25411: (news) Chamberlain: U.N. military chief in Haiti wants to be replaced (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

     By Joseph Guyler Delva

     PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, June 16 (Reuters) - The Brazilian general who
commands the U.N. military force in Haiti said on Thursday that he wanted
to be replaced.
     Gen. Augusto Heleno told Reuters he wrote three months ago to Brazil's
Defense Department and asked to be replaced when his one-year contract
ended on May 30.
     "I wrote to my superiors three months ago and suggested my
replacement, particularly because I think it's a fantastic experience that
could be shared by another Brazilian general," Heleno told Reuters in an
interview.
     "I am waiting for a decision by the Brazilian government, with the
U.N., and my successor has not been officially communicated to me yet."
     The peacekeeping mission was deployed a year ago to stabilize Haiti in
the aftermath of an armed revolt that drove former President Jean-Bertrand
Aristide into exile. The poor Caribbean nation is still plagued with
rampant criminal and political violence that has killed at least 770 people
since September.
     Haiti's interim prime minister, Gerard Latortue, has criticized the
peacekeepers for failing to halt the violence and residents of Haiti's
slums have complained they are at the mercy of armed gangs that operate
with seeming impunity.
     Heleno said his troops were doing their best to restore order and were
confronting violent armed groups. But he said he would not order
indiscriminate raids that could endanger scores of innocent residents in
order to capture a few bandits.
     "When you are entrusted with leading a force, it is because you have
equilibrium and the wisdom to use it," Heleno said. "Those who hold force
and who don't use it with wisdom cause disasters to humanity ... We have to
respect human rights."
     A spokesman for U.N. troops, Col. Elouaffi Boulbars, said two
peacekeepers from Peru were wounded on Thursday in clashes with bandits in
the Port-au-Prince slum of Cite Soleil. One of the soldiers was in serious
condition, U.N. officials said.
     The U.N. mission includes 6,200 troops and nearly 1,300 civilian
police. U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan has recommended sending an
additional 750 soldiers and 275 police officers to Haiti, which is
scheduled to hold presidential, legislative and municipal elections later
this year.