WORLD IN BRIEF : HAITI : U.S. Rejects Call for New Elections

The State Department rejected a proposal by Haiti’s interim government to hold national elections early next year and again called for international mediation to resolve that country’s political crisis. Jean-Jacques Honorat, Haiti’s interim prime minister, has proposed holding the elections Jan. 5, saying that it offers a constitutional way out of the two-month crisis. State Department deputy spokesman Richard Boucher said, “It is the height of cynicism for those in power in Haiti to claim they are following the constitution by calling for new elections.” The Bush Administration strongly supports a mediation effort by the Organization of American States to resolve the crisis by reinstating ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.