21298: (Chamberlain) How Aristide left (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

   By PAISLEY DODDS

   PORT-AU-PRINCE, April 13 (AP) -- Jean-Bertrand Aristide appeared
resigned but philosophical about his imminent ouster, and surprisingly
without fight, U.S. Ambassador James Foley said in an interview in which he
reflected on the Haitian leader's last hours in office.
   Foley also told The Associated Press Monday that Haiti will remain a
security risk for the United States as long as it cannot sustain itself.
   While the United States has no plans for additional monetary aid this
fiscal year, Foley said he thought it would provide long-term support for
the country that poses a drug and illegal migration threat to the United
States.
   Foley said he had sad conversations with Aristide through the night
before Haiti's leader fled hastily Feb. 29.
   Aristide later charged that Haiti's only democratically elected leader
in 200 years was forced from power by a U.S. "coup d'etat" against his
Caribbean country.
   "We talked all night, at least four times ..." Foley said, in his most
detailed public comments on the ousted leader's frame of mind at the time.
"It was a very poignant series of conversations. I saluted him for putting
the interests of the country first. It was a friendly conversation. I told
him how very sad I thought it was that this is happening ... It was a very
sad series of conversations."
   He said Aristide "never challenged our position" that there would be a
bloodbath if he did not leave as rebels who had overrun half the country in
three weeks closed in on Port-au-Prince, the capital. Some 300 people died
in the uprising.
   "What was surprising was his passivity and philosophical resignation."
   Foley said Aristide appeared more concerned about his security, and that
his imminent departure be kept secret.
   "My own feeling was that Aristide had already decided to leave," Foley
said. "He didn't need convincing..."
   Aristide has charged that the United States stripped him of his
security, saying the embassy told his U.S. security agents that they had to
leave the country and refused to allow the California company that provided
bodyguards, under a contract approved by the U.S. State Department, to send
additional agents.
   U.S. officials have said only that they told Aristide the United States
would not protect him if rebels attacked. Later, U.S. officials said they
could not uphold a leader they accuse of ordering attacks on political
opponents and condoning drug-trafficking.
   The United States has offered no evidence for that last charge and Foley
said he did not discuss that issue with Aristide.
   Within hours of Aristide's departure, U.S. Marines arrived to spearhead
a multinational force that now includes 3,600 peacekeepers, including
French and Canadians, to stabilize the country.
   Caribbean leaders refused to contribute to the U.S.-led force,
protesting that no one responded to their urgent plea for international
troops to deploy earlier to support Aristide. They have demanded a United
Nations inquiry into the circumstances of Aristide's departure, saying his
charges bode ill for any democratically elected leader who might fall foul
of Washington.
   Some Caribbean countries are, however, considering sending troops to
Haiti once the U.S.-led force is replaced by Brazilian-led U.N.
peacekeepers in early June.
   Foley indicated the end of the U.S.-led mission would not end
Washington's engagement.
   "Haiti is at our doorstep," he said. "Clearly, Haiti's ills can affect
the United States in negative ways. A country that is unable to sustain
itself so close to the United States is a national security issue, as well
as a humanitarian concern."
   Haiti, the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere, is a major drug
transshipment point for Colombian cocaine to the United States and a source
of illegal migration.
   The United States deployed 20,000 troops here in 1994 to put an end to a
brutal military dictatorship, halt a flood of tens of thousands of boat
people to Florida and to restore Aristide.
   Foley described Aristide's legacy as "horrendous," saying it poses major
challenges for a U.S.-backed interim government that has promised elections
next year.
   Key problems include armed pro-Aristide gangs and rebels who refuse to
disarm until Haiti's disbanded army is restored.
   "Clearly they are going to need assistance to stand up to armed elements
on the Aristide side and also on the rebel side," Foley said.