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Rebels Nearing Haitian Capital
With panic rising across Haiti's capital and rebels within 25 miles of the city, the Bush administration said Friday that it was still pursuing a diplomatic resolution. Even so, the Pentagon was drawing up plans for possible intervention by the Marines. "We're interested in achieving a political settlement and we're still working to that effect," President Bush said after a meeting with the German chancellor, Gerhard Schröder. "We're also at the same time planning for a multinational force" to provide stability in the event of a political settlement. Mr. Bush reiterated the administration's position on Haiti's president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, which was spelled out Thursday by Secretary of State Colin Powell: that he should "examine his position carefully." That means Jean-Berty's on his own... Richard A. Boucher, the State Department spokesman, said the administration was in "very close touch" with the French government, which has called for Mr. Aristide to resign and has offered to take part in a multinational effort to stabilize Haiti. The American Embassy in Port-au-Prince released a statement on Friday evening calling for Mr. Aristide to stop "the blind violence" wracking the city. Among the possibilities the Pentagon is considering, Defense Department officials and military officers said, is to send a force of 2,200 Marines from Camp Lejeune, N.C., aboard Navy ships from Norfolk, Va., to take up positions off Haiti. But they said such a deployment, similar to what was done to stabilize Liberia last year, could take several days to organize. Take your time... In the gathering chaos in Port-au-Prince, no one could say for sure if that would be soon enough. It's not designed to be... Truckloads of armed men, many in ski masks, patrolled the city on Friday, vowing to kill anyone who challenged Mr. Aristide's presidency. Looters pillaged warehouses at the port, and at least four people were killed in violence sweeping through the city. The bloodshed was set off by rumors that rebel soldiers would soon march in to remove Mr. Aristide by force. Y'might say that when the ski masks go on, the regime's mask comes off. Posted by: Fred 2004-02-28 |
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