President Bush said Friday that the international community is "planning for a multinational force" that could be sent into Haiti if needed -- but only after a political settlement of the tiny nation's burgeoning insurgent crisis...
News Source: cnn.com
Earlier, Pentagon officials told CNN that the United States was considering dispatching three ships with 2,200 Marines to sit off Haiti's coast as a precautionary measure. But the officials stressed that the decision had not been made.
Bush did not describe who would make up such a force, but said: "We're interested in achieving a political settlement, and we're still working to that effect. We're planning for a multinational force that would go in and make sure that if aid needed to be delivered, or there needed to be some stability, that it could go in, dependent upon a political settlement."
On Wednesday, French officials called for the "immediate" creation of an international civilian peace force to restore order to Haiti.
Rebel forces intent on removing President Jean-Bertrand Aristide from power have seized much of northern Haiti and are threatening to advance on the capital, Port-au-Prince. Haiti's political opposition has rejected any plan that would leave Aristide in office.
The rebellion against Aristide began February 5, when armed opponents seized the coastal city of Gonaives. They now control the nation's second-largest city, Cap-Haitien, and say they are preparing to move against Port-au-Prince. Discontent has grown in this Caribbean country of 8 million people since Aristide's party swept flawed legislative elections in 2000 and international donors froze millions of dollars.
Rebel leader Guy Philippe said that the capital would be difficult to take, so his forces are planning a siege.
"We want to block Port-au-Prince totally, so we are going to send two boats here to stop the big boats coming from Miami with food and gasoline and make them come here to the Cap (Cap Haitien, Haiti's second largest city, already taken by the rebels) and not Port-au-Prince," he said.
Several Caribbean nations Thursday urged the U.N. Security Council to authorize an international force. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan appointed a special adviser to report directly to him on the situation, but the council did not immediately take action.
"The council acknowledged the call, and said it would consider all options, including that of an international force, and would continue to monitor the situation closely," said U.N. spokesman Fred Eckhard.
French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin met Friday with a delegation from the Haitian government, urging members to act quickly on a Caribbean Community-proposed plan for a transitional government, led by an appointed prime minister, that would rule until new elections can take place, a spokesman for Villepin said.
"It is important that the Haitians work to put in place a transitional national unity government, charged with working on national reconciliation," the spokesman said.
Both Villepin on Wednesday and U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell on Thursday left Aristide's fate up to the former priest, stopping short of calling for his resignation.
"He is the democratically elected president, but he has had difficulties in his presidency. And ... whether or not he is able to effectively continue as president is something that he will have to examine," Powell said Thursday outside the State Department. "I hope that he will examine it carefully considering the interests of the Haitian people."
"I hope he will just examine the situation that he is in, and make a careful examination of how best to serve the Haitian people at this time," Powell told CNN. "And I think my statement speaks for itself."
"As for Aristide, he bears a heavy responsibility in the current situation," Villepin said Wednesday. "It is for him to accept the consequences with due regard for the law. It's his decision, it's his responsibility. ...
"Everyone can see that a new chapter has to be opened in Haiti's history and that this must be done with due regard for the dignity and integrity of all the protagonists," he said.
Aristide told CNN in a telephone interview Thursday that he had accepted the power-sharing proposal, but would not resign.
"We will share responsibilities, including members from the private sector, members from the opposition, and together we go ahead to organize elections to professionalize our policy, to get reforms, fighting against corruption, against drugs, building a state of law," he said.
Aristide noted the country has undergone 32 coups during its 200 years of independence, and he vowed to prevent another. He implored the United States to participate in an international force to restore order.
Haitian opposition leader Andy Apaid told CNN that Aristide is "an element of destruction" who has broken previous promises to reform.
"He must resign," Apaid said. "It is critical, because he has never respected his word in any of the international community's resolutions."
Aristide became Haiti's first democratically elected president in 1990. He was overthrown in a 1991 coup, restored to power by U.S. forces in 1994 and won a new term in 2000 in elections his political opponents claim were rigged.
Haiti's military was disbanded after Aristide's return to power, and its civilian police force has been unable to stop the rebels.
