20460: (Chamberlain) U.S. troops hunt for gunmen in Haiti (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

     By Ibon Villelabeitia and Michael Christie

    PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, March 16 (Reuters) - U.S. Marines raided one of
Port-au-Prince's most dangerous slums in a crackdown on gunmen firing
potshots at U.S. forces in troubled Haiti, where the interim prime minister
was set to pick a new Cabinet on Tuesday.
     In Washington, the White House blasted Jamaica's decision to allow
ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide to visit -- a move that has
infuriated Haiti's new government because of its potential to stir up
violence.
     Aristide, who returned to the Caribbean on Monday after leaving Haiti
for exile in Africa on Feb. 29, was under heavy guard by Jamaican soldiers
at a country house northeast of the capital, Kingston.
     Aristide's stay in Jamaica has enraged the new Haitian government,
which fears the former slum priest's presence 115 miles (185 km) from
Haiti's shores might fuel violence among slum dwellers, many of whom see
Aristide as a champion of the poor and believe he was kidnapped in a
U.S.-backed coup.
     One day after suffering their first casualty in Haiti, a column of 120
U.S. Marines swept through the Belair slum, an Aristide stronghold, on foot
and in armored vehicles mounted with machine guns.
     U.S. forces leading a 2,650-strong force have fought half a dozen
battles with Aristide loyalists -- killing six people -- since they landed
hours after Aristide left the country, driven by a bloody rebellion and
U.S. pressure to resign.
     Lt. Col. Dave Lapan said Marines and members of the Haitian police
raided buildings from where gunmen fired at the Marines, but made no
arrests.
     In a key step toward a transitional government, new Prime Minister
Gerard Latortue was set to pick a Cabinet on Tuesday. The Cabinet, which
will run the poor Caribbean nation until elections are held, could be sworn
in as soon as Wednesday.
     Latortue, elected by a U.S.-backed council of leading Haitians, has
said he plans to bring in members of Aristide's Lavalas Family political
movement to form a government of national reconciliation.
     The man tipped to hold the critical security portfolio is former army
Gen. Herard Abraham, regarded as a unique military man in a country with a
history of brutal military rulers.
     Abraham, who as the commander of the armed forces handed power over to
a Supreme Court judge in 1989 to end a military government, will be
involved in disarmament efforts in this deeply divided country awash with
weapons.
     More than 200 people have been killed in the monthlong violence.
     In an interview with The Washington Post published on Tuesday,
Aristide insisted he is still president, reiterated his belief that he was
the victim of a coup by the United States, and said he hoped his followers
would take comfort from having him nearby.
     "I do believe many Haitians who are poor or suffering, or in hiding,
think that if I am closer physically, it's better for them instead of being
far away," he told the newspaper, which had a reporter with Aristide on his
journey from the Central African Republic.
     But Washington, who reinstalled Aristide in 1994 after a coup
overthrew him, does not want Aristide so close.
     "Our view is that it is certainly not helpful to moving forward in
Haiti," said White House spokesman Scott McClellan.
     U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, in an opinion piece in The Wall
Street Journal on Tuesday, said the international community and countries
such as the United States should remain engaged in Haiti long after United
Nations peacekeepers leave.
     Annan described Haiti's situation today as even more daunting than it
was 10 years ago, when a multinational force entered the country and
restored Aristide to power.
     "Haiti clearly is unable to sort itself out, and the effect of leaving
it alone would be continued or worsening chaos," said Annan.