The head of the rebels who control half of Haiti said yesterday
that the capital is almost entirely surrounded and that he wants
President Jean Bertrand Aristide tried for "high treason".
Guy Philippe, the former police commissioner whose small force has made stunning gains in a three week insurrection, spending his 36th birthday on Saturday in Port-au-Prince.
For the moment Philippe has a base at the best hotel in Cap-Haitien, the second biggest city in the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.
The port was taken last Sunday but two bodies of Aristide followers could still be seen in the streets yesterday.
The self-styled commander in chief of the rebels has about 150 fighters with him. Rebels yesterday took Tortue island off the north coast to tighten their grip on the north. Philippe's force is looking south.
"We want to capture the president to have him tried for charges of high treason, assassination, theft etc," he said, reaffirming that the fighters can move on Port-au-Prince at any time.
"We are already ready. The city is already almost entirely surrounded and now we are just checking the forces that remain with Jean Bernard Aristide".
Gangs and militias loyal to the president have set up barricades on the main highways into Port-au-Prince and on the main roads in the city, where many people fear a bloodbath if the rebel advance comes.
Fifty US Marines are guarding the US embassy and a small group of Canadian soldiers were expected to help evacuate Canadian nationals.
Philippe said his best birthday gift would be to be present in the capital Saturday to see Aristide ousted. "I wouldn't miss being in Port-au-Prince on that day for anything in the world," he declared.
Philippe has made repeated threats in recent days to march on Port-au-Prince if Aristide does not stand down.
But Philippe also said that "if Aristide goes, that is good. If he goes we will lay down our arms".
"If we have not yet attacked Port-au-Prince, it is to give peace a chance," Philippe said of the international mediation attempts of recent days.
"It is a war that no-one can win. It is the country that loses".
He denies seeking power himself in launching the action against Aristide, belonging to the young generation of elite Haitian officers trained under the current president.
"I don't have any political ambition," he said.
"I am not the political leader of the movement," Philippe said.
"It is Winter Etienne" - one of four main leaders of the National Resistance Front, along with Louis Jodel Chamblain and Butteur Metayer.
France has already withdrawn its support for Aristide and his departure could allow the deployment of an international force of police or troops in an attempt return the country to order.
"It will be a good thing as long as it is not to support Aristide," said the rebel leader.
"Otherwise we will fight them. It's not France, nor the US nor Canada nor the international community that interests me. I don't give a damn. The Haitian people must decide".
"The police is society's backbone," he notes, justifying his struggle.
A member of Haiti's landed bourgeousie, the rebels' military boss says he is no revolutionary but wants to see wealth divided more fairly.
Philippe's first association with Haiti's police came in 1991 when, at age 23, he was sent to Quito to attend the Military Academy, having begun university studies in medicine and chemistry that he never completed.
After three and a half years he returned to Haiti, taking charge of security for the cabinet of President Rene Preval (1996-2001).
He later became police chief for the city of Ouanaminthe, in the east, then for Delmas in Port-au-Prince, and finally Cap-Haitien.
Philippe fled the country for the Dominican Republic in October 2000, accused of having organised a coup attempt against Preval with the so-called "Ecuadoran" group, other of his colleagues trained in Quito.
He was also accused of being an instigator of the coup attempt against Aristide in December 2001.
"That is all false," he said. "Aristide has a grudge against me because he wasn't able to buy me." Philippe said another charge, that he stole $17-million, preventing him traveling to the US, was also a lie from Aristide. – Sapa-AFP.
Guy Philippe, the former police commissioner whose small force has made stunning gains in a three week insurrection, spending his 36th birthday on Saturday in Port-au-Prince.
For the moment Philippe has a base at the best hotel in Cap-Haitien, the second biggest city in the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.
The port was taken last Sunday but two bodies of Aristide followers could still be seen in the streets yesterday.
The self-styled commander in chief of the rebels has about 150 fighters with him. Rebels yesterday took Tortue island off the north coast to tighten their grip on the north. Philippe's force is looking south.
"We want to capture the president to have him tried for charges of high treason, assassination, theft etc," he said, reaffirming that the fighters can move on Port-au-Prince at any time.
"We are already ready. The city is already almost entirely surrounded and now we are just checking the forces that remain with Jean Bernard Aristide".
Gangs and militias loyal to the president have set up barricades on the main highways into Port-au-Prince and on the main roads in the city, where many people fear a bloodbath if the rebel advance comes.
Fifty US Marines are guarding the US embassy and a small group of Canadian soldiers were expected to help evacuate Canadian nationals.
Philippe said his best birthday gift would be to be present in the capital Saturday to see Aristide ousted. "I wouldn't miss being in Port-au-Prince on that day for anything in the world," he declared.
Philippe has made repeated threats in recent days to march on Port-au-Prince if Aristide does not stand down.
But Philippe also said that "if Aristide goes, that is good. If he goes we will lay down our arms".
"If we have not yet attacked Port-au-Prince, it is to give peace a chance," Philippe said of the international mediation attempts of recent days.
"It is a war that no-one can win. It is the country that loses".
He denies seeking power himself in launching the action against Aristide, belonging to the young generation of elite Haitian officers trained under the current president.
"I don't have any political ambition," he said.
"I am not the political leader of the movement," Philippe said.
"It is Winter Etienne" - one of four main leaders of the National Resistance Front, along with Louis Jodel Chamblain and Butteur Metayer.
France has already withdrawn its support for Aristide and his departure could allow the deployment of an international force of police or troops in an attempt return the country to order.
"It will be a good thing as long as it is not to support Aristide," said the rebel leader.
"Otherwise we will fight them. It's not France, nor the US nor Canada nor the international community that interests me. I don't give a damn. The Haitian people must decide".
"The police is society's backbone," he notes, justifying his struggle.
A member of Haiti's landed bourgeousie, the rebels' military boss says he is no revolutionary but wants to see wealth divided more fairly.
Philippe's first association with Haiti's police came in 1991 when, at age 23, he was sent to Quito to attend the Military Academy, having begun university studies in medicine and chemistry that he never completed.
After three and a half years he returned to Haiti, taking charge of security for the cabinet of President Rene Preval (1996-2001).
He later became police chief for the city of Ouanaminthe, in the east, then for Delmas in Port-au-Prince, and finally Cap-Haitien.
Philippe fled the country for the Dominican Republic in October 2000, accused of having organised a coup attempt against Preval with the so-called "Ecuadoran" group, other of his colleagues trained in Quito.
He was also accused of being an instigator of the coup attempt against Aristide in December 2001.
"That is all false," he said. "Aristide has a grudge against me because he wasn't able to buy me." Philippe said another charge, that he stole $17-million, preventing him traveling to the US, was also a lie from Aristide. – Sapa-AFP.
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