19871: (Chamberlain) S.Africa police gear too late to save Haiti's Aristide (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

     By Alistair Thomson

    JOHANNESBURG, March 5 (Reuters) - South Africa, criticised for close
ties to Haiti's now exiled president, sent equipment to his police to
battle rebels but it arrived too late to help keep Jean-Bertrand Aristide
in power.
     A Defence Ministry letter obtained by Reuters on Friday said the
unspecified gear -- which media said included guns and bullets -- was
requested by Caribbean leaders and later arrived in Jamaica.
     South African President Thabo Mbeki has faced fierce criticism at home
since attending Haiti's bicentenary celebrations on January 1, with the
opposition charging he was backing an undemocratic and repressive regime.
     On Sunday Beeld newspaper said the shipment included 150 assault
rifles, 5,000 rounds of ammunition, 200 smoke bombs and 200 bullet-proof
jackets.
     The Pretoria government has not publicly commented but confirmed the
shipment in a March 4 letter to the opposition Democratic Alliance party,
its fiercest critic in the run-up to elections on April 14.
     South Africa "was asked for equipment for Haitian police services by
the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) presently chaired by President (Percival)
Patterson of Jamaica," Defence Minister Mosioua Lekota wrote.
     "CARICOM was anxious to help stabilise Haiti -- an objective shared by
the rest of the international community -- consequently such equipment was
collected and duly transported to Jamaica."
     A ministry spokesman declined to give further information and safety
and security ministry officials, who oversee the police, were unavailable
for comment.
     Mbeki's critics said his visit to Haiti amounted to approval of human
rights abuses against Aristide's opponents at a time of violent street
protests against his rule.
     Mbeki countered that, as the world's oldest black-governed republic
Haiti was a natural ally of South Africa and the "African Renaissance" he
champions.
     His government has denounced the unclear circumstances leading to
Aristide's exile, and has said it will consider any request for asylum in
South Africa by the leader who fled to the Central African Republic on
Monday.
     On Thursday Pretoria joined CARICOM calls for an international probe
into the affair after Aristide said U.S. officials forced him to leave
Haiti in a coup d'etat.