Rebel leader Guy Philippe declared himself the new chief of Haiti's military, which was disbanded by ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, and pledged Tuesday that rebel forces will disarm. Philippe then said he would arrest Prime Minister Yvon Neptune on corruption charges. "The country is in my hands!" Philippe announced on Radio Signal FM.
| "I built it with me own hands, I tells yas!" |
Philippe, flanked by other rebel leaders and senior officers of Haiti's police force, told reporters, "I am the chief," then clarified that he meant "the military chief." He said he was "not interested in politics" and was ready to follow the orders of interim President Boniface Alexandre, chief justice of the Supreme Court, who was installed Sunday. Asked whether he would disarm if requested to, he said, "We will."
| "I am the military chief! I can disarm myself, and hold my disarmed arms in case I need to re-arm ... or summin like that." |
He then summoned 20 police commanders to meet with him Tuesday and warned that if they failed to appear he would arrest them.
| Sure, military chiefs do that all the time. |
U.S. Marines guarded Neptune's office in the Petionville suburb, where Philippe was headed with hundreds of supporters in a convoy impeded by adoring and cheering crowds. Neptune's whereabouts were not immediately known. Local radio reported that he was evacuated by helicopter. It was also unclear whether American or French marines — who arrived in recent days to secure diplomatic missions and other sites — would try to protect him. Neptune is a top member of Aristide's Lavalas party and his former presidential spokesman.
| You have your choices, Neptune -- Panama, South Africa, Costa Rica or the deep blue sea. Don't wait too long. |
In a phone call to The Associated Press, Philippe said Neptune would face corruption charges. The rebels appear to be taking advantage of a power vacuum in the wake of Aristide's abrupt departure Sunday. In Washington, Assistant U.S. Secretary of State Roger Noriega said Philippe "is not in control of anything but a ragtag band of people."
| Is there any other kind in Haiti? |
The international military buildup in Haiti will make Philippe's role "less and less central in Haitian life. And I think he will probably want to make himself scarce," Noriega told the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee. "We have sent that message to him. He obviously hasn't received it."
| "We might have to deliver it on the butt end of a rifle, Senators." |
Philippe, who arrived in Port-au-Prince in a rebel convoy Monday, apparently plans to transform his fighters into a reconstituted Haitian army. The army ousted Aristide in 1991 but then was disbanded by him in 1995, a year after he was returned to power by 20,000 American troops. Some 300 U.S. Marines and 140 French troops were in Haiti on Tuesday. In Washington, U.S. defense officials said the Marines would not act to stop looting or other crimes, but would return fire if fired upon. Commanders of both forces said they also had no orders to disarm Haiti's armed factions and instead planned to secure key sites and protect their countries' citizens and government property. "We are not a police force," U.S. Marine Col. Dave Berger said. His forces were expected to reach 500 by Tuesday night, U.S. defense officials said. Chile also said it was sending 120 special forces to Haiti on Wednesday as part of a 300-soldier contingent that will join an international security force authorized by the U.N. Security Council. |