27437: (news) Chamberlain: Haiti-Elections (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

   By STEVENSON JACOBS

   PORT-AU-PRINCE, Feb 2 (AP) -- U.N. and Haitian authorities pledged
Thursday to prevent violence from disrupting next week's elections, as an
aid agency warned that fighting inside gang-controlled slums threatens to
scare people away from the polls.
   Lt. Gen. Jose Elito Carvalho de Siqueira, the commander of U.N.
peacekeepers, said international troops and police will work with Haitian
authorities to make sure people can vote in the first election since a
rebellion forced the ouster of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide nearly two
years ago.
   "All the voting points around the country will be safe for the vote,"
Elito told reporters.
   About 85 percent of Haiti's 4.5 million eligible voters have registered
to choose a new president and legislature in Tuesday's vote to replace the
interim government imposed after Aristide's ouster.
   Fears of violence have been stoked by clashes between peacekeepers and
heavily armed gangs -- especially around Cite Soleil, a slum that is home
to some 200,000 people at the northern edge of the capital.
   Elito said a rapid reaction force of soldiers and police would respond
to disturbances.
   "In five to 10 minutes, we'll be there in any case (of violence)," the
general said.
   Interim Prime Minister Gerard Latortue promised a tough response to
anyone trying to disrupt voting.
   "We will be very firm with those who might come to disturb the good
behavior of the polls," Latortue said.
   The British aid group Oxfam said violence in Cite Soleil and other areas
was discouraging Haitians from voting next week, and called on the
international community to work toward reducing the estimated 210,000 of
guns in circulation in Haiti.
   "Many residents of Port-au-Prince have told us they are too scared to
make the journey to vote on Tuesday," said Yolette Etienne, an Oxfam
representative in Haiti.