
                         THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
                 Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, June 6, 1994                    TAG: 9406060029 
SECTION: FRONT                     PAGE: A2    EDITION: FINAL  
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS 
DATELINE: 940606                                 LENGTH: WASHINGTON

PERRY: TROOPS WOULD SPEND MONTHS IN HAITI \

{LEAD} Any peacekeeping forces the United States and its allies send to Haiti if democracy is restored there would number in the thousands and stay for months, not weeks, Defense Secretary William Perry said Sunday.

Haiti's military chiefs have refused to yield power despite mounting international pressure. The United States has been considering sending peacekeepers under United Nations auspices should the elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, be restored.

{REST} Critics have warned that such intervention could last for years, but Perry seemed to offer a shorter timetable on NBC's ``Meet the Press.''

``I can't give you exact numbers of how many thousands of peacekeeping forces would be required or how long it would take,'' he said. ``But it's not an insignificant number, (we're) certainly talking about several thousands of security forces. And it's not a short time. You're not talking about weeks; you're talking about months.''

Aristide said last week that the United States should be ``moving toward a surgical action'' that could topple military leaders within days.

President Clinton has not ruled out military action. But asked whether the Clinton administration is considering Aristide's idea, Perry said the United States is focusing on the economic sanctions it has imposed and on establishing a new processing center for Haitian refugees. ``Both of those . . . actions are under way right now, not military actions,'' he said.

{KEYWORDS} HAITI by CNB