19976: (Chamberlain) Thousands celebrate end of Aristide reign in Haiti (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

     By Ibon Villelabeitia and Joseph Guyler Delva

     PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, March 7 (Reuters) - Thousands of Haitians
shouted "we want justice" and celebrated the ouster of ex-President
Jean-Bertrand Aristide on Sunday under the watchful eyes of local police
and battle-ready foreign troops.
     A week after Aristide, a former hero of Haitian democracy, fled to
Africa in the face of a bloody rebellion and international pressure, an
estimated 3,000 jubilant demonstrators rallied in the upscale suburb of
Petionville and marched toward the National Palace.
     "Aristide criminal! Prison for Aristide!" they chanted, waving Haitian
flags, singing, clapping, punching fists in the air and honking horns.
     "We need democracy in Haiti. Aristide was a drug trafficker and his
regime violated human rights," said protester Harry Adeclat, a 38-year-old
doctor surrounded by demonstrators in pickup trucks, on bicycles or running
down the street.
     Rebel leader Guy Philippe flashed the "V" for victory sign as he took
the lead in the march and was hoisted up on the shoulders of demonstrators
who chanted, "Philippe, Philippe."
     U.S. Marines sitting in machine gun-equipped Humvees, French troops
and Haitian National Police in riot gear guarded the protesters as they
headed toward the palace, where Aristide supporters from the slums were
expected to mount a counterdemonstration later in the day.
     The calls for rival protests highlighted a split in Haiti over the
departure of Aristide, the former Roman Catholic priest who became a
champion of the impoverished masses when he helped overthrow the brutal
Duvalier family dictatorship in 1986.
     Aristide fled the poorest country in the Americas on Feb. 29 in the
face of an armed rebellion that killed more than 200 people and amid
pressure from the United States and other foreign nations.
     From his exile in the Central African Republic, he claimed he was
kidnapped by U.S. forces, an allegation the U.S. government denied.
     "We don't want Aristide back," said Charles Baker, a leader of a
political opposition movement that accused Aristide of corruption and human
rights abuses. "Aristide is gone but he is still leading the government."
     Baker said foes of the ex-president were pushing for the quick
formation of a new government. A council of elders was choosing a prime
minister to replace Yvon Neptune, an Aristide ally who is expected to be
pushed aside early this week.
     Aristide's supporters stayed relatively quiet during the first
tumultuous days after he was flown out of Haiti, claiming they were being
hunted by rebel forces who swarmed into the capital in triumph.
     That ended on Friday when thousands poured out of the Port-au-Prince
slums of La Saline and Cite Soleil to march on the U.S. Embassy and the
palace, hurling slurs at U.S. Marines and calling U.S. President George W.
Bush a terrorist.
     The calls for competing demonstrations on Sunday raised concerns of a
renewal of the looting and killing that gripped Haiti before and after
Aristide's departure.
     Despite a pledge by Philippe to lay down arms, no weapons had been
turned in to the police or multinational forces, which numbered about 2,300
Americans, French, Chileans and Canadians by Sunday.
     The new chief of the Haitian National Police, Leonce Charles, who was
appointed this week, met with officials of the U.N.-approved multinational
force on Saturday to ask for help with security for the competing protests.
     The Haitian force, a poorly trained department of 4,000 formed by
Aristide when he disbanded the dreaded army in 1995, wilted in the face of
the month-long insurgency of armed gangs and former soldiers.
     "Any time there's a possibility that two opposing groups can clash, in
my business, yes, there's a concern," said Col. Mark Gurganus, the U.S.
commander of the multinational force. "Will we have the forces in place to
ensure a quiet day? We will absolutely try to."
     The council of elders named to help form a new government broke from a
daylong meeting on Saturday without naming a prime minister, a task
expected to be completed this week.
     Among the top candidates are Smarck Michel, a businessman who served
as prime minister in 1994 and 1995 but ultimately broke with Aristide over
differences in economic policy, former Haitian army Gen. Herard Abraham,
former Foreign Minister Gerard Latortue and Axan Abellard of the Center for
Free Enterprise and Democracy.