20166: (Chamberlain) New Haiti PM aims to disarm, unite his nation (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

     By Amy Bracken

     PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, March 9 (Reuters) - Haiti's prime
minister-designate, Gerard Latortue, said on Tuesday he would work to
disarm the country, which has been racked by violence, and bring his
divided people together.
     "I hope at least I will create a country to which most Haitians will
want to return, including myself," he told Reuters in an interview from his
home in Boca Raton, Florida.
     Latortue, who was expected in Port-au-Prince on Wednesday or on
Thursday, has lived outside of Haiti for much of his adult life. He first
fled in 1963 during the 30-year Duvalier family dictatorship but later
served as a foreign minister.
     Latortue, 69, will serve as interim prime minister until elections can
be held.
     He was chosen by a U.S.-backed council of elders to replace Yvon
Neptune, an ally of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, the former Roman
Catholic priest who was forced to leave Haiti on Feb. 29 after an armed
rebellion.
     More than 200 people have been killed in the revolt that began on Feb.
5. Armed gangs and former soldiers took over a series of towns in the north
and ultimately forced Aristide from power.
     The rebels have vowed to lay down their arms but have yet to comply.
Opposition groups have also called on Haitian police and international
forces to disarm Aristide's well-armed supporters in his Lavalas Family
party.
     "I will introduce into the government people with strong expertise. I
cannot deal with everything," Latortue said. "I will delegate with the
objective of disarming all groups, Lavalas as well as others with illegal
arms in their hands."
     Latortue worked for the United Nations Industrial Development
Organization for 22 years and said he supports the presence of U.N.-led
forces in Haiti. He said he plans to meet with U.N. Secretary-General Kofi
Annan "to discuss rules of engagement and the proper roles of the police."
     Latortue said his years in the United Nations helped him remain
nonpartisan, and work with people from various backgrounds.
     "What divided the nation under Aristide was exclusion," he said. "If
you were not a member of Lavalas, you were not a Haitian."
     Anne-Marie Issa, a member of the council that selected the prime
minister, quoted Latortue as saying he would include in his government the
two other finalists for the job, Herard Abraham, a former Haitian army
general, and Smarck Michel, a former prime minister who served with
Aristide in 1995.
     Latortue has not been in Haiti since September 2002, but he said he
might stay after serving his term as provisional prime minister.

    (Additional reporting by Ibon Villelabeitia)