25111: (News) Chamberlain: Haiti-Former Premier (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

   By PETER PRENGAMAN

   PORT-AU-PRINCE, May 16 (AP) -- A U.S. congressman who met Monday with
Haiti's jailed former prime minister said Yvon Neptune's monthlong hunger
strike has weakened him tremendously, contradicting government reports that
the former premier is in good health.
   Neptune has been jailed for 10 months without being charged in
connection with political killings during the February 2004 rebellion that
ousted former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. He went on a hunger strike
April 17 to demand his unconditional release.
   Rep. Kendrick Meek, a Florida Democrat said after meeting Neptune that
his voice was barely audible. Meek called the weekend reports from Haiti's
interim government "totally inaccurate."
   "I had to get on the floor (next to Neptune's bed) just to hear him
speak," Meek said.
   Haitian officials have refused to release the former premier, saying
Neptune must face justice. It was Neptune's second hunger strike in recent
months. He drinks water, but it is unclear if it contains other nutrients
such as vitamins.
   Meek said he met with Haitian officials and leaders of the 7,400-member
U.N. peacekeeping mission during a two-day visit in attempts to find a
solution to what has become a major impasse between Neptune and the interim
government.
   "If Mr. Neptune expires under these conditions it will hurt efforts to
get U.S. aid to Haiti and will cause a reaction in the country," said Meek,
who did not offer details on a possible solution.
   On Saturday, interim Justice Minister Bernard Gousse released a
statement saying a doctor had visited Neptune and found him in "relatively
good health."
   Attempts to reach Gousse on Monday were not successful.
   Journalists have not been allowed to visit Neptune, who is jailed next
to police headquarters in the capital, Port-au-Prince.
   With Aristide in exile in South Africa, Neptune has become the most
senior member of Aristide's Lavalas Party, the largest and most organized
political force in the country. Some Lavalas members have refused to
participate in general elections scheduled for October and November unless
the government frees Neptune and other jailed party loyalists.