22098: (Chamberlain) Brazil says Haiti force may have to stay longer (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

     By Axel Bugge

     BRASILIA, Brazil, May 27 (Reuters) - Brazil is prepared to keep its
troops in Haiti in command of a U.N. peacekeeping force for longer than the
six months approved by the United Nations to restore stability, but not
indefinitely, its defense minister said.
     As the 1,200 troops prepared to depart on Brazil's largest
peacekeeping mission ever, Brazilian Defense Minister Jose Viegas urged the
international community to make a "serious effort" to help the poorest
nation in the Americas rebuild after an armed revolt.
     Viegas said Brazil's troops were prepared for any unforeseen
situation. Devastating floods that killed at least 1,660 this week in Haiti
could make Brazil's task tougher.
     Brazil will lead the operation that takes over from a 3,600-strong
interim force led by the United States from June 1. The U.S.-led force
entered Haiti in February after a revolt killed more than 200 people and
forced the removal of former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
     The United States said on Tuesday it would pull out all of its 1,900
troops in Haiti by the end of June as the U.N. peacekeepers move in. Those
troops were drafted into assisting in emergency relief work due to the
floods.
     "We are conscious that it is not realistic to expect that in six
months conditions of stability are fully restored in Haiti," Viegas said in
an interview late Wednesday. "We imagine that the stay may be longer than
that, but not indefinitely."
     The U.N. Security Council in April approved a peacekeeping force of up
to 5,700 troops and as many as 1,622 civilian police to stay in Haiti for
six months.
     Viegas said new U.N. resolutions would be necessary for troops to
extend their stay. Brazil's government would also need fresh congressional
approval.
     So far, Chile has approved 650 troops and Argentina 500 for the U.N.
mission, which Viegas hailed as an example of Brazil and South America's
commitment to peacekeeping.
     "This clearly shows the collaboration that Brazil and South America
should and must give the United Nations in defense of peace and
international security," Viegas said. "We felt honored with the invitation
to command the force."
     Brazil's commitment to the Haiti operation has pleased the United
States after the Latin American giant opposed the war in Iraq. Brazil's
leadership of the Haiti mission is an opportunity for President Luiz Inacio
Lula da Silva to showcase his drive to turn Brazil into a regional crisis
mediator and raise the country's influence in the world.
     Viegas said that Haiti could not return to long-term stability unless
there is a commitment to help the country. A U.S.-led intervention in Haiti
in 1994 restored Aristide to power after he was ousted in a 1991 coup but
the international community soon soured on Aristide and limited its aid.
     "It is a situation of social and political instability, so there is
not just a military solution to this problem," Viegas said. "In the absence
of a serious effort by the international community to satisfy the Haitian
populations' needs there can be no long-term solution."
     Brazil's troops are divided between 850 army soldiers and 350 marines.