28873: (news) Chamberlain: Haiti tells gangs to disarm or face death (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

     By Joseph Guyler Delva

     PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, Aug 10 (Reuters) - Haiti's government threw
down the gauntlet to the impoverished and violent Caribbean nation's armed
gangs on Thursday, telling them to lay down their weapons or be killed.
     "It's clear. You surrender your weapons and enter the DDR program,"
said Prime Minister Jacques Edouard Alexis. "If you refuse, you'll be
killed."
     Alexis was referring to a Demobilization, Disarmament and Reinsertion
program run by U.N. peacekeepers aimed at stabilizing Haiti and curbing
kidnappings and endemic political bloodletting.
     His comments, before a legislative assembly, marked the first
ultimatum to gang leaders from the newly installed government of President
Rene Preval.
     After Preval won election in February, the level of violence in Haiti
dropped sharply. But its resurgence has prompted U.N. Secretary-General
Kofi Annan, who visited Port-au-Prince last week, to advise the Security
Council against curtailing the U.N. peacekeeping force.
     At least 100 people have been shot dead in the capital Port-au-Prince
over the last two months and about 400 others have been injured by
gunshots, according to hospital records cited on Thursday by Ronald
Lareche, who heads the Public Safety Committee of the lower house of
parliament.
     He said the death toll, from what were mostly believed to be
gang-related shootings, included 85 victims in July alone.
     Government officials have said drug lords were now seeking to bankroll
armed gangs, to win de facto control over them and block any disarmament
plans.
     The violent status quo in Haiti provides good cover for trafficking in
narcotics, the officials say.
     "They (drug kingpins) want to make sure the chaotic situation endures
so that they may continue to carry out their dirty work," Alexis said.
     Gang leaders have made tentative offers to disarm in the past,
including one last week from the young toughs who control Haiti's largest
slum, but none of them have come to fruition so far.