[ppi] [ppiindia] perang Haiti sudah mulai <--perlu ada penyelesaian konflik dgn kita umat berakal

** ppi-india **
Rebels Threaten Haiti's Capital    

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - Rebels who have overrun half of Haiti seized 
another town Friday, closing in on the capital where looting erupted 
as President Jean-Bertrand Aristide appealed in vain for foreign 
peacekeepers. 

A new rebel group seized Haiti's third-largest city, Les Cayes. 

As the United States and France made clear they think Aristide should 
resign, the rebels freed about 67 prisoners in Mirebalais, about 25 
miles southeast of Port-au-Prince, witnesses said. 

"The police ran. They left everything and went into Port-au-Prince," 
rebel leader Guy Philippe said from his base in the northern port of 
Cap-Haitien. "They left hours before" the rebel advance, he said. 

Philippe said his fighters were within 10 mile of the capital's Croix-
des-Bouquets suburb, awaiting the order to attack if Aristide did not 
resign. 

At Croix-des-Bouquets police station, officers had shed their 
uniforms for civilian dress and appeared to have abandoned their 
guns. They looked ready to run to an AP reporter at the station. 

There was no panic otherwise, with people going about their business 
and streetside vendors hawking goods. 

Haiti's third-largest city, the southern port of Les Cayes, fell 
Thursday to the Base Resistance, a group allied with Haiti's 
opposition Democratic Platform but not tied to the rebels. 

Philippe said Thursday that his movement does not want to fight the 
Aristide die-hard supporters called "chimeres," which in Haiti has 
come to mean angry young men or beasts. 

But in Port-au-Prince, armed Aristide loyalists set up more blazing 
barricades to protect the National Palace, the presidential seat, and 
some fired old rifles and pistols into the air. 

Dozens of roadblocks were set overnight, where Aristide supporters 
were robbing motorists. 

As order unraveled, hundreds of people attacked the port. In a 
chaotic scene, people were looting containers of food, televisions, 
furniture. There were no police in sight. 

"There's a lot of humanitarian aid down there. If it gets worse, it 
could all go," said Wyk Lemke, head of the Haitian Shipping 
Association. 

The international community continued efforts to resolve the 
situation through diplomacy, demanding a political settlement between 
Aristide and opposition politicians before they would agree to send 
peacekeepers. It appeared to be too late for that. 

In Paris, French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin met with 
Aristide's chief of staff Jean-Claude Desgranges and his Foreign 
Minister Joseph Antonio. 

Neither side would comment afterward, and Antonio abruptly canceled a 
scheduled news conference. 

De Villepin, who called on Wednesday for Aristide to step down, had 
been expected to explore ideas for new leadership. France has taken 
the lead among nations in seeking the departure of Aristide. On 
Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell (news - web sites) 
came close to telling Aristide he should bow out before his term 
expires in February 2006. 

"Whether or not he is able to effectively continue as president is 
something he will have to examine carefully in the interests of the 
Haitian people," Powell said Thursday. 

Haiti's rebellion erupted Feb. 5 in western Gonaives, the fourth-
largest city, and on Sunday the second largest, the northern port of 
Cap-Haitien, fell with little resistance. 

About 80 people, half of them police officers, have been killed in 
the rebellion, which was launched by a street gang in Gonaives that 
says it was armed by Aristide to terrorize opponents. 

Aristide told CNN on Thursday he would not resign. 

He also said it wouldn't take much international aid to crush the 
insurgency, which has been joined by former Haitian army death squad 
leader Louis-Jodel Chamblain and Philippe, an army officer who was 
Aristide's assistant police chief for north Haiti. 

"From my point of view, if we have a couple of dozen of international 
soldiers, police, together right now, it could be enough to send a 
positive signal to those terrorists," Aristide said. "Once they 
realize the international community refuses (to allow) the terrorists 
to keep killing people, we can prevent them to kill more people." 

Jamaica's Foreign Minister K.D. Knight, speaking for the 15-nation 
Caribbean Community that includes Haiti, appealed Thursday to the 
U.N. Security Council for immediate military assistance. 

But Powell and his counterparts from France and Canada said Haiti's 
government and opposition politicians must reach a political 
agreement before any peacekeepers go. 

Haiti's crisis has brewed since Aristide's party swept flawed 
legislative elections in 2000 and international donors froze millions 
of dollars in aid. 

Aristide has agreed to a U.S.-backed plan that requires him to share 
power with his opponents. But the opposition rejected the proposal 
and insists that the president resign. 

The Rev. Jesse Jackson (news - web sites), visiting Libya, urged the 
United States to protect Aristide. 

"Unless something happens immediately, the president could be 
killed," Jackson said. "We must not allow that to happen to that 
democracy. We must give the best troops to Haiti to protect the 
president's compound." 

Many foreigners and Haitians have fled the country. 

Americans with M-16s guarded a convoy of U.N. workers and their 
families on the way to Port-au-Prince's airport Thursday, passing 
barricades of wrecked cars, rocks and tires built by Aristide 
supporters. 

Military helicopters of the Dominican Republic, which shares the 
island of Hispaniola with Haiti, ferried people from the Dominican 
Embassy to the airport, which was packed, mostly with Haitian-
Americans trying to return to the United States. 

Brazil dispatched Marines to evacuate South American citizens and 
protect its embassy. The United States and Canada have also sent 
troops to evacuate citizens and guard embassy property. 

"Anyone is going to want to save his own skin. It's a state of fear," 
said a 34-year-old Haitian who lives in New York and didn't want to 
give his name. 

He spoke before American Airlines canceled its flights between Haiti 
and the United States, saying workers could not get through 
barricades to reach the airport. 

Businesses were shuttered Friday and streets away from the National 
Palace and the pillaging at the port were mostly devoid of people. 

Aristide, a former priest of Haiti's slums who in 1990 became Haiti's 
first freely elected leader, has lost popularity amid accusations he 
condoned corruption, failed to help the poor and had thugs attack 
political opponents. 

Haitians were fleeing their country in boats. The U.S. Coast Guard 
(news - web sites) intercepted a dozen small boats carrying 546 
Haitians near the Haitian coast this week, spokesman Luis Diaz said. 

"It doesn't appear to be a mass exodus," he added. 






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