23139: (Chamberlain) Veterans army threatens new turmoil in Haiti (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

Veterans army threatens new turmoil in Haiti

by Clarens Renois


PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AFP): Barely six months after its president fled in
the face of a rebel uprising, Haiti faces new troubles from former soldiers
demanding the reformation of the army that was broken up in 1995.

Ex-soldiers in military uniforms and driving vehicles bearing the Fad'H
logo of the old army have taken over police stations in several towns and
demanded pensions that have been unpaid for 10 years as well as salaries
for that time.

The army was broken up by President Jean Bertrand Aristide dissolved in
1995 after it led a revolt against him.

Many of the new protesters are the same rebels who took over half the
impoverished Caribbean republic forcing Jean Bertrand Aristide to hurriedly
resign on February 29 and flee the country.

Prime Minister Gerard Latortue appealed for calm on Wednesday saying he
wanted a negotiated solution with the army veterans and that the government
would not use force. But he added that "it is an illegal affair, a
provocation."

The United Nations is supporting Latortue, but the UN peacekeeping force in
Haiti is only 3,000 less than the 6,700 planned.

There are 1,198 Brazilians, 573 Uruguayans and 486 Argentines. Most are
deployed in Port-au-Prince and other cities.

The old soldiers have had their headquarters at Petit Goave, about 70
kilometers (40 miles) north of the capital for about two weeks. A former
army sergeant, Rex Remissainthe, has named himself leader and demanded the
payment of pensions and 10 years of salaries.

Police at the eastern town of Mirebalais were the latest to give up their
building to the former military. They kidnapped one policeman in reprisal
for the death of two ex-soldiers in a clash with police in Port-au-Prince
on Tuesday, near the prime minister's office.

Police released a communiqué appealing to the ex-soldiers to "end their
campaign of intimidation and provocation and to take the path of peace and
dialogue."

But other veterans are active in Jacmel in the southeast and Cap-Haitien in
the north. Argentine soldiers in the UN mission recently helped police to
force the old soldiers out of a local government building and a clinic in
the western towns of Gonaives and St Marc.

Haiti's interim president Boniface Alexandre, has refused to pay the
salaries because the soldiers did no work between 1994 and 2004. He has
offered talks on the pensions.

The prime minister said last week that a government commission would start
work on the ex-soldiers' demands. But the future of the army could only be
decided by the government that comes out of elections due to be held next
year.

There were about 7,000 men in the old army which took up a huge proportion
of the Haitian budget.

Since March, about 100 former soldiers have been taken into the police
force, where part of their training includes human rights instruction.
Others, such as Guy Philippe, who led the February revolt, have gone into
politics.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan on Tuesday urged Haiti's transitional
government to step up efforts to disarm gangs pose a security threat. In a
report on UN stabilization efforts, Annan wrote that "restoration of the
rule of law will be crucial to restoring the confidence of citizens."

A US lawmaker called Wednesday on the US, French and Canadian governments
to help disarm insurgents who threaten new instability in Haiti.

Representative Maxine Waters, a Democrat from California, urged the three
governments "to take whatever action is necessary to disarm the thugs and
killers who overthrew the democratically-elected government of Haiti last
February, and are now threatening the interim government of Haiti."