19270: Lemieux: BBC: World moves to stem Haiti crisis (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: JD Lemieux <lxhaiti@yahoo.com>

 BBC News
 2/26/04


World moves to stem Haiti crisis
Urgent international meetings have been called to address
the spiralling crisis in Haiti where rebels are threatening
to advance on the capital within days.
As armed militias loyal to President Jean-Bertrand Aristide
prepare their defences in Port-au-Prince, France has called
for outside intervention.

A Haitian government delegation is now in France for talks
on the crisis.

Foreigners and Haitians have been flocking to the city's
airport in a desperate bid to flee.


The threat is real
Mildred Aristide
Haitian First Lady
The French foreign minister appeared to call on Mr Aristide
to resign.

"As far as President Aristide is concerned, he bears grave
responsibility for the current situation," said Dominique
De Villepin.

"Everyone sees quite well that a new page must be opened in
Haiti's history, while respecting the dignity and integrity
of all the protagonists."

The Haitian team, led by foreign minister, Joseph Philippe
Antonio, is due to hold talks with Mr De Villepin in Paris
on Friday.

Both the United Nations and the permanent council of the
Organisation of American States (OAS) are due to hold
urgent debates on Haiti later on Thursday.

Rebel leader Guy Philippe claimed to have sealed off
Port-au-Prince "almost entirely" as news emerged that
President Aristide had sent his own daughters to safety in
the US.

"I did choose to send them [the two girls] to my parents
who are outside of Haiti because the stress is difficult on
them," Mildred Aristide, his wife, told CNN. "I did send
them because the threat is real."

New peace plan

Mr De Villepin outlined a five-point plan to end the
"chaos", including a peacekeeping force, international
assistance for a presidential election, humanitarian aid, a
human rights observer mission and a long-term commitment to
reconstruction.


US Secretary of State Colin Powell said he had spoken to
his French counterpart but suggested that there were no
plans for sending in peacekeepers at this stage.


The UN Security Council is due to hold emergency talks in
New York on Thursday at the request of Jamaica, head of the
15-nation Caribbean Community (Caricom).

Separate talks are also to be held by the OAS in response
to the Haitian opposition's rejection of a US-sponsored
peace plan this week.

The Haitian rebel leader. speaking from Cap Haitien,
threatened to lead an attack on the capital by Sunday - his
birthday - but added that he wanted to first "give peace a
chance".

Gun law

Law and order has begun to break down in Port-au-Prince
where heavily armed loyalist militiamen have been
attempting to rally morale ahead of the expected attack.

The BBC's Stephen Gibbs in Port-au-Prince says the
semblance of normality that continued even as rebels were
taking over northern towns and cities has almost all but
gone.

Militiamen wearing ski masks have been stopping cars,
threatening and sometimes robbing the passengers, he says.

Food warehouses, car dealers and restaurants in the capital
have been looted.

The rebels have captured the northern half of Haiti since
the uprising was launched in early February. More than 70
people have been killed in the violence.

The unrest stems from disputed elections in 2000. The
political opposition fears that Mr Aristide will rig
legislative elections due in 2004 and seek to stand for a
third term in 2005.

President George W Bush has said the US will support an
international security presence - but only once a peace
deal had been reached.


Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/americas/3488082.stm

Published: 2004/02/26 16:17:43 GMT

© BBC MMIV

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