23096: (Chamberlain) U.N. lacks troops in Haiti to stop rebels-Brazil army (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

     By Cesar Bianconi

     SAO PAULO, Sept 2 (Reuters) - The Brazilian-led United Nations
peacekeeping force in Haiti does not have enough troops to stop renewed
conflict at a time when armed groups have taken over two towns, a Brazilian
Army colonel said on Thursday.
     "The U.N. should, at this moment, have more than 6,000 men for the
full restoration of security. Only about 2,500 have arrived. This gap needs
to be filled by somebody," said Col. Luiz Felipe Carbonell, spokesman for
the Brazilian contingent.
     In the past few days, former soldiers, who helped overthrow President
Jean-Bertrand Aristide in an armed revolt in February, have taken the
southern towns of Jacmel and Petit-Goave.
     They demand the reestablishment of the Haitian army, which Aristide
disbanded in the mid-1990s when he became president after years of brutal
military rule.
     The ex-soldiers moved on towns where there were no U.N. troops and not
enough police, Carbonell told Reuters in Sao Paulo by telephone from Haiti.
     Rebel leaders have threatened action if their demands are not met.
Asked about the possibility of a new wave of violence, Carbonell said: "The
risk always exists."
     "Any movement by the rebel groups could cause friction. But our force
is here to bring peace. We cannot take an initiative for action. We can
only act in self-defense."
     Carbonell said the provisional government was trying to open a channel
of communications to the rebels. One problem was that it did not have the
power to set up a new army as this could only be done after elections
planned for 2005, he said.
     A U.S.-led multinational force deployed in Haiti in the days after
Aristide's overthrow, and Brazil assumed command of the U.N. force in June.
It has 1,200 troops there at present.
     The U.N. has authorized a force of 6,700 troops. A total of 5,000
soldiers from several nations should be in place by the end of October,
Brazil's U.N. ambassador, Ronaldo Sardenberg, said in New York last week.
     Some Brazilian politicians have criticized their country's
involvement, saying it endorses the overthrow of a democratically elected
leader and plays into the hands of the United States, which helped engineer
Aristide's departure.
     But President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva says it is Brazil's
responsibility as a regional power to help restore peace to Haiti. Last
month, he visited the country with the Brazilian soccer team for a special
"peace game" against the Haitian national side.