20762: (Chamberlain) Haiti cabinet meets (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

   By STEVENSON JACOBS

   PORT-AU-PRINCE, March 24 (AP) -- Haiti's new government held its first
Cabinet meeting Wednesday as leaders began tackling the multitude of
troubles afflicting the impoverished country, first among them the large
number of guns on the streets.
   The meeting in the National Palace was held as the last contingent of
450 Canadian soldiers prepared to join patrols in the still-volatile
capital.
   A top aide to Interim Prime Minister Gerard Latortue said a top
government priority is to work with American and French troops to disarm
militants.
   "Everybody has to be disarmed. Without disarmament, there will be no
security," the aide, Miguel Auguste, told The Associated Press.
   Auguste did not elaborate but said officials were considering new
training and education programs to help reintegrate impoverished militants
into society. A rebel uprising helped push former President Jean-Bertrand
Aristide from power Feb. 29.
   Rebels, for their part, are pressing for the interim government to
reinstate the army. Aristide was ousted by the army in 1991, and he
disbanded it after being returned to office by U.S. troops in 1994.
   Ministers also were discussing plans for a truth commission, Auguste
said, saying those responsible for past atrocities "have to pay." Human
rights groups have criticized the government for not immediately arresting
rebel leaders convicted of past killings.
   "This is the first opportunity for a brainstorming on the situation and
to come up with at least a preliminary plan so we can get started," Cabinet
Minister Robert Ulysse told The Associated Press.
   "We all know there's a general security problem so we'll be discussing
how to approach this."
   Five police officers have been detained on suspicion of killing five
young men believed to be supporters of Aristide's Lavalas Family party,
said Viles Aliazar of the National Coalition for Haitian Rights.
   Relatives of the victims, ages 17-24, said the officers rounded up and
executed the men over the weekend and then dumped their bodies throughout
the capital, Aliazar said Wednesday. The officers were detained Monday and
were being held pending an investigation. No charges have been filed.
   The prime minister met with senior police officials for several hours
Tuesday night and would report to the Cabinet on their talks, Ulysse said.
   President Boniface Alexandre also reviewed the state of the nation
during the closed meeting, Ulysse said.
   Cabinet ministers planned to discuss procedures for nominating local
government officials, many of whom fled during the uprising.
   Police have only recently returned to the cities, many of which remain
rebel-controlled, and many government offices remain closed.
   Residents in northern Haiti, meanwhile, are relying on an alliance of
rebels, police and foreign peacekeepers to maintain a shaky truce.
Guerrillas outnumber and outgun police in Cap-Haitien, Haiti's
second-largest city.
   Some 3,300 troops from the United States, France, Chile and Canada are
in Haiti as peacekeepers.
   Canadian Maj. David Lambert said the soldiers' primary task will be to
support the Haitian police.
   "We have to put their feet to the fire," he said, referring to the
public perception that the force is corrupt.
   "It's hard to change people's thinking but the police are essential to
bring stability to the area so the crumbling infrastructure can be
rebuilt."
   About 150 French troops began arriving last week in Cap-Haitien and were
negotiating with rebels to secure the port for humanitarian aid shipments.
The rebels are still guarding the port.
   Looters emptied the World Food Program warehouse of 800 tons of food the
day after rebels took it over. A shipment of 1,550 tons of food was
expected to arrive this week and would be the largest to the north since
the crisis began, said World Food Program spokesman Alejandro Chicheri.
   The shipment was due to arrive Wednesday but was delayed by a strike in
the Port-au-Prince port, said Xavier Pons, spokesman for the French troops.
   Aristide left Haiti as rebels were threatening to attack the capital. He
later said U.S. troops kidnapped him, a charge denied by the United States.
   Aristide fled to Central African Republic and is now in Jamaica.
   Interim Haitian Prime Minister Gerard Latortue, the United States and
others have criticized Jamaica for accepting Aristide, saying his presence
in the Caribbean raises tensions in Haiti.
   In protest, Latortue withdrew his ambassador from Jamaica and suspended
participation in the 15-member Caribbean Community. Haiti was expected to
top the agenda of a Caribbean summit in St. Kitts on Thursday, but it
remained unclear whether Latortue would attend.