24539: (news) Chamberlain: Haiti-UN-Challenge (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

   By STEVENSON JACOBS

   TERRE-ROUGE, Haiti, March 21 (AP) -- U.N. peacekeepers, criticized for
inaction during their 10 months in Haiti, are taking on soldiers from the
disbanded army in clashes that left two peacekeepers and two Haitian
fighters dead -- and the mission leader says more is to come.
   The showdown signals a tougher stance against armed factions in Haiti
ahead of fall elections and reflects a broader determination to crack down
on militias that threaten civilians where U.N. troops are deployed.
   The offensive in Haiti began Sunday when U.N. forces raided a police
station occupied by armed former soldiers in Petit-Goave, 45 miles west of
Port-au-Prince, setting of a gunbattle that killed two former soldiers and
one Sri Lankan peacekeeper. The Sri Lankan was the first fatality suffered
by the 7,400-member force since it arrived in June 2004.
   Later Sunday, Nepalese soldiers driving to the central town of Hinche
exchanged gunfire with a different group of former soldiers, and one
Nepalese peacekeeper was killed, U.N. spokesman Damian Onses-Cardona said.
   Then on Monday, about 300 Brazilian and Nepalese peacekeepers backed by
armored cars and helicopters raided the town of Terre-Rouge, where former
soldiers had occupied a police station. The U.N. force retook the area
without casualties as the fighters retreated into the hills, U.N. officials
said.
   "The message is clear. We want these people (ex-soldiers) out. They must
give up their guns and submit to the law," said Lt. Gen. Augusto Heleno
Ribeiro, the Brazilian commander of U.N. peacekeepers in Haiti. "We would
prefer to have a peace dialogue, but if we can't we won't hesitate to act."
   "We aren't finished yet. This is all part of our strategy," said Heleno
Ribeiro.
   The clashes marked the first major confrontation between the U.N. force
and former members of Haiti's disbanded army, who helped oust former
President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in a 1991 coup and again in an armed
rebellion a year ago.
   A U.S.-led peacekeeping force was deployed after Aristide was forced
into exile in February 2004, and this force was replaced by U.N.
peacekeepers in June. Despite their presence, armed rebels and former
soldiers still control much of the countryside.
   For months, the peacekeepers have been criticized for being too passive
toward armed groups, including ex-soldiers and street gangs. The groups are
blamed for more than 400 killings since September and some fear they could
disrupt fall elections.
   "This is a real moment of truth for the United Nations," said Daniel
Erikson, a Caribbean affairs expert with the Washington-based
Inter-American Dialogue. "They've suffered their first casualties, and now
the question is whether they will back down in the face of opposition or
retrench and move forward."
   The U.N. peacekeepers in Haiti have what's called a Chapter Seven
mandate, which gives them broad power to protect civilians. While the
United Nations has made no formal announcement, there has been evidence in
other missions -- most notably Congo -- of peacekeepers running more
patrols to deter violence rather than sticking to their bases.
   On Feb. 25, nine U.N. peacekeepers were killed by militiamen in Congo.
Soon after, U.N. peacekeepers raided a village occupied by the militia
responsible for that attack and killed up to 60 people. Officials denied
the two events were connected.
   Since then, U.N. officials have highlighted the heavily armed patrols
that peacekeepers conduct in Congo to round up weapons from the militias.
U.N. diplomats had also expressed impatience with the militias, which
continue to destabilize Congo as it tries to recover from war.
   "The U.N. has traditionally kept peace. It hasn't done war fighting, but
when you're confronted with people who are fighting you, you have to
exercise self-defense and take them out, basically," Britain's U.N.
Ambassador Emyr Jones-Parry said after the Congo fighting.
   In Haiti, U.N. peacekeepers exchanged gunfire with the ex-soldiers for
about 10 minutes in Terre-Rouge, some 25 miles northeast of the capital,
but then found the police station empty, Heleno Ribeiro said. "We're now in
control of the area," he said.
   Addressing a crowd in Terre-Rouge on Sunday, a leader of the ex-soldiers
issued a call to arms for former fighters.
   "I'm calling out to all former soldiers throughout the country to rise
up," Remissainthe Ravis, accused by Haitian police of killing four
policemen, told Radio Galaxy.
   The ex-soldiers, many well into their 50s with fading uniforms and aging
rifles, have refused orders by the interim government and the U.N. force to
disarm. Since September, they've occupied police posts in three towns --
Petit-Goave, Terre-Rouge and Thomazeau, according to the United Nations.
Aristide disbanded the army in 1995, four years after he was ousted.
   Erikson said the timing of the U.N. offensive reflects an acknowledgment
by the U.N. force that Haiti's shaky security climate "is on a collision
course with elections."
   "I think the U.N. is reaching the same conclusion as its international
critics, that elections in Haiti won't be possible unless peacekeepers
confront Haitian gangs" and other armed groups, Erikson said.
   ------
   Associated Press writers Nick Wadhams at the United Nations and Donna
Bryson, the Europe-Africa editor in London, contributed to this report.