New York Daily News - http://www.nydailynews.com
Haiti asks for aid, says coup looms By BILL HUTCHINSON DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER Thursday, February 19th, 2004 French diplomats were trying to rally a peacekeeping force to quell the bloodshed in Haiti yesterday as the island nation's leaders braced for a coup. Adding to the panic was word that the anti-government rebels were being led by two notorious figures from the death squads that once terrorized the county. "We are witnessing the coup d'état machine in motion," Haitian Prime Minister Yvon Neptune said yesterday as he pleaded for international help. It was revealed yesterday that exiled right-wing militia leader Louis Jodel Chamblain and former Police Chief Guy Philippe, who had sneaked back into the country from the Dominican Republic, were leading about 300 rebels. The rebels have sparked riots throughout the nation of 7.5 million people. Nearly 60 people have been killed in the unrest, which began two weeks ago. The rebels have blocked the main roads leading from the capital Port-au-Prince to the northern towns of Port-de-Paix and Cap-Haitien, where local police barricaded themselves in their station house yesterday. As some officers reportedly abandoned their posts, average citizens were taking up arms, prepared to fight. "We have machetes and guns, and we will resist," said carpenter Pierre Frandley of Cap-Haitien. "The police might have been scared, but the people got together and organized." The rebels, mostly former military and police officers, have accused President Jean-Bertrand Aristide of failing to ease the country's chronic poverty, violating civil rights and using armed supporters to muscle opponents. The UN Security Council condemned the violent rebellion yesterday, and the French were trying to organize a police force to rescue Aristide. "The international community must increase its mobilization" to deal with the situation, said French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin. French Ambassador Jean-Marc de La Sabliere said the push for an international police for Haiti was gathering steam. But, so far, the U.S. has resisted sending troops as it did in 1994 to restore Aristide, Haiti's first freely elected leader, to power after he was ousted in a coup. Secretary of State Powell said Tuesday that the U.S. had "no enthusiasm" for sending troops, but would like to see a political solution worked out.