Aristide Supporters March Through Haiti

By MARK STEVENSON and PAISLEY DODDS,

Associated Press Writers

<http://www.comcast.net/News/INTERNA...>

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - Thousands of supporters of
President Jean-Bertrand Aristide marched through the
streets Friday, shouting their anger at his ouster. A
seven-member council was chosen to find a new prime
minister for a transitional government.

"Long live Aristide!" and "Down with George Bush!" the
protesters yelled as U.S. Marines watched impassively
from inside the gated National Palace.

It was the biggest demonstration since Aristide fled the
country Feb. 28, when rebels prepared for a final push
on the capital and the United States and France urged
him to step down.

U.S. Marines arrived the day Aristide left, followed by
French and Chilean troops, forming the vanguard of a
U.N.-sponsored peacekeeping force expected to number
about 5,000. Canada said it is sending 450 soldiers
within days.

The Marines so far have met no resistance, though there
has been none of the jubilation that accompanied their
last intervention in Haiti _ in 1994, when 20,000 troops
ousted a brutal military dictatorship, halted an exodus
of boat people to Florida and restored Aristide to
power.

"If it comes to that, we will confront the U.S.
Marines," said demonstrator Pierre Paul, 35. "We will do
the same thing that they are doing in Iraq."

A spokesman said U.S. troops had expanded their presence
in Haiti beyond the capital and into rebel strongholds.
Special teams from the U.S. Southern Command in Florida
arrived at rebel bases of Cap-Haitien, on Haiti’s north
coast; the western city of Gonaives; and possibly other
locations across the country, said Army Maj. Richard
Crusan, spokesman for the interim international force.

The teams are in addition to the 1,100 Marines in Port-
au-Prince, Crusan said.

Witnesses in Cap-Haitien said police were disarming
rebels who took that city on Feb. 22.

Radio Metropole said there has been some resistance to
disarming, particularly in Gonaives, but no fighting was
reported.

Such resistance is expected to be strongest in Gonaives,
where a rebel movement on Feb. 5 sparked the uprising
that led to Aristide’s flight. Aristide claims he was
abducted at gunpoint by U.S. Marines, charges the Bush
administration strongly denies.

Crusan said U.S. forces had not been involved in any
shooting anywhere in the country.

Paul Arcelin, an adviser to rebel leader Guy Philippe,
told The Associated Press on Friday the rebels would
keep their weapons as long as Aristide militants were
armed because "tomorrow they’ll come here and kill us."

Asked where the rebel guns were, he said: "We hide
them."

Philippe, apparently under pressure from Washington, has
promised that his fighters would disarm. But no plan
have been announced for the rebels to hand in their
weapons, which Philippe said were at their bases around
the country.

On the political front, the seven-member Council of
Sages is expected to name a new prime minister within
days, the Organization of American States said. The
council was chosen by members of Aristide’s Lavalas
Family party, the broad-based opposition Democratic
Platform coalition, and the international community,
said OAS spokesman Edward Alexander.

Opposition leaders have been pressing for the
replacement of Yvon Neptune, Aristide’s premier.

One possible choice is Lt. Gen. Herard Abraham, who
succeeded Gen. Prosper Avril when he was ousted in a
palace coup in 1990. Abraham immediately surrendered
power to Haiti’s Supreme Court justice _ probably the
only Haitian army officer ever to voluntarily hand power
to a civilian. That allowed the transition that led to
Haiti’s first free elections in December 1990, which
Aristide won in a landslide.

A semblance of normality returned Friday to Port-au-
Prince’s La Saline neighborhood, a seaside slum and
Aristide stronghold, after the Marines’ first tentative
patrols there.

"Today is the first time we have opened since the crisis
began," auto repair shop manager Loubens Seintil said.

Opposition leaders also met Friday with Philippe, who
has said he wants to reinstall Haiti’s disgraced army.
The army has fomented 32 coups in Haiti’s 200 years of
independence and its murderous instincts and corruption
are largely blamed for making the Caribbean country one
of the most miserable in the world. Aristide disbanded
the army in 1995.

Aristide lost popularity in recent years as he failed to
improve life for Haiti’s poor while his aides lived
lavish lifestyles that some allege were fueled by drug
trafficking. As opposition grew, Aristide used police
and militant loyalists to attack his opponents.

Aristide denies those charges and said the violence came
from the opposition.

Opposition leader Evans Paul told France’s LCI
television that they hoped soon to bring charges against
Aristide, who remains in secluded asylum in the Central
African Republic. Officials there said they still were
hunting for a third country to give him permanent
asylum, but also were willing to offer it.