29016: Sprague (Article) Haiti recalls overseas diplomats (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Jeb Sprague <jebsprague@mac.com>

Haiti recalls overseas diplomats


AP
Thursday 24th August, 2006   Posted: 16:17 CIT   (21:17 GMT)
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PORT–AU–PRINCE, Haiti (AP) – Haiti will recall several overseas
diplomats for alleged incompetence, including some suspected of
corruption, the foreign minister said Wednesday.

The diplomats, all appointed by the U.S.–backed interim government
that ruled the Caribbean nation between 2004 and 2006, could be fired
or punished upon a review of their cases, Foreign Affairs Minister
Jean Raynald Clarisme told The Associated Press.

The announcement came a day after Haitian legislators alleged that
several million dollars (euros) may have disappeared during that
period from at least three foreign missions: the Haitian Embassy in
Washington, and missions in Cuba and the Dominican Republic.

The move could open the door for the first major probe into alleged
corruption under the interim government, which was appointed after a
revolt toppled former President Jean–Bertrand Aristide in February 2004.

Clarisme said the recalls "should happen very quickly" but declined
to say which diplomats would be ordered home or from what countries.
He said the move was first suggested by lawmakers, who recommended
recalling diplomats for a review.

"The deputies have suggested we recall people who have been nominated
by the interim government," Clarisme said. "I think it’s a wise
approach and I’m willing to do that."

"We are working on cleaning house and putting order in the
administration," he added.

Clarisme said the Haitian consul in Barahona, Dominican Republic, was
fired this month for selling entry visas to Chinese migrants. He said
other diplomats will be disciplined, but noted that most are accused
of incompetence, not corruption.

"Some will be recalled, but we have to take it on a case–by–case
basis," he said. "People involved in corruption will be severely
reprimanded for their behavior."

In a legislative session Tuesday, Sorel Francois, a deputy in the
lower house and president of the Commission on Foreign Affairs, said
receipts showed that US$250,000 vanished from Haiti’s Embassy in
Washington in June 2005.

He said another US$1.9 million was transferred from the same embassy
to a nongovernment account in October 2005.

Reached by phone in Washington, Haitian Ambassador to the United
States Raymond Joseph denied embezzling any funds.

"No money disappeared in Washington," Joseph said. "It didn’t go into
my pocket or the pocket of anyone else."

Joseph, appointed by former interim Prime Minister Gerard Latortue in
2004, said the money may have been used to pay bills owed by the
government, including the purchase of weapons for Haiti’s police force.

"If there is a full audit of this embassy I have no doubt that
everything will be very, very clear," he said.

Joseph said he didn’t know if he would be recalled, but said he would
be present for an audit.

Joseph is the publisher of the New York–based weekly newspaper Haiti
Observateur, and was an outspoken critic of Aristide’s Fanmi Lavalas
political party. Francois, the legislator who alleged that funds
disappeared, is a member of Fanmi Lavalas.

Joseph declined to say whether he thought the allegations against him
were politically motivated.