
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, October 14, 1993                   TAG: 9310140212
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-12   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Cox News Service
DATELINE: PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI                                LENGTH: Medium

U.N. GIVES HAITI 5-DAY DEADLINE COUNCIL VOTES TO REIMPOSE SANCTIONS

The United Nations Security Council voted Wednesday night to reimpose sanctions on Haiti after the country's military leader said he would resign as part of a plan to restore democracy, but only if certain conditions are met.

Lt. Gen. Raoul Cedras, who led the September 1991 ouster of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, said he will not step down until a broad amnesty is granted to all those - soldiers as well as officers - who took part in the coup.

Hours after his comments, the 15-member Security Council voted unanimously to reimpose the sanctions at 11:59 p.m. Monday unless Haitian authorities comply with the U.N.-brokered plan for a swift return to democracy. The sanctions had been lifted in late August.

The Security Council resolution mandates an oil and arms embargo and the freezing of Haiti's assets overseas.

It also warns of unspecified additional measures, which diplomats in Haiti and in New York said could include a naval blockade and curtailment of all commercial flights to and from the impoverished nation.

The council's action came after armed toughs, acting this week with the approval of Haiti's army, prevented the docking of the USS Harlan County, which is carrying about 200 American and Canadian noncombat forces. They were among the initial members of an eventual 1,600-member U.N. force to pave the way for the Aristide's return by Oct. 30.

Western diplomats in Port-au-Prince indicated late Wednesday that the Harlan County may try again to dock in the capital, perhaps as early as today.

The U.N. special envoy to Haiti, Dante Caputo, would neither confirm nor deny the report. Michael Kozak, a top State Department aide dispatched to Haiti, would say only, "I can't discuss military matters."

In a press conference earlier Wednesday, Cedras insisted he was willing to comply with the terms of the U.N.-brokered accord to restore democracy, which he signed in July only after Haiti was brought to its knees by months of economic sanctions.

"I am ready to resign for the good of the nation," Cedras told reporters at his army headquarters. When asked whether he would resign by the Friday deadline that U.N. officials say he agreed to, Cedras answered only: "I hope."

Cedras did not spell out what he meant by a broad amnesty.

The U.N. accord, also signed by Aristide, calls for amnesty for officers who ousted him in the coup. Diplomats said Wednesday that Cedras has indicated privately that he wants the amnesty broadened to shield troops - not just officers - from criminal prosecution by victims of their human rights abuses that were inflicted in connection with the coup.

Cedras criticized President Clinton, who on Tuesday had accused the Haitian military of breaking the agreement by resisting deployment of the American and Canadian troops. Clinton had especially criticized Haiti's permitting mobs of so-called "attaches" - armed thugs who operate with the consent of the military - to roam the dock area beating on diplomats' cars and threatening journalists.

Cedras referred to the attaches as "patriots."

Keywords:
INFOLINE

by CNB