21099: (Chamberlain) Powell-Haiti (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

   By GEORGE GEDDA

   WASHINGTON, April 5 (AP) -- Secretary of State Colin Powell plans to
urge Haiti's new leaders to make sure government posts are not given to
leaders of the February insurrection who are criminals or human rights
violators.
   Powell was expected to relay that message to Prime Minister Gerard
LaTortue and others during a visit of several hours to Haiti on Monday,
said a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
   Powell also planned to meet with commanders of the U.S.-led
multinational force in Haiti, sent to restore stability after President
Jean-Bertrand Aristide was forced from power on Feb. 29.
   The United States has nearly 2,000 troops in Haiti. Additional forces
are being supplied by France, Canada and Chile, for a combined total of
about 3,600. All are expected to be replaced by international peacekeepers
in early June.
   State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said Friday that Powell would
discuss U.S. and international efforts to bring stability to the country
and to provide humanitarian relief.
   Looting and instability have not ceased despite the efforts of
peacekeepers as well as police who have returned to their post.
   Just hours before Powell's arrival, two employees of a frozen food
company were shot to death in Petionville, a suburb of Port-au-Prince, the
capital, after being robbed. It took police more than two hours to respond.
   Aristide initially took up residence in the Central African Republic. He
went to Jamaica about three weeks ago for family reasons, the Jamaican
government said. Little has been heard from Aristide since his arrival.
   The Bush administration insists that Aristide left Haiti voluntarily.
Aristide and Haiti's Caribbean neighbors contend that Washington pushed him
out.
   Caribbean countries have declined to recognize the interim government,
arguing that Aristide is Haiti's legitimate leader based on elections held
in 2000. Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., says Aristide was the victim of a
U.S.-sponsored coup d'etat
   U.S. officials have pressed LaTortue in recent days not to give
government positions to leaders of armed rebel groups who have criminal
backgrounds.
   About 10 days after his appointment as prime minister, LaTortue appeared
publicly with some insurgent leaders and hailed them as "freedom fighters."
   The United States is in a delicate position in the post-Aristide era.
The former president's supporters hold the United States responsible for
the change in government. The insurgency does not consider the United
States a friend because Washington is demanding that the rebels disarm.
   The State Department set forth that demand almost immediately after
Aristide left. Relatively few weapons have been surrendered so far to the
international force in Haiti.
   Beyond that, the United States has no intention of offering large scale
nation-building assistance to Haiti as it is doing at huge cost in
Afghanistan and Iraq.
   Powell has said the administration does not plan to seek a supplemental
appropriation for Haiti. Instead, it will try to transfer money to Haiti
from other foreign aid programs.
   U.S. officials expect that an international donors conference for Haiti
will be held in June.