20367: (Chamberlain) AP: Haiti (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

   By PAISLEY DODDS

   PORT-AU-PRINCE, March 14 (AP) -- French troops on Sunday replaced U.S.
Marines patrolling a slum stronghold of exiled leader Jean-Bertrand
Aristide, where the Americans -- under fire -- killed two people and
angered residents.
   Aristide, who fled to the Central African Republic on Feb. 29, was
expected to leave that asylum later Sunday for temporary exile in
neighboring Jamaica, a prospect that has raised tensions in Haiti and
prompted his followers to threaten more protests demanding his restoration
as their democratically elected president.
   So far, no demonstrations were planned in the capital Port-au-Prince,
where people wearing their Sunday best filled churches and hymns wafted in
the air.
   "We pray that a spirit of commerce returns to the country, and we pray
that our community can now be based on justice and freedom," the Rev.
Chancy Crierlain told hundreds of parishioners at the city's Roman Catholic
cathedral.
   A five-member delegation of American and Jamaican officials, including
Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., was to fly with Aristide in a chartered plane
to Jamaica, where he will meet his daughters. They had been sent to New
York City days before Aristide fled.
   U.S. Ambassador to Haiti James Foley said Saturday that "Jamaican
authorities are certainly taking on a risk and a responsibility" by
accepting Aristide.
   Jamaican officials say he will only stay eight to 10 weeks until he
finds a new home. Many countries appear reluctant to enter into the
diplomatic entanglement of hosting Aristide, who has claimed the United
States forced him from power.
   That allegation has his militant supporters venting their resentment
against U.S. troops leading a multinational peacekeeping force that arrived
the day Aristide left.
   Marines said they came under fire late Friday in the La Saline
neighborhood and killed two gunmen, although no weapons were recovered.
Witnesses said the dead were bystanders.
   Several people also were injured in Friday's shootout.
   On Sunday, French soldiers patrolled La Saline, where residents have not
had electricity or water since Aristide's flight and mounds of trash block
the streets.
   One young French trooper, who identified himself only as Sgt.
Jean-Michel, said his group had just come from Ivory Coast and had more
experience in peacekeeping than the Americans.
   "I'm afraid things could get bad for the Americans. They have sensitive
fingers on the trigger," he said. "We're more relaxed under fire."
   U.S. troops have shot and killed at least six Haitians in the past week.
But the Marines reported a peaceful Saturday night.
   Initially the Marines and French peacekeepers were deployed in Haiti to
secure key sites and provide security. But as they came under attack and
politicians called for disarmament, they have started working with Haitian
police to disarm Haiti's many gunmen.
   The chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Richard Myers,
arrived Saturday and visited U.S. troops at their barracks, shaking hands
with Marines. But he did not talk with Haitian officials.
   Later, he told a news conference: "As far as Aristide's return to the
region is concerned, if that increases the violence here, then that would
be extremely unhelpful."
   He said the United States would not take sides in Haiti, but warned the
Marines had the right to defend themselves.
   Also Saturday, 10 Dominicans taken hostage by Haitian rebels along the
two countries' border were freed after the Dominican government released a
Haitian being investigated for the killing of two Dominican soldiers.
   The soldiers were killed at the border Feb. 14 as Haitian ex-soldiers
living in exile in the Dominican Republic crossed the border to join the
rebellion in Haiti.
   --------
   Associated Press reporters Ian James and Peter Prengaman in
Port-Au-Prince and John Pain in Miami contributed to this story.