21357: (Chamberlain) French defense minister visits troops in Haiti (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

     By Joseph Guyler Delva

     PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, April 15 (Reuters) - French Defense Minister
Michele Alliot-Marie met with her country's troops in Haiti on Thursday in
the first visit by a French minister since the former colony won
independence in a slave revolt 200 years ago.
     Alliot-Marie met in Port-au-Prince with some of the 1,000 French
troops taking part in a U.S.-led peacekeeping force in the troubled
Caribbean nation before heading off to tour northern areas of Haiti where
the French head up street patrols.
     Surrounded by security forces in camouflage and blue uniforms, she
pledged continued cooperation with Haiti and praised the role of French
troops in the poorest nation in the Americas.
     The French took control of security operations in Cap Haitien and
other northern towns in the weeks following the departure of former
President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who fled Haiti on Feb. 29 in the face of
a bloody rebellion and pressure from the United States and France to step
down.
     "Relations between France and Haiti are very old. Those bonds go
beyond history, they are also cultural and emotional," Alliot-Marie said.
     "I am proud of the French troops, as to the way they have reacted to a
very difficult situation and I am pleased to witness the efficiency of
their actions," she said.
     Before meeting with interim Haitian President Boniface Alexandre and
Prime Minister Gerard Latortue, Alliot-Marie made no mention of the extent
of France's commitment to Haiti.
     Aristide last year demanded France pay Haiti nearly $22 billion in
restitution for compensation the Caribbean nation paid France for the loss
of its colony. Latortue has not pushed Aristide's claim since the change of
government.
     Alliot-Marie arrived at Haiti's main airfield, Toussaint L'Ouverture
International Airport, named for the slave who led the revolt that expelled
Haiti's French colonizers in 1804. She was greeted by Haitian national
security Minister Herard Abraham.
     "Being the first French minister to visit Haiti after 200 years is a
motive of great satisfaction and pride for me," she said.
     She was scheduled to visit French troops deployed in the northern
cities of Gonaives and Cap Haitien, before leaving Thursday evening.
     The French troops are part of a 3,600-strong multinational interim
force sanctioned by the United Nations to provide security in Haiti after
Aristide's fall. The one-time hero of Haitian democracy who helped
overthrow the Duvalier family dictatorship in the 1980s is now in Jamaica.
     Many Haitians have greeted French troops warmly in the streets, where
they have worn berets or soft hats that set them apart from U.S. Marines
who routinely wore helmets and full battle gear.
     The multinational force -- which includes nearly 2,000 U.S. Marines,
400 Chilean and 450 Canadian soldiers - was sent to stabilize Haiti after
the rebellion in which more than 200 people died and armed gangs roamed the
streets. The current force is to be replaced in June by a U.N. peacekeeping
force that could grow to 5,000, with contributions from Brazil and other
countries.