23990: (pub) Chamberlain: Haiti-Former Soldiers (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

   By AMY BRACKEN

   PORT-AU-PRINCE, Dec 28 (AP) -- The U.S.-backed interim government
started giving financial compensation Tuesday to former soldiers who helped
oust President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, in an effort to mollify rebels whose
refusal to disarm is thwarting efforts to restore stability in Haiti.
   The government has agreed to give members of Haiti's demobilize army 10
years of back pay, said David Bazile, the secretary of public security.
   Many of the former soldiers took part in the three-week rebellion that
ousted Aristide on Feb. 29. They claim they are owed back pay because
Aristide illegally disbanded the army after a U.S.-backed intervention
restored him to power in 1994, three years after a coup that first ousted
him.
   Bazile said the government would try to pay all 6,000 estimated members
of the demobilized army within three months. The payments will average
about $4,800 per soldier.
   Several provincial towns are still under control of the renegade groups
who ousted Aristide and who are refusing to lay down their weapons. They
include members of the disbanded army as well as convicted criminals and
others accused of killings, rapes and torture under the 1991-1994 military
regime.
   Despite the presence of more than 7,000 U.N. peacekeepers, political
violence has persisted in Haiti. Rebels have clashed with police in several
provincial towns, sometimes forcing them to flee stations. In
Port-au-Prince, more than 100 people have been killed since Sept. 30, when
Aristide loyalists stepped up demands for his return from exile in South
Africa.