HAITI: FOREIGN MILITARY TROOPS STEP UP THEIR PRESENCE AS AID ARRIVES IN PORT-AU-PRINCE.
Record ID:
647706
HAITI: FOREIGN MILITARY TROOPS STEP UP THEIR PRESENCE AS AID ARRIVES IN PORT-AU-PRINCE.
- Title: HAITI: FOREIGN MILITARY TROOPS STEP UP THEIR PRESENCE AS AID ARRIVES IN PORT-AU-PRINCE.
- Date: 4th March 2004
- Summary: PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI (MARCH 04, 2004) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. VARIOUS OF U.S. MARINES LEAVING PALACE TO GO ON PATROL 2. VARIOUS OF JOINT PATROL ON FOOT BY FRENCH SOLDIERS, U.S. MARINES AND HAITIAN POLICE 3. (SOUNDBITE) (English) UNIDENTIFIED U.S. MARINE SAYING: "We hope to re-introduce organization for the Haitian people." 4. VARIOUS MORE OF JOINT PATROL ON FOOT BY FRENCH SOLDIERS, U.S. MARINES AND HAITIAN POLICE 5. GUY PHILIPPE (CENTER) SITTING AT TABLE WITH GLOBAL INITIATIVES HEAD K.A. PAUL (IN CREAM) AND FORMER U.S. CONGRESSMAN BOB CLEMENT 6. VARIOUS OF PHILIPPE NEWS CONFERENCE 7. (SOUNDBITE) (English) REBEL ARMY LEADER GUY PHILIPPE SAYING: "It was too bad that the chimeres (armed Aristide supporters) still have their weapons. It is very risky for the people, being the same Haitian guys are leading the country now. We have the same prime minister, the same police officers, the same chimeres carrying guns, terrifying the population. But as I was committed to the international community to lay down my weapons as soon as Aristide leave, so we kept our word. Dr. Paul advised me. We lay down our weapons." 8. WIDE OF PAUL, PHILIPPE AND CLEMENT SEATED AT TABLE 9. GENERAL VIEW OF CHILEAN SOLDIERS AT AIRPORT 10. VARIOUS OF RED CROSS AID ARRIVING 11. (SOUNDBITE) (English) HEAD OF FRENCH RED CROSS IN HAITI MARIE ELENE MOORE SAYING: "Now with the situation, we have decided to work with emergency program by providing ambulances. 12. VARIOUS OF FOOD DISTRIBUTION AT ORPHANAGE 13. (SOUNDBITE) (English) FATHER RAYMOND PEARSON SAYING: "I have been dividing the food a little bit. And for two days they received absolutely nothing. They ate nothing. Because we have to take care of these other children. When they're hungry, they cry because they cannot understand what has happened." 14. VARIOUS OF CHILDREN AT ORPHANAGE 15. (SOUNDBITE) (English) COUNTRY DIRECTOR OF U.N. WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME GUY GAUVREAU SAYING: "These people actually ran out of food. There were 70 kids, with the priest that ran out of food. And it's a terrible situation to think that more and more kids in Haiti particularly in Port-au-Prince, have lost their parents, and they need assistance." 16. CHILDREN AT ORPHANAGE 17. (SOUNDBITE) (French) OPPOSITION LEADER EVANS PAUL SAYING: "(Prime Minister Yvon Neptune...) It is a problem because it is necessary to find a person who has certain characteristics. It's necessary that that person isn't conflictive. It's necessary that that person be acceptable for the various sectors of the country and the international community." 18. EVANS PAUL WITH REPORTER Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 19th March 2004 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI
- Country: Haiti
- Reuters ID: LVA6Y8G97E0JNNASY77HRWM3HAU2
- Story Text: Foreign military troops stepped up their presence in
Haiti, as aid arrived to the children in the capital.
The government and foreign military forces gained a
tentative grip on chaotic Haiti on Thursday (March 04) as
U.S. and French troops stepped up patrols, armed rebels who
helped oust the president prepared to leave the capital and
aid begins reaching the needy.
U.S. troop carriers and humvees mounted with machine
guns and missile launchers rumbled through the streets and
stood watch at government ministries. French troops
patrolled in jeeps.
The capital returned to its normal chaos, with traffic
jams and shouting vendors.
Chile sent 130 troops to Haiti overnight, joining more
than 1,700 American, French and Canadians troops deployed
to quell the turmoil.
French soldiers and U.S. Marines patrolled on foot
through downtown Port-au-Prince, where streets were ankle
deep in sewage and garbage in places.
Many residents of Port-au-Prince stopped to watch a U.S.
military convoy move past.
The streets appeared to be returning to normal. People
tossed buckets of water on smoldering piles of debris and
swept up garbage. Ice cream sellers trundled coolers along
the sidewalks and men pushed carts bearing huge blocks of ice.
But many city slums, strongholds of feared supporters of
former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide known as chimeres
who are armed with automatic weapons and machetes, were
still too dangerous to enter. Many feared reprisals and
there were reports of several lynchings of Aristide
supporters. The rebels that helped oust Aristide appeared to have
withdrawn from the capital's streets, replaced by police.
Dressed in civilian clothes rather than his customary
military fatigues, rebel leader Guy Philippe, who under
U.S. pressure announced he would disarm his army, warned
something had to be done about the armed pro-Aristide
gangs, the chimeres.
"It was too bad that the chimeres (armed Aristide
supporters) still have their weapons," Philippe said. "It
is very risky for the people being the same Haitian guys
are leading the country now. We have the same prime
minister, the same police officers, the same chimeres
carrying guns, terrifying the population. But as I was
committed to the international community to lay down my
weapons as soon as Aristide leave, so we kept our word. Dr.
Paul advised me. We lay down our weapons."
Interim president, Supreme Court Chief Justice Boniface
Alexandre, named a new police chief, Leonce Charles, a
respected U.S.-trained former coast guard chief. The
restructuring of Haitian National Police command was a key
demand of Aristide's political foes. The force numbers
about 4,000 poorly trained officers.
Meanwhile, easing a critical shortage, the World Food
Program loaded a truck with food for an orphanage as part
of a plan to distribute goods to 105,000 people at health
centers and schools in the next two weeks.
"I have been dividing the food a little bit," said
Father Raymond Pearson from the orphanage. "And for two
days they received absolutely nothing. They eat nothing.
Because we have to take care of these other children. When
they're hungry, they cry because they cannot understand
what has happened."
Prime Minister Yvon Neptune has declared a state of
emergency, allowing the government to suspend some
constitutional rights such as press freedoms and the right
to demonstrate.
But opposition leader Evans Paul said Neptune should
not be part of a post-Aristide Haiti.
"It is a problem because it is necessary to find a
person who has certain characteristics," said Paul,
referring to Prime Minister Yvon Neptune. "It's necessary
that that person isn't conflictive. It's necessary that
that person be acceptable for the various sectors of the
country and the international community."
More than 100 people were killed in the rebel uprising
that began on Feb. 5 when an anti-Aristide armed gang took
control of Gonaives, Haiti's fourth-largest city. The
rebellion spread to other cities and towns in the north.
The government says a monthlong rebel uprising cost Haiti
about $300 million, roughly equivalent to its yearly budget.
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