20514: (Chamberlain) France calls for support (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

France calls for support for new Haiti leader


PARIS, March 17 (AFP) - France on Wednesday called on all United Nations
member states to support the new Haitian government, as Jamaica refused to
recognise the new authorities in Port-au-Prince.

"The international community now must back the government of national unity
that is being formed," Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin wrote in a
commentary published in the newspaper Le Figaro.

"That's the entire idea behind resolution 1529 adopted by the UN Security
Council on the day the former president (Jean-Bertrand Aristide) left the
country," de Villepin said.

"This decision commits all members of the international community to
contribute to the restoration of peace in Haiti," he added.

On February 29, the UN Security Council voted 15-0 to approve the dispatch
of a multinational force to restore order in Haiti after Aristide resigned
and fled the country in the face of a bloody uprising to oust him.

A spat erupted between Haiti and Jamaica when the government in Kingston
agreed to allow Aristide to visit Jamaica in order to see his two
daughters, who are currently in the United States.

Jamaica, the current president of the Caribbean Community (Caricom), has
refused to recognise the new government of Haitian Prime Minister Gerard
Latortue pending a decision from Caricom at a summit scheduled for month's
end.

Jamaican Prime Minister Percival Patterson said Aristide was forced to
leave power, a claim made by the former Haitian president himself and
vehemently denied by Washington and Paris.

De Villepin said Aristide "announced his resignation on February 29" and
fled on his own accord.