23854; (pub) Chamberlain: US-Haiti Elections (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

   By JOHN PAIN

   MIAMI, Dec 8 (AP) -- Haitian interim Prime Minister Gerard Latortue said
Wednesday his country will hold elections beginning next November and added
that he asked all members of his government not to run.
   Latortue said he will not run in the Nov. 20 election or a runoff that,
if necessary, would take place Dec. 11, 2005.
   "No, no, no one in my government," Latortue told The Associated Press
when asked if he planned to seek office. He was whisked away by security
agents and did not elaborate.
   Latortue, speaking at the Caribbean-Central American Action conference
in Miami, said he will invite the United Nations and the Organization of
American States to monitor voting in order to ensure "free, fair, credible
and transparent" elections.
   Latortue was named to head an interim government supported by the United
States following a three-week rebellion that forced President Jean-Bertrand
Aristide to flee the country Feb. 29. Aristide claims the United States
forced him to leave, a claim U.S. officials deny.
   More than 100 people have been killed in political violence since Sept.
30, when pro-Aristide groups stepped up protests demanding his return.
   Tensions have also been mounting between the interim government and
former soldiers who led the rebellion and want the reinstatement of the
army, which they say Aristide illegally disbanded in 1994. They also want
back pay and refuse to put down their arms.
   Latortue has accused Aristide of orchestrating the violence from exile
in South Africa -- a charge Aristide has denied.