Group left in dark on removal of Aristide

By MINDELL SMALL, Guardian Staff Reporter

Prime Minister Perry Christie said he is alarmed and dismayed that CARICOM was left out of discussions regarding the events leading up to the removal of Haitian president Jean-Bertrand Aristide from office.

He was speaking at the VIP lounge at Nassau's International Airport last night following an emergency two-day CARICOM meeting in Kingston, Jamaica to discuss the circumstances surrounding Aristide's 'reported' resignation and the 15-nation bloc's response to it.

Mr. Christie said what is particularly disappointing is that The Bahamas and the Caribbean community had kept in constant contact with the United States, informing that country of the details of all meetings it had regarding Haiti. However, the U.S. kept CARICOM in the dark since Saturday when it decided to provide, what it called, safe passage for Aristide out of Haiti.

PM spoke with Aristide

"On Monday evening, president Aristide clearly informed me that he had not left voluntarily," Mr. Christie said, adding that the former Haitian leader was coerced with rebel forces around him.

"We have asked for an investigation by the United Nations into the circumstances of president Aristide's departure because of our deep concern of the implication of someone who was constitutionally elected being required to leave office... and that in itself would seem to support the removal of a legitimate head of state by illegitimate means," he said.

CPAP

He said a short period before president Aristide's resignation, Minister Mitchell, along with the foreign ministers of Trinidad and Jamaica, stood with U.S. Secretary of State, Colin Powell in Washington and declared that the CARICOM Prior Action Plan (CPAP), which was predicated on Aristide remaining in power, was a good one for the establishment of the framework for elections and a power-sharing government in Haiti.

The CPAP was developed with the full involvement of the United States, Canada the OAS and the European Union, and fully endorsed by the international community.

Mr. Christie said in that vein, CARICOM was disappointed by the reluctance of the United Nations Security Council to take immediate action in Haiti last week in response to appeals for assistance by the government of that country. Now, he said, there is surprise in the Caribbean community that the Council was quick to approve a multinational force in Haiti on Sunday, Feb. 29, hours after Aristide was removed.

He said the decision was taken in circumstances quite different to those conceived and signed off on in the CPAP.

Rebels will not be legitimised

The Prime Minister also indicated that CARICOM would not partake in any process, which attempts to legitimise the rebels.

A few hours after Aristide's departure from Haiti, that country's Supreme Court Chief Justice, Boniface Alexandre announced that he was stepping in as interim president.

But according to the Haitian constitution, parliament is first required to approve his appointment by a two-thirds majority. Presently, there is no parliament in Haiti as Aristide was ruling the republic by decree, after the parliamentary mandate expired on Jan. 12.

CARICOM issued a statement Wednesday also expressing apprehension over the events leading to the departure of Aristide from office, and the ongoing political upheaval and violence in Haiti. It called for the immediate return to democratic rule and respect for the constitution of Haiti.

CARICOM to help rebuild Haiti

Mr. Christie said CARICOM would be involved in the rebuilding of Haiti and would, at its intercessional meeting on March 25 and 26 in St. Kitts, discuss the deployment of a stabilising force in that country. However, he explained that due to logistics and technical reasons, the Caribbean community would not join the multinational force presently in Haiti.

More than 1,000 U.S. troops were on the ground in Haiti Wednesday as part of a multinational force. France is expected to have 420 and Canada about 200 by week's end. The total force is expected to grow to about 5,000 in two weeks.

The Bahamas/Haiti accord

As for the Bahamas/Haiti accord, the nation's leader said the government by necessity, has to continue to work with the authorities in Haiti because The Bahamas does not control Haitians coming here illegally but is certainly committed to sending them back.

"To be able to engage in that process, we have to know who we're dealing with and we have to have some kind of understanding of a process that we share being able to return nationals of Haiti back to that country," he said.

"So whether the government is lawfully constituted, as deemed by lawyers or not, tomorrow, next week, next month, The Bahamas has to continue to have a relationship in that limited context," he added.

Foreign Affairs Minister, Fred Mitchell, and Ambassador to Haiti Dr. Eugene Newry accompanied the Prime Minister to Jamaica.

Situation in Haiti

Meantime in Haiti, U.S. military officials said "friction points" had developed between foreign forces and the rebels after an encounter involving about 20 armed rebels who converged at the airport, searching for Aristide's political allies. The rebels reportedly fled Wednesday after a display of force by the U.S. military, now guarding the airport and National Palace. However, armed rebels continue to patrol the streets of Port-au-Prince.

U.S. forces said their mission in Haiti had expanded beyond protecting U.S. citizens and interests to include protecting Haitian civilians from reprisal attacks. However, the American and French troops in Haiti, at the forefront of an international peacekeeping force, have not been given orders to disarm Haiti's factions.

The Associated Press said U.S. marines had not begun street patrols of the troubled Haitian capital despite a pledge to increase their presence after rebel leader Guy Philippe declared himself the military chief of Haiti and said he wants to recreate the country's army, disbanded by Aristide in the 1990s after leading a series of coups. Philippe also reportedly threatened to arrest Prime Minister Yvon Neptune however, U.S. security forces said they surrounded Neptune's office and deterred Philippe's group.

The report also said a semblance of normalcy is returning to the Haitian capital after a Dutch-Caribbean commercial airliner arrived at the airport on Wednesday.

Also, American Airlines announced that it would resume flights to Haiti beginning Friday. The airline will offer two flights from Miami and one from New York to Port-au-Prince. It said it would also resume its five-day-a-week service between Port-au-Prince and Fort Lauderdale. The airline had suspended all service to and from Haiti on Feb. 26 due to the unrest.

Regarding the fate of Aristide, the leader of the Central African Republic officially granted asylum to the ex-Haitian president Tuesday. Aristide is reportedly expected to remain in that African country for a while.

On Wednesday, the African country's foreign minister, Charles Wenezoui said no permanent home had been found for Aristide. He said Aristide, who is in good health, remains in the presidential palace there. "Aristide really likes to read" and has slept a lot, said Wenezoui. "We're about to give him a television and satellite dish so that he can monitor news around the world."