23140 (Chamberlain) Security Council condemns armed groups in Haiti (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

     By Larry Fine

     UNITED NATIONS, Sept 10 (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council
condemned illegal armed groups in Haiti it said were performing
unauthorized law enforcement and called on the transitional government on
Friday to extend its control throughout the Caribbean nation.
     The council said, in a statement read at a public meeting, the armed
groups posed a challenge to the authority of Haiti's transitional
government and are "undermining stability and security" in parts of the
country.
     "The Security Council stresses the urgency of disbanding and disarming
all illegal armed groups," Council President Juan Antonio Yanez-Barnuevo of
Spain said, underlining the importance of an effective national police
force in Haiti.
     Armed groups include both rebel forces and militias loyal to former
President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
     The council echoed an earlier report by Secretary-General Kofi Annan
on the U.N. Stabilization Mission in Haiti, which said "restoration of the
rule of law will be crucial to restoring the confidence of citizens in the
institutions of the State."
     Haiti also needs a fully functioning judiciary, the council said.
     "The Council stresses that justice should apply equally to all
citizens in that country and be carried out by an independent judicial
system with the support of a reformed correctional system," it said.
     The transitional government was set up in March after Aristide was
forced out of the country in February in the face of an armed rebellion.
     The U.N. mission in Haiti formally assumed authority from a
multinational force on June 1. Eventually, the mission is to include 6,700
soldiers, 1,622 civilian police and 900 civilians.
     By early September, less than half that number had arrived, according
to Brazil, which commands the troops, and U.N. officials.