HAITI: UNITED NATION TROOPS OCCUPY RESIDENCE OF FORMER PRESIDENT JEAN-BERTRAND ARISTIDE TO EVICT REBEL SOLDIERS WHO TOOK OVER THE COMPOUND.

Record ID: 338133

  • Title: HAITI: UNITED NATION TROOPS OCCUPY RESIDENCE OF FORMER PRESIDENT JEAN-BERTRAND ARISTIDE TO EVICT REBEL SOLDIERS WHO TOOK OVER THE COMPOUND.
  • Date: 17th December 2004
  • Summary: (U1) PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI (DECEMBER 17, 2004) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. WS/CU: OF U.N. TROOPS STANDING OUTSIDE OF EX-PRESIDENT JEAN BERTRAND ARISTIDE'S FORMER RESIDENCE. 0.13 2. MV: RESIDENTS OF THE AREA STANDING OUTSIDE OF ARISTIDE'S RESIDENCE WATCHING. 0.20 3. SCU: (SOUNDBITE) (Creole) UNIDENTIFIED REBEL SAYING: "The international comm
  • Embargoed: 1st January 2005 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI
  • Country: Haiti
  • Reuters ID: LVA5XNCDPX2VA0SAKKEBD1LLW2U7
  • Story Text: U.N. troops storm the residence of Haiti's former
    president to evict rebel former soldiers who took over the
    compound.



    ++ EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: VIDEO QUALITY AS INCOMING ++

    United Nations peacekeepers stormed the residence
    of former Haitian president Jean-Bertrand Aristide on
    Friday (December 17) to evict rebel former soldiers who
    took over the compound two days before in defiance of the
    authorities.

    The incident ended a standoff that began on Wednesday
    (December 15) when some 100 ex-Haitian military seized the
    ousted president's home, saying they planned to use its
    grounds to train a new army.

    The former soldiers were defiant.

    "The international community needs to see what is
    happening in Haiti in 2004. Haiti needs real change and this army
    here is doing everything possible to achieve it,"
    said one ex-soldier who was waiting near the residence
    earlier on Friday.

    The situation remained tense throughout the day, as
    curious residents watched U.N. troops taking up position
    around Aristide's house with guns and tanks. Some locals
    even performed voodoo to drive the peacekeepers away.

    Late in the afternoon, the U.N. troops stormed the
    residence, but no shots were fired, U.N. spokesman Damian
    Onses Cardona said.

    "They [the U.N. troops] entered the house without any
    use of arms," he said.

    Onses Cardona added that the U.N. was trying to treat
    the rebels respectfully.

    "They [the rebels] are eating because we brought some
    food for them. They were also checked to see if they had
    health problems and in a few minutes they will be leaving
    he building under the escort of the MINUSTHA [U.N.

    peacekeepers]," he said.

    It was unclear what had happened to the 100 or so
    ex-Haitian military officers, but some were seen riding in
    U.N. vehicles and were visibly disappointed.

    "It's a humilitanion. It's a deception that (Haitian
    Interim Prime Minister) Gerard Latortue could send
    foreigners to disarm us and to shoot at us," said one of
    the former soldiers.

    Former members of the army Aristide disbanded a decade
    ago because of its proclivity for coups and bloodshed, the
    ex-military were once hailed as "freedom fighters" by
    Latortue for their role in the revolt.

    But relations soured as the former soldiers continued
    to press their demand for the re-establishment of the army
    and for 10 years' backpay.

    On Wednesday (December 15), they took over Aristide's
    abandoned compound in Tabarre, a stone's throw from the
    main military base of the Brazilian-led U.N. force.

    On Friday (December 17), U.N. troops also surrounded a
    second compound where rebel former soldiers had been holed
    up for two months, and were greeted with a shower of rocks
    and voodoo curses.


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