23803: (pub) Chamberlain: Canada urges dialogue for sake of aid (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

   By AMY BRACKEN

   PORT-AU-PRINCE, Nov 14 (AP) -- Canada's prime minister on Sunday urged
rival groups to disarm and political factions to settle differences in
order for the poorest nation in the Western hemisphere to make use of
international aid.
   Paul Martin's one-day visit was aimed at encouraging international
commitments to rebuild Haiti, which has been mired in political upheaval
since the ouster of its elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, on Feb.
29.
   Haiti's interim government and U.N. peacekeepers have been overwhelmed
recently, trying to halt violence that has killed at least 84 people,
including 26 police officers, since Aristide supporters stepped up a
campaign demanding his return from exile.
   Martin met with interim President Boniface Alexandre and caretaker Prime
Minister Gerard Latortue at the National Palace, then had lunch with about
100 government officials, business leaders and a representative of
Aristide's Lavalas Family party.
   "The international community has made considerable effort to come to
Haiti's aid, but we cannot accomplish these engagements without the
existence of national reconciliation between all of you Haitians," Martin
said during the luncheon.
   Sen. Gerard Gilles, who attended the luncheon, said he was the first
Lavalas representative to sit with Haiti's prime minister or president
since the interim government was formed in March.
   "I think the Canadian government can help us have a dialogue -- an
honest and open dialogue," he said.
   Lavalas supporters have accused Canada of colluding with the United
States and France to force Aristide to flee. Canada and France sent troops
to back U.S. Marines who arrived in Haiti Feb. 29, the day Aristide left.
   The United States refused a request from the Caribbean Community to send
troops to bolster Aristide against a bloody three-week uprising that led to
his flight.
   The 15-member regional economic bloc subsequently cut ties with Haiti's
interim government amid claims from Aristide that U.S. forces kidnapped him
-- an accusation the Americans vehemently deny.
   A group of pro-Aristide Haitians among tens of thousands who live in
Canada sent a letter to Martin on Saturday denouncing the
"foreign-sponsored violent regime change" in Haiti and calling on him not
to meet with the "illegal authorities" in the interim government.
   Martin also is to meet the 100 Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers
that are part of a 5,700-member U.N. peacekeeping mission.
   This year the Caribbean country also suffered two massive floods that
killed more than 5,000 people and left some 250,000 homeless in the
northwest city of Gonaives.
   On Friday, Canada announced it would give $2.5 million for disaster
relief to flood victims. Canada also has promised $17 million in
humanitarian aid to Haiti and another $151 million over two years for
reconstruction and development.