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Aristide Willing to Accept Int'l Police to Keep Elections Safe

by AHP
The government holds a funeral for the late director of the North department of the National Police, Edner Jeanty: the opposition is again accused of involvement in his killing
Agence Haitienne de Presse
Agence Haitienne Presse is an indepedent news agency based in Haiti
http://www.ahphaiti.org to see originals in French


AHP News - January 26, 2004 - English translation (Unofficial)

------------------------------------------------------------------------
President Aristide makes positive comments about the CARICOM proposal for
resolving the crisis: the opposition advocates both dialogue and "déchoukage" at
the same time
------------------------------------------------------------------------


Port-au-Prince, January 26, 2004 -(AHP)-President Jean Bertrand Aristide
indicated that the CARICOM proposal is very similar to the one made by the Haitian
Conference of Bishops in November 2003.

The Chief of State cited several points in this proposal, notably the
establishment of a government with the participation of members of the opposition and
civil society, the formation of a consensus Electoral Council (CEP), the
disarmament of armed groups and the formation of a council of nine members for as
long as the Parliament is vacant.

The president said he is ready to set up the consensus CEP and to implement
OAS Resolution 822.

Mr. Aristide said he is also willing to receive additional international
police officers to join those who are already in the country to guarantee security
for the next elections.

He reiterated that he prefers dialogue among the means of solving the crisis
in Haiti. He said he believes that it is not too late for the political actors
to sit together at a table.

For its part, the political Platform of the 184 said it is ready for both
dialogue and déchoukage (uprooting).

It is planning to hold a series of demonstrations Tuesday and Wednesday to
pressure schools to remain closed and to bring about the departure or President
Aristide.

The leader of this political coalition, André Apaid Junior, expressed
reservations Monday regarding the possible deployment in Haiti of a CARICOM police
force.

He said he knows in advance that this police force will be a source of
support for the Haitian government.

It might have the objective of suppressing the anti-Aristide mobilization,
Mr. Apaid continued. He said he also fears that the international police
officers will help pacify the city of Gonaïves where opposition partisans have been
very active in intimidating the population.

For his part, Evans Paul, leader of the KID (Democratic Unity Convention)
continues to advocate option zero as the only way out of the post-electoral
crisis.

According to Evans Paul, the coalition did not travel to the Bahamas to
negotiate a way out of the crisis. Instead it took advantage of this CARICOM forum
to convey to Caribbean leaders that they refuse to co-habit with the Lavalas
government.

André Apaid Junior also criticized what he viewed as the suspicious and
inappropriate presence in the Bahamas of business leaders Carl Braun and Edouard
Baussan at the moment the opposition leaders were meeting with CARICOM.

Industrialist André Apaid indicated he had questions regarding the substance
of what the CARICOM leaders were discussing with the two business men and felt
that they should not have been present at that moment.

In a document published on the internet, Olivier Nadal, former President of
the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, also criticized Mr. Braun and Mr.
Baussan whom he accused of holding the business community hostage.

Mr. Nadal has been accused of being one of the intellectual authors of the
massacre of Piâtre, and had left the country allegedly in order to avoid
prosecution.

AHP January 26, 2004 12:10 PM

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Some 200 people take part in an opposition demonstration calling for the
closing of schools and the ouster of the current government
------------------------------------------------------------------------


Port-au-Prince, January 26, 2004 -(AHP)- Approximately 200 people including
students and other members of the opposition political coalition demonstrated
Monday in Port-au-Prince to call for the closing of schools and the departure
of the elected government officials.

The demonstration began in front of the Faculty of Sciences in the center of
the capital and followed a route that was somewhat shorter than some previous
oppositions demonstrations before returning to the starting point on
Monseigneur Guilloux Street.

The demonstrators tried unsuccessfully to obtain the support of market
vendors as they passed through areas where their were public markets.

The small shopkeepers at the "Ravine Pintade" market remained indifferent to
the repeated calls of the students inviting them to join in their
demonstration. .

On several occasions in recent weeks, demonstrators from the opposition
political coalition have sacked or looted the merchandise of small shopkeepers,
particularly in the Christ-Roi and Delmas districts.

The demonstrators of January 26 fared no better with students.

for example, when they reached Ruelle Vaillant, about one hundred students
who had just been let out of class at the moment when the demonstrators passed
by quickly returned inside the school courtyard for fear of being assaulted by
the demonstrators.

A number of parents were seen in front of the school where their children
were in classes during the entire morning in various places around the capital.

" We are ready to confront them if they decide to attack our children" said a
woman outside a school on Waag Street.

Four schools were set on fire and stones were thrown at several others since
the start of the campaign to close the schools that was launched by the
opposition political platform.

A journalist from Radio Solidarité who was covering Monday's demonstration,
Assad Volcy, was again threatened by some students who accused the station of
wishing to sabotage their campaign.

The demonstration proceeded without incident under a high level of police
protection. However the students wished to continue their demonstration by
visiting the Faculty of Sciences building, contrary to what had been agreed with the
police.

Some of them were about to throw stones at a group of young people who were
holding up five fingers, signifying their support for the full five year term
in office for President Aristide.

According to various sources, the opposition supporters were reluctant to end
their demonstration without having a confrontation.

On of the organizers of the January 26 demonstration, Hervé Saintilus, said
that there will no longer be any question of negotiations with the police
regarding the routes to be followed by demonstrations.

Other students added that it will be enough to invite the police to accompany
the demonstrators even if another group in society has scheduled a
demonstration along the same route, they said.

Several of them acknowledged that the day's demonstration was not a great
success. They explained that a large demonstration by the Platform will be held
Tuesday.

On this Monday, January 26th, despite the threats, a full schedule of classes
was operational in most cities in the country. However in Saint-Raphaël and
Dondon, in the North of the country, supporters of the opposition Platform
said that they are prepared to use every available means to force school
principals to keep their doors closed.

In Port-au-Prince, considerably more schools held classes this Monday than
previously.

AHP January 26, 2004 2:15 PM

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Opposition sectors reject CARICOM's proposal for a peaceful solution to the
crisis
------------------------------------------------------------------------


Port-au-Prince, January 26, 2004 -(AHP)- Leaders of the initiative known as
the Operation in Support of the December 15, 2002 Resolution rejected on Monday
the proposal made by CARICOM for a peaceful outcome to the Haitian political
crisis that has persisted for more than three years.

This resolution, adopted by many political leaders who are now members of
the political Platform of the 184, calls for option zero (under which President
Aristide would leave office) as the only way out of the post-electoral
conflict.

During a meeting with the press, members of this initiative retained their
original position, that is that President Jean-Bertrand Aristide would leave
office and power would be transferred to an individual who would be named.

The spokesperson for this initiative, Turneb Delpé, denounced the maneuvers
of CARICOM, which is attempting, he said, to force the leaders of the
opposition political coalition to agree to negotiate with the president to extricate
the country from the impasse.

The members of the group say they are opposed to any foreign presence in
Haiti. A group of international police officers is already in Haiti under the
terms of reference that has been signed by the opposition.

In their proposal for a solution to the crisis, CARICOM leaders declared
their opposition to any form of coup d'état in Haiti. Their suggestions include
the formation of a council of nine members to temporarily fill the Parliamentary
vacuum and the deployment of a police force to help maintain security for the
next legislative elections.

AHP January 26, 2004 11:00 AM

------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Prime Minister of the Bahamas describes as "frank and positive" his
meeting with President Aristide regarding the proposal for a solution to the
crisis; the plan has been submitted to the opposition
------------------------------------------------------------------------


Port-au-Prince, January 26, 2004 -(AHP)- Bahamian Prime Minister Perry
Christy said Sunday his meeting of that day with President Aristide at the National
Palace concerning the proposal for a solution to the crisis was frank and
positive. The proposal was submitted to the opposition last week.

Perry Christy indicated that he clearly presented CARICOM's position to the
president and that Mr. Aristide also expressed his point of view and that of
the government relating to the proposal of the CARICOM delegation.

"A strong and democratic Haiti is synonymous with a strong CARICOM", declared
Prime Minister Perry Christy of the Bahamas.

Mr. Christy explained that an invitation has been issued to President
Aristide to continue in Jamaica the discussions already begun regarding the CARICOM
proposal relating to the Haitian crisis.

AHP January 26, 2004 3:00 PM

------------------------------------------------------------------------
The leader of the TKL of St Jean Bosco calls for continuation of the
mobilization in favor of the resumption of classes in schools and universities across
the country
------------------------------------------------------------------------




Port-au-Prince, January 26, 2004 -(AHP)- Paul Raymond, leader of the TKL of
St Jean Bosco (Catholic grassroots community of St Jean Bosco) appealed Monday
for continued mobilization in favor of the resumption of classes in schools
and universities throughout the country.

He said that the mobilization underway for several weeks in support of
learning should not be stopped until classes have been reopened across the country.

Paul Raymond asked the families to continue to exert pressure on school
principals to shoulder their responsibilities toward their students.

He also argued for solidarity between parents in regions where schools are
functioning and those from other regions where the resumption of classes has not
yet taken place.

"It is intolerable that sectors that aspire to acquiring power would advocate
a society without schools and where knowledge is forbidden to the majority of
the population", he protested.

A spokesperson for Fanmi Lavalas, Gilvert Angervil, called the opposition
leaders' attitude "anti-democratic", when they say are against any negotiations
with President Aristide to resolve the political crisis.

Gilvert Angervil asserted that the CARICOM initiative offers an excellent
opportunity to the actors in the crisis to bring the country out of the impasse
on the basis of an agreement.

The former Deputy from La Gonave suggested that the opposition should take
advantage of this opportunity to contribute to a positive outcome to the
post-election conflict.

"In a democracy, everything is resolved through negotiation and elections,
and a democrat must never be closed to dialogue" declared Mr. Angervil.

AHP January 26, 2004 12:45 PM

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Supporters of the opposition Platform kill one person and set fire to four
homes belonging to Fanmi Lavalas in Gonaïves
------------------------------------------------------------------------


Gonaïves, January 26, 2004 -(AHP)- One person is reported dead and several
others injured by gunshots while four homes were set on fire Saturday by
supporters of the opposition in Gonaïves, during a déchoukage operation they
conducted against Lavalas activists in the city.

The opposition partisans, led by fugitive Jean Tatoune, Winter Etienne and
Butter Métayer, declared they are determined to chase all supporters of Fanmi
Lavalas out of Gonaïves.

This climate of violence instituted by the partisans of the opposition in the
City of Independence, is beginning to elicit discontent among the population,
where people say they are fed up with the persistence of this situation.

The people of Gonaïves are calling on the police and justice authorities to
act against the authors of these acts of violence that are causing great
sadness.

The armed men of the opposition have already killed several dozen people in
the City of Independence and set fire to many homes of Fanmi Lavalas partisans
as well as public offices.

AHP January 26, 2004 1:20 PM

------------------------------------------------------------------------
The government holds a funeral for the late director of the North department
of the National Police, Edner Jeanty: the opposition is again accused of
involvement in his killing
------------------------------------------------------------------------


Port-au-Prince, January 26, 2004 -(AHP)- The official funeral for Edner
Jeanty, the late director of the Haitian National Police (PNH) for the North
Department who was killed January 10th in Cap-Haïtien, was held Sunday in the
Auditorium of the Bible on the Champs de mars.

The funeral was held in the presence of the Chief of State, members of the
government, the high command of the PNH and members of the deceased's family.

The Inspector General of the National Police, Evens Saintuné, spoke of the
killing of Edner Jeanty as a great loss for the police institution.

Edner Jeanty was an honest police officer who respected the standards of the
police force, said Evens Saintuné.

Mr. Saintuné promised that an ongoing investigation into this murder will
succeed in solving the case.

The government's Delegate in the North department, Jean Myrtho Julien,
attributed the killing of Edner Jeanty to what he called the armed wing of the
opposition.

According to Mr. Julien, the armed wing of the opposition committed this
crime in a desperate attempt to destabilize the northern region.

He said that initial indications from the investigation prove that it is a
political killing.

AHP January 26, 2004 10:30 AM
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