PORT-AU-PRINCE : A Haitian Test
Lt. Gen. Raoul Cedras is to resign no later than Friday as commander in chief of the 7,000-strong military as part of an accord reached last July aimed at restoring democracy to Haiti and reinstating exiled President Jean-Bertrand Aristide on Oct. 30.
Although Cedras has said he will abide by his promise to retire from the army, he has done nothing to prevent anti-Aristide violence by the military and Haitian police that has terrorized the country for two months.
The U.N.-brokered accord also calls for the resignation or reassignment of most of Cedras’ fellow senior officers, including Port-au-Prince Police Chief Col. Michel-Joseph Francois. Failure to carry out any of these provisions by Friday would seriously undermine the chances of Aristide’s scheduled return.
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