24269: (news) Chamberlain: UN troops in Haiti ready to disarm gangs, soldiers (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

     By Joseph Guyler Delva

     PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, Feb 14 (Reuters) - U.N. troops in Haiti are
ready to use force to disarm former soldiers and armed gangs if they refuse
to hand over their weapons as the poor Caribbean nation prepares for
elections, a top U.N. official said on Monday.
     U.N. peacekeepers sent to stabilize Haiti after President
Jean-Bertrand Aristide was ousted during a bloody rebellion a year ago have
been criticized for failing to disarm former members of the Haitian army
and slum gangs loyal to Aristide.
     Juan Gabriel Valdes, the U.N. Secretary-General's special
representative in Haiti, called on the ex-soldiers and illegal armed groups
in pro-Aristide shantytowns to surrender their weapons or face the U.N.
mission, known as MINUSTAH.
     "MINUSTAH is prepared to use force against them if they don't
surrender their arms," Valdes said.
     "If they want to negotiate, if they want to surrender their weapons,
we would prefer that way. If they don't, we will, at the moment we consider
appropriate and in the way we consider appropriate, use the resources the
international community has given us," he said.
     Aristide fled Haiti on Feb. 29 last year in the midst of a bloody
rebellion and under pressure from the United States and France to quit. He
is living in South Africa.
     A former Roman Catholic priest, Aristide was a champion of Haiti's
poor and was first elected president in 1990. But during his second term as
president he was accused by political opponents of despotism and
corruption.
     A Brazilian-led U.N. peacekeeping force is trying to stabilize Haiti,
where former soldiers who led the rebel force control many towns.
     Aristide disbanded Haiti's army in the mid-1990s but many of the
ex-soldiers say he did so illegally and have demanded the new government
reinstitute the military.
     Elections officials announced last month that Haiti will hold
elections on Nov. 13 to replace Aristide. A runoff, if needed, would be
held on Dec. 18.
     Valdes said as recently as December the U.N. force did not have
sufficient numbers to conduct disarmament operations and was only brought
up to strength in January.
     The force now numbers more than 7,400, including nearly 6,000 troops
and 1,400 civilian police.
     "We believe that now we are in a condition to confront any challenge,
any armed challenge against the state or against the forces of the state,"
Valdes said.
     He made the comments following a signing ceremony with Haitian Prime
Minister Gerard Latortue of a joint document in which the government and
the international community announced efforts for a "national dialogue"
aimed at ending violence in which more than 250 people have been killed
since September.