Haiti doesn't need an army says Powell
Thursday, April 8, 2004
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AFP): Haiti does not
need an army and should focus on building a police force that can ensure
internal security, US Secretary of State Colin Powell said in a radio
broadcast released Wednesday. "Right now we
need the police to be rebuilt, we don't need an army now, we need a police
force and I hope that will be the first priority," Powell told Radio Metropole.
"It's up to the Haitian people to decide what kind of institution they need,
that any discussion of an army I think should come much much later after there
have been elections and after an elected government is in place.
"Let's focus on the police force right now, that is what the Haitian people
need, a professional, confident, equipped police force."
Haiti's army was disbanded in 1995, and Prime Minister Gerard Latortue, who
stepped in after former president Jean Bertrand Aristide resigned and fled the
country February 29, opposes recreating the force.
Powell visited Haiti Monday in a show of support for the temporary government.
Meanwhile, French Defense Minister Michele Aliot-Marie will visit Haiti on
April 15 and meet with the country's interim leaders, a French military
spokesman said Wednesday. Aliot-Marie also
will visit with the French contingent in the multinational stabilization force
grouping units from the United States, France, Canada and Chile.
The force of about 3,600 has about 900 French troops.
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