23686: (pub) Chamberlain: Hip-hop star starts campaign for peace in Haiti (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

     By Joseph Guyler Delva

     PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, Nov 1 (Reuters) - Haitian-American hip-hop star
Wyclef Jean has launched a campaign to end a wave of violence that has
killed nearly 200 people in Haiti over the past two months and called on
armed groups to make peace.
     The highly regarded musician, one of the few people some Haitians
believe could facilitate talks to end the violence, paid a surprise visit
to the Port-au-Prince slum of Bel-Air on Sunday where he talked to
community leaders and met armed groups loyal to ousted president
Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
     Earlier, he met with Guy Philippe and Remissainthe Ravix, leaders of
the rebels who forced Aristide into exile in February. Jean planned to meet
other gangs before he leaves Haiti.
     "Violence is not going to solve the problem, peace is the way," Jean,
accompanied by popular singer Gracia Delva, told a crowd of Bel-Air
residents who clamored for autographs.
     Haiti's interim government, installed after Aristide was pushed from
power by a bloody rebellion and U.S. pressure, has struggled to contain an
uprising in recent weeks. A human rights group says more than 170 people
were killed and 240 wounded by gunfire between Sept. 1 and Oct 26.
     Jean emerged from his car and ran through the streets with thousands
of people behind him shouting, "Wyclef, Wyclef" and singing, "peace we
want, peace we demand."
     The visit turned into a pro-Aristide demonstration, although Jean said
he did not mean to take side in Haiti's political struggle.
     "Wyclef is our pride. He will always be welcome among us because he
cares about us," said Bel-Air Marc Fenelon, 30, as he kissed a poster of
the musician who rose to stardom with the Fugees.
     After meeting with Aristide supporters, Jean said he was convinced
Haiti's crisis could not be solved without Aristide playing a role.
     "Those guys really believe in Jean-Bertrand Aristide. They are not
going to stop unless Aristide says the word," Jean said, vowing to meet the
ousted Haitian leader in South-Africa to discuss ways of restoring peace in
the troubled Caribbean nation.