23499: (Chamberlain) Haiti-Elections (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

   By AMY BRACKEN

   PORT-AU-PRINCE, Oct 18 (AP) -- A rift has erupted in the council charged
with preparing next year's crucial presidential elections in Haiti, with
two main members swapping charges of deception and misappropriation of
funds.
   Roselor Julien, president of the Provisional Electoral Council, accused
treasurer Francois Benoit last month of having recommended a company that
charged about $32,000 for air-conditioner repairs.
   Julien said the work wasn't worth a fraction of the cost.
   "I have been the victim of an abuse of confidence and trickery," she
said in a letter last week and obtained The Associated Press on Monday.
   Julien said she signed the checks but didn't scrutinize the amount. An
outside estimate said the price of the repairs and materials was inflated,
said council member Patrick Fequiere.
   Benoit could not be reached for comment Monday, but he told the
independent station Radio Vision 2000 that he had not deceived Julien and
that she was trying to sully his reputation.
   The president of the company that did the work, Accurate Satellite
Access, said the firm was the "victim of some political matters."
   "There seemed to be an internal conflict between the president and the
treasurer, and they involved my company," Jean-Elie Bazile told the AP.
   In July, Benoit accused Julien of attempting to misappropriate funds
when she asked Benoit to provide payment for a party she threw.
   Eight members of the nine-member council were impaneled in May, after
President Jean-Bertrand Aristide's ouster in February.
   The ninth seat was left open for Aristide's Lavalas Family Party. Party
leaders turned it down, saying they would not collaborate with a government
that was persecuting its members.
   Interim Prime Minister Gerard Latortue has promised elections next year.
   It was unclear whether the rift could affect the elections, but Julien
said the matter was under investigation.