21622: (Craig) NYT: U.N. Struggles to Find Troops to Police Haiti (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Dan Craig <hoosier@att.net>


U.N. Struggles to Find Troops to Police Haiti
April 30, 2004
By CHRISTOPHER MARQUIS

WASHINGTON, April 29 - Just a month before its deadline,
the United Nations finds itself hard-pressed to sign up
peacekeeping troops and French-speaking police officers to
take over security in Haiti from an American-led interim
force, United Nations officials and diplomats say.

The Security Council is considering a request by Secretary
General Kofi Annan to send 6,700 peacekeepers and 1,622
civilian police officers to Haiti, which was shaken in
February when armed insurgents opposed to the government of
President Jean-Bertrand Aristide took over much of Haiti's
north and moved on the capital.

Planners cite several challenges as they seek to replace
nearly 2,000 troops from the United States and about 1,500
from France, Canada and Chile who were deployed to keep
order after Mr. Aristide left.

Although this interim force has managed to impose a modicum
of stability, diplomats express concern that large parts of
the country remain under the rebels' control, and that
there has been no systematic effort to disarm them.

One problem is the competition for French-speaking
peacekeepers, as missions are prepared for Ivory Coast and
Burundi this year, United Nations representatives said.

In addition, some potential contributors are reluctant to
offer troops because of lingering doubts about the
conditions of Mr. Aristide's departure, on Feb. 29: he was
assisted into exile by American officials in an incident he
later referred to as a kidnapping. The Bush administration
denies this, saying it acted to safeguard Mr. Aristide from
attack and to avert a rebel takeover.

"The big problem they have is the controversy over
Aristide's departure,'' said a senior diplomat who is
involved in the negotiations. "It remains a cancer, and it
tends to limit support.''

The countries that currently have troops in Haiti have
signaled their willingness to stay under the new mandate,
and Brazil has said it would take part. A Canadian official
said French-speaking nations in Africa had been asked to
join in, and he said he was optimistic that the United
Nations would reach its goal of more than doubling the
interim force. "I think the world will be able to provide
that," the official said.

The 15 nations in the Caribbean Community, or Caricom, have
withheld recognition of Haiti's interim government, whose
leaders were selected by a council of elders. Caricom has
settled into an ambiguous stance, not ruling out a role in
the new security forces and deferring a decision on
recognizing Haiti's government until July.

One Caricom diplomat said the group had been stymied by the
dispute over whether Bush administration officials
undermined its diplomatic efforts and forced Mr. Aristide
into exile. But Caribbean foreign ministers met last
weekend and decided to take a more active role, now that
the United Nations is involved.

In a report last week, Mr. Annan noted that his efforts to
raise even small amounts of money for Haiti had fallen
short, with the response to his appeal for $35 million in
emergency assistance "slower than anticipated.''

Potential donors are expected to make an assessment next
month to identify specific needs.

Mr. Annan's report calls for a force that would take over
Haiti's security on June 1 and remain in place until
elections can be held next year, and for an "appropriate
period of time thereafter.''

The open-ended nature of the mission has caused some
skepticism among potential contributors. The last
peacekeeping mission - a joint operation of the United
Nations and the Organization of American States - followed
an American intervention in 1994 and lasted until 2001. Mr.
Annan's report criticized the international community for
having pulled out too quickly.

Calling for a sweeping United Nations program to develop
the economy and civil society, Mr. Annan said conditions in
Haiti now were actually worse than before foreign
involvement began.

A key to progress, he said, would be establishing a process
of national reconciliation and putting an end to a climate
of impunity and revenge.

"Our task will not be easy,'' Mr. Annan wrote. "The
situation looks more daunting today than it did a decade
ago."

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/30/international/americas/30hait.html?ex=1084321207&ei=1&en=7fc7b4137ee9efd1
Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company