24074: (pub) Chamberlain: UN-Haiti (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

   By EDITH M. LEDERER

   UNITED NATIONS, Jan 12 (AP) -- The U.N. Security Council called on
Haiti's transitional government Wednesday to ensure free elections this
year and urged international donors to deliver the $1 billion in aid they
promised for the western hemisphere's poorest country.
   U.N. envoy Juan Gabriel Valdes said Haiti has only received about 10
percent of the money pledged at a donors conference in July, but express
hope that this would change.
   Noting the World Bank's approval of $73 million last week to help Haiti
implement economic reforms, he said, "I hope to see a stampede of funds
from the international community to Haiti."
   The country has been in turmoil for years. An armed uprising forced
President Jean-Bertrand Aristide into exile in February 2004. Despite the
deployment of a U.S.-led peacekeeping force, which was replaced by a U.N.
force in June, armed rebels and former soldiers still control much of the
countryside.
   At a Security Council meeting, Valdes said "attempts to deliberately
destabilize the country launched by armed groups last November have indeed
been overcome."
   "We have also seen a reduction in violence and insecurity," he said.
"And the launching by the government of political initiatives opens space
for participation by all those who reject violence, and makes it easier to
carry out the electoral process."
   The Security Council urged Haiti's interim government to create a panel
to address the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration of all armed
groups into society "without delay," but it cautioned that any compensation
to former fighters "should be part of a comprehensive and durable
solution."
   Roger Noriega, U.S. assistant secretary of state for the Western
Hemisphere, said the government and the international community should work
together on a comprehensive program that would include "all irregular armed
groups in Haiti."
   A national dialogue is an important step toward free and fair elections
this fall and ultimately to national reconciliation, Noriega said.
   Noriega said the United States had spent over $113 million to help Haiti
in 2004 -- "accounting for approximately half of the international
community's donations" -- and expects to spend well over $150 million in
2005.
   Haitian Foreign Minister Yvon Simeon said the high-level presence --
including the foreign ministers of Argentina, Brazil and Chile -- "clearly
reflects international interest in the political stabilization of Haiti."
   "This year 2005 is crucial for democracy in Haiti," he said. "We are at
an important historical crossroads."