20132: (Chamberlain) AP: Haiti (later story) (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

   By PETER PRENGAMAN
 and
 IAN JAMES

   PORT-AU-PRINCE, March 9 (AP) -- Loyalists demanding the return of exiled
President Jean-Bertrand Aristide set up flaming barricades and stoned cars
Tuesday, and the U.S. Marines said they will begin helping Haitian police
disarm rebel groups.
   Also, the U.S. military announced a second death caused by American
Marines, who, with French Legionnaires, form the vanguard of a U.N.
peacekeeping mission.
   Efforts to bring calm to this troubled Caribbean nation followed a
bloody insurgency that ousted Aristide on Feb. 29, put rebels in control of
half the country and sparked a frenzy of looting and violence. At least 130
people were killed in the rebellion; reprisal killings since Aristide's
ouster have left at least 300 dead.
   The announcement Tuesday that the Marines will begin helping disarm
rebel groups is a tall order in a country where all sides are threatening
to resume the rebellion.
   Marine Col. Charles Gurganus called on Haitians to tell peacekeepers who
has weapons and to turn in arms. "The disarmament will be both active and
reactive, but I'm not going to say any more about that," he said, giving
few details.
   Gurganus said Haitian police will lead disarmament efforts, but starting
Wednesday, peacekeepers will assist in getting "the weapons off the
street."
   U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Tuesday that he hopes the
international community will have the patience and stamina necessary to
commit to Haiti "for the long haul."
   "It's going to take time, it's going to take lots of hard work," he told
the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. "And we should not expect to do a Band-Aid
job for two years or so, and then turn around and leave, only to have to
return."
   The U.N. resident representative in Haiti, Adama Guindo, said Tuesday he
was working with U.S. Marines to devise a disarmament plan.
   In the worst violence since Aristide left, gunmen opened fire on
anti-Aristide protesters Sunday, killing six people and wounding more than
30. U.S. Marines said they killed one gunman.
   Late Monday, Marines shot and killed the driver of a car speeding toward
a checkpoint. A passenger was wounded.
   Hijackings and robberies have been common at roadblocks since Haiti's
uprising began. Motorists -- including journalists -- often speed through
checkpoints to avoid attacks by pro-Aristide militants and rebels.
   In Washington, the Pentagon said Marines in both incidents were acting
within orders.
   "An individual Marine ... has an absolute right to defend himself and
those around him," said Marine Gen. Peter Pace, vice chairman of the Joint
Chiefs of Staff.
   U.S. forces in Haiti, about 1,600 strong, have limits on their powers:
They cannot stop looting, even of American companies, nor can they use
force to halt Haitian-on-Haitian violence.
   Their mission is to protect key sites, like government buildings and the
airport, and to pave the way for the U.N. force.
   Also Tuesday, a Caribbean foreign minister voiced continuing regional
suspicion about the circumstances of Aristide's departure. Now in exile in
the Central African Republic, Aristide insists he is still Haiti's
president and that he was abducted and forced to leave by the United
States.
   "We hold the United States responsible for the removal of the Haitian
president," said Louis Straker, foreign minister for St. Vincent and the
Grenadines, a member of the 15-nation Caribbean Community that last week
called for an international investigation into Aristide's departure.
   In an interview Monday with National Public Radio, Secretary of State
Colin Powell again denied that Washington forced out Aristide, saying U.S.
troops saved his life.
   Aristide "contacted our ambassador," Powell said, "and our ambassador
made appropriate arrangements so that he could leave safely, which many
people said we should make sure would happen -- that nothing would happen
to him. And he left of his own free will."
   Aristide was a wildly popular slum priest, elected on promises to
champion the poor who make up the vast majority of Haiti's 8 million
people. But he has lost support, with Haitians saying he failed to improve
their lives, condoned corruption and used police and armed supporters to
attack political opponents.
   On Tuesday, the recently appointed seven-member Council of Sages was
considering a replacement for Prime Minister Yvon Neptune, an Aristide
appointee.
   It was another step in forming a transitional government from Aristide's
Lavalas party and a disparate opposition coalition that would organize new
elections -- presumably without the ousted president.
   Candidates for prime minister are:
   --Businessman Smarck Michel, Aristide's prime minister in 1994-1995 who
resigned over differences in economic policy.
   --Retired Lt. Gen. Herard Abraham, who is probably the only Haitian army
officer to voluntarily surrender power to a civilian, in 1990. He allowed
the transition that led to Haiti's first free elections in December 1990,
which Aristide won in a landslide.
   --Gerard Latortue, a former U.N. official and an international business
consultant who was foreign minister in 1988 to former President Leslie
Manigat, who was toppled in one of the 32 coups fomented by Haiti's army.
   Supreme Court Chief Justice Boniface Alexandre was installed officially
Monday as interim president. He made a plea for calm.
   U.S. Marines started arriving Feb. 29, the day Aristide left. There are
also 800 French Legionnaires and police, 130 Chilean troops and 70
Canadians as of Tuesday.