Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, October 12, 1993 TAG: 9310120139
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: From the Los Angeles Times and The Associated Press
DATELINE: PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI LENGTH: Medium
U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher insisted that Haitian military and police authorities permit the troops to land to assist in a U.N. "mission of peace." The U.N. Security Council promptly seconded his demand.
Christopher warned that the United Nations might impose economic sanctions "if they do not meet their responsibilities to the international community and to the people of Haiti."
The Security Council adopted a statement Monday evening offered by the United States that called it "imperative" that Haiti's armed forces ensure the safe landing of the troops. The statement also warned that sanctions could be imposed on those responsible for failure to comply.
The U.S. troops, only the officers armed with pistols, arrived on the USS Harlan County, a Norfolk, Va.-based 560-foot amphibious cargo ship with no combat capability, as part of a 3-month-old agreement designed to restore exiled President Jean-Bertrand Aristide to office on Oct. 30.
However, anti-Aristide forces, including the military that overthrew the president in a bloody revolt on Sept. 30, 1991, described the arranged landing as an occupation and called on the population to prevent the ship from docking.
Although a handful of seemingly ordinary citizens gathered to watch, the civilian-clad demonstrators themselves were members of a group called "attaches."
They frequently carry out terrorism, including murders, at the direction of the military and police.
The three-hour confrontation began with the detention inside the port of three U.S. technicians sent in to organize the arrival of the ship. It ended with U.S. Charge d'Affaires Vicki Huddleston, the ranking American diplomat in Port-au-Prince, being forced to drive away after her armored sedan was pounded on and rocked by screaming demonstrators.
The mob then turned on the foreign journalists gathered at the port's gate, tripping, kicking and pushing them away from the area. Pistols and assault rifles were brandished, as were a few pitchforks.
No guns were fired at the port, but shots were heard in nearby streets as market vendors and shoppers ran in panic. Shots also were fired into the air in an attempt to intimidate two American reporters trying to return to the port. There were no immediate reports of injuries, however.
Although diplomats said privately that they hoped, if not expected, that the army would relent in the next day or two and let the Americans aboard the USS Harlan County disembark, "attaches" and radical anti-Aristide leaders showed no signs of backing away.
Armed men under the direction of known anti-Aristide figures occupied the national radio station. They broadcast calls for more demonstrators to occupy the entrance to the port today to again prevent the landing.
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by CNB