22518: (Hermantin)Miami-Herald-U.S. hands Haiti task to U.N. (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

Posted on Sat, Jun. 26, 2004




PEACEKEEPING


U.S. hands Haiti task to U.N.

U.S. troops handed off responsibility for security in post-Aristide Haiti to
a U.N.-sanctioned international force.

BY MICHAEL A.W. OTTEY

mottey@herald.com


PORT-AU-PRINCE -- U.S. troops officially ended their peacekeeping mission in
Haiti Friday, leaving the peacekeeping work to the United Nations at a time
when the impoverished nation remains gripped by growing street violence and
political infighting.

The chief executive of Air France in Haiti, Didier Mortet, became the latest
victim of the violence Thursday when three men on a motorcycle rode up to
his vehicle and shot him dead in Port-au-Prince. Robbery may have been the
motive, authorities said.

''The availability of weapons and the climate of impunity continue to fuel
insecurity and human rights violations in Haiti, as measures to stop this
are nowhere to be seen,'' Amnesty International said in a statement highly
critical of the interim Haitian government and the U.S.-led multinational
force brought in to reestablish order.

TARGETING WEAPONS

Interim Prime Minister Gerard Latortue told hundreds of military and
civilian dignitaries at the U.S.-U.N. command transfer ceremony Friday that
his government would in time begin to disarm the factions whose violence is
racking the nation.

Latortue, who was handpicked to lead Haiti after a bloody revolt helped
force President Jean-Bertrand Aristide to leave the country, said it would
take the help of the international community to stabilize Haiti as it moves
toward elections next year.

But the London-based Amnesty International had harsh words for the U.S.-led
Multinational Interim Force, comprising security forces from Canada, Chile
and France, and branded it a ``failure.''

Gen. James T. Hill, commander of the Miami-based U.S. Southern Command, said
at the change-of-command ceremony that a complete disarmament is impossible
but that significant disarmament is up to Haitians.

''There is violence in Haiti and there will continue to be violence in Haiti
just as there's violence in other parts of the world,'' said Hill, whose
command supervised the U.S. military operations in Haiti.

But U.S. military officers nonetheless called their three-month mission a
success.

''To the interim government and the proud citizens of Haiti, our mission is
complete,'' said U.S. Marine Corps Brig. Gen. Ronald Coleman, commander of
the interim force. ``We have brought about stability, calmed your fears and
facilitated the arrival of the U.N. forces.''

Nearly 2,000 U.S. troops -- 1,500 of them Marines -- started a gradual
pullout from Haiti earlier this month when the new U.N. peacekeeping force
began arriving. The Americans have been loading the last of their gear and
heavy equipment onto military transports bound for Camp Lejeune, N.C., home
of the 8th Marine Regiment.

Four U.S. military officers and 25 American police officers will remain
behind to help the security situation in Haiti, a U.S. State Department
official said.

Troops from Canada and Chile will stay on as part of the U.N. force, to be
joined by troops from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil and Paraguay. At least 10
other nations have pledged support or expressed interest in sending troops
or police officers, said Valerie Mainil-Varlet, a spokeswoman for the U.N.
mission in Haiti.

THE U.N. MANDATE

The U.N. Security Council has authorized a force of up to 6,700 troops and
1,622 civilian police. Brazil will make up the bulk of the force, with 1,200
soldiers, and a Brazilian, Lt. Gen. Augusto Heleno Ribeiro Pereira, will
command it.

Mainil-Varlet said that getting nations to commit troops to the mission in
Haiti is an ongoing process but that by August the United Nations expects
troop strength to be at 4,000. She said Ribeiro believes the current troop
strength in Haiti -- 1,200 Brazilians, 530 Canadians and 500 Chileans -- is
sufficient to carry out the mission until more troops arrive.

Latortue had appealed to Washington to keep a small contingent of U.S.
forces -- perhaps 100 to 200 soldiers -- in Haiti, saying he was concerned
that armed gangs loyal to Aristide would reemerge once the Americans left.

Aristide is now living in exile in South Africa, insisting that he's still
president of Haiti and that he was forced out of power by Washington and
Paris. Both countries deny it, but some of his supporters in Haiti recently
staged a large protest demanding his return.

Col. Luis Felipe Carbonell of Brazil said his men are as prepared as any
army to carry out the mission.''Our mission is one of peace and to deter
violence,'' he told The Herald.

Asked about criticism that the U.S. forces were pulling out of Haiti too
soon, Southcom spokesman Col. David R. McWilliams said Washington has many
military commitments around the world. ''And we have a substantial force
replacing us'' in Haiti, he said.

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