streets.
   President Bush sent U.S. forces to Haiti on Sunday with emergency U.N.
Security Council approval after Aristide fled the country -- rebels at the
gates of Port-au-Prince, and U.S. and French officials pressing him to
resign.
   A 29-year-old man who participated in the looting of the capital,
including Aristide's private residents, showed reporters crumbling stacks
of $100 bills he said were found in hidden safes in the deposed leader's
basement.
   The stack was about 15 inches thick, and a Haitian banker estimated that
would amount to about $350,000.
   The international Red Cross on Thursday appealed to donors for $3.5
million to cover the cost of its emergency operations in Haiti over the
next four months.
   "The funds are needed primarily to cover a substantial increase in
surgical and other medical aid to hospitals in order to ensure appropriate
care for the wounded and sick," said the International Committee of the Red
Cross in a statement.
   Caribbean leaders, meanwhile, called for an independent international
inquiry into the ouster of Aristide, who claimed from exile in Africa that
he was abducted at gunpoint by U.S. Marines.
   The United States denied Aristide's claims.
   Haiti's first freely elected president, Aristide was wildly popular when
elected in 1990 with promises to bring a better life. But he is accused of
condoning corruption, failing to improve life for the poor, and using
police, armed gangs and militant loyalists to crush his opponents.
   Interim President Boniface Alexandre, in his first address to the nation
since being sworn in Sunday, fired the police chief and replaced him with a
U.S.-trained former head of the Haitian Coast Guard.
   Alexandre called the rebels "patriotic men of honor" -- indicating there
were no plans to arrest two rebel leaders who are convicted assassins --
and asked them to disarm and help rebuild Haiti.
   He also asked Aristide loyalists to disarm, assuring them that
Aristide's Lavalas party will "play a role in the democratic process that
we are starting."
   Haitian Prime Minister Yvon Neptune estimated damage from looting and
pillaging at $300 million. He also said he had frozen all government bank
accounts except those controlled by the president. It was unclear if that
was to stop illegal withdrawals or indicated a future investigation into
corruption.
   The first 120 Chilean special forces arrived Wednesday, with another 220
were expected in the next two days. About 1,000 U.S. Marines are on the
ground, and France said it would have 420 soldiers and police here by
week's end -- the vanguard of a peacekeeping force expected to number about
5,000.
   Aristide remained in the Central African Republic, where officials said
Wednesday they would give him permanent exile if he asked.

------
   Associated Press writers Paisley Dodds and Ian James in Port-au-Prince
contributed to this report.