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Deadline looms in Haiti as U.N. troops prepare to leave

U.S. envoy asks for extension

In this story: July 14, 1997
Web posted at: 11:38 p.m. EDT (0338 GMT)

From Correspondent Susan Candiotti

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (CNN) -- For the three years, 24 hours a day, United Nations peacekeepers have walked the streets of Cite Soleil -- the poorest and perhaps most dangerous area of Haiti's capital.

But peacekeepers may not stay much longer. Their mission is due to end on July 31, and a deadline is looming amid a deepening political crisis in the country.

A month ago, Premier Rosny Smarth resigned, with President Rene Preval unable to get Parliament to agree on a successor or to complete partial legislative elections halted over fraud charges.

Richardson presses for end to crisis

Preval

U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Bill Richardson arrived Monday to press Preval to act decisively to end the crisis. He wants the international force, now totaling 1,300, to stay another four months to help keep order.

Richardson said Monday U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan will recommend that the Haitian peacekeeping mission be extended to the end of November.

He also said former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide has pledged his support for an extended mandate, despite strong opposition to the move expressed by grass-roots supporters of Aristide. Troops from the United States helped to restore Aristide to power in 1994, three years after he was ousted by the Haitian army.

"I was impressed by his (Aristide's) willingness to resolve the political crisis here," Richardson told an afternoon news conference, co-hosted by President Preval. "Aristide did tell me that he supports his president in the presidential view that there should be four more months of the U.N."

Richardson said he was "relatively optimistic" the mandate would be extended and planned to lobby for the move before the U.N. Security Council.

Aristide has behind the scenes role

The peacekeepers have been steadily scaling back since the U.S. sent 20,000 troops to restore Aristide to power in 1994.

Though Aristide is no longer president, he remains the country's most popular political figure with considerable behind-the-scenes influence. Privately, senior U.S. officials complain he's failing to use his influence to move the country forward, a charge he denies.

The Clinton administration desperately wants Haiti's fragile democracy to succeed. Not only has it been one of the president's international success stories, but failure could spark another immigration crisis.

During Haiti's political turmoil, more than 70,000 Haitians sailed toward Florida, creating a humanitarian crisis and a political quandary for Clinton.

Stability is key, partly dependent upon Haiti's new national police created after decades of military dictatorship. If the mission ends this month, the local police may not be ready to go it alone, although U.N. Special Representative Enrique ter Horst believes they are ready.

"They're well on their way to becoming a very good force," he said.

Economic reforms are uncertain

Maintaining security could be a problem if Haiti's economy continues to stagnate. Millions of dollars in international aid remains frozen until economic reforms come through.

"The picture is depressing and frightening ... We dreamed of a state of law and have reaped anarchy," the Haitian Chamber of Commerce and Industry declared last week.

It said the country "cannot develop if it doesn't join the New World Order" through an austere economic plan that has divided Parliament and led to Smarth's resignation in the face of opposition from Aristide, because it involves laying off thousands of workers and privatizing nine state companies.

Economic reform is not likely until Preval names a new premier to replace Smarth.

Preval, in only his second official press conference as president, emphasized the need to move cautiously in filling the position.

"The car is in the garage. They're checking the parts," he said. "We don't want to start and get stuck again" on the road.

Haitians know one day their struggling democracy will have to survive on its own. The question is whether it will be sooner or later.

Reuters contributed to this report.

 
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