20473: Esser: Jamaica won't recognize Haiti govt (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: D. Esser torx@joimail.com

The Australian
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au

March 17, 2004

Jamaica won't recognize Haiti govt
 From correspondents in Port-Au-Prince

A ROW triggered by ex-president Jean Bertrand Aristide's visit to
Jamaica deepened today with authorities in Kingston saying they won't
recognise the government Haiti's Prime Minister Gerard Latortue was
due to announce later in the day.

Jamaica's foreign ministry said in a statement that it was not
acknowledging Port-au-Prince since recognition of Haiti's interim
government had not yet been extended by the 15-nation Caribbean
Community (Caricom).

The announcement came a day after Latortue froze relations with the
neighbouring Caribbean nation. Haitian authorities, as well as US
officials, fear the Jamaica visit could incite more violence by
pro-Aristide gangs, who went on a shooting and looting rampage
following the ex-president's February 29 departure.

Aristide and his wife Mildred, who arrived in Kingston yesterday,
were expected to spend several weeks in Jamaica, visiting their two
daughters.

A US State Department spokesman said Washington was "not supportive"
of Aristide's presence in Jamaica.

"It doesn't, in our view, serve a useful purpose," he told reporters
in the US capital.

Aristide insists he remains the constitutional president of Haiti and
claims the United States and France kidnapped him and forced him to
fly to Bangui.

Aristide himself said his supporters were pleased he was now close to
Haiti.

"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 Washington Post.

In the Haitian capital's volatile pro-Aristide Bel Air neighbourhood,
militant supporters of the exiled president rejoiced at the news
Aristide was only 200 kilometres from home.

"President Aristide in Jamaica - for us this is a continuation of the
struggle," said Wilgo Supreme Edouard, a leader of the staunchly
pro-Aristide Bel Air Militant Front.

In a statement that could help ease fears of renewed violence, he
said no demonstrations were planned in the immediate future and that
pro-Aristide militants were prepared to work toward national
reconciliation.

Latortue, 69, who was named a week ago said he expected to announce a
government of national reconciliation today.

Over the past days, Latortue has held meetings with political party
representatives, including members of Aristide's Lavalas party.

He said the government's first priority will be to restore peace and
stability to Haiti, following a deep political crisis that started
after fraudulent elections in 2000, surging in recent weeks as an
insurgency played a key role in getting Aristide to resign and flee
to Africa.

The worst of the violence that followed his departure has since
subsided, though it has erupted again sporadically, and US troops of
the multinational force in Haiti have come under attack on several
occasions.

US troops suffered their first casualty when a Marine was shot in the
arm late Sunday while patrolling in Bel Air.

The new commander of the 2700-strong multinational force, General
Ronald Coleman, said yesterday the troops would step up their
presence in the streets, and would not hesitate to get tough with any
attackers.

The force will also spread out across the country, which within 10
days will be divided into four sectors. US, French, Chilean and
Canadian troops will each control one zone, according to French
military spokesman Xavier Pons.

Meanwhile, two armed Haitians were shot and killed over the weekend
by rebel leader Guy Philippe's security guards as he drove through
the south-western city of Petit-Goave, an opposition politician said
today.

In another development, Canadian police yesterday arrested Haiti's
former security chief Oriel Jean during an immigration hearing that
focused on claims he trafficked narcotics and committed war crimes.

He was arrested in Toronto by Royal Canadian Mounted Police on a US
warrant.

© The Australian
.