Covert Action Fails to Oust Haiti’s Rulers : Caribbean: CIA has tried to recruit officers to undermine military rulers. U.S. officials say secret operations will continue.

The CIA launched a major covert operation this month to try to topple Haiti’s military regime without a full-scale U.S. invasion, but so far the attempt has failed, officials said Thursday.

The secret operation included an attempt to recruit officers in the Haitian armed forces to undermine the country’s leaders, Lt. Gen Raoul Cedras, Brig. Gen. Philippe Biamby and Lt. Col. Michel-Joseph Francois, they said.

U.S. agents were authorized to offer money, communications equipment and weapons to “friendly elements” in the military in hopes that their actions would provoke the collapse of the regime or at least weaken it severely.

The officers targeted included not only suspected political dissidents hidden inside the military but also what one source called “free-lancers” who might be motivated by money or a desire for power.

That attempt was only a part of what officials described as a broad effort to “destabilize” the military regime, which seized power from Haiti’s elected president in 1991 and then defied U.S. and United Nations demands to step down.

“We are using every means at our disposal to get rid of this regime in hopes of avoiding the necessity of an invasion,” said one senior Clinton Administration official involved in Haiti policy. “Every means.”

So far, the secret operation has achieved no clear success, officials said. One source said the effort “was too late to make much difference.” Nevertheless, the covert effort has not yet been abandoned, they said.

Defense Secretary William J. Perry told reporters, without referring to the covert operation, that there was still some hope that Haiti’s military might collapse.

“We have had some number of reports from Haiti indicating a fair amount of turmoil in the ruling regime there, among individuals in the ruling regime,” he said. “I wouldn’t want to try to interpret the significance of those reports.”

Another Administration aide said the Haitian military has proven more cohesive than U.S. intelligence officials initially expected.

“We have seen evidence of tension among (the top three Haitian leaders), but it hasn’t led to anything yet,” said one.

The drive to destabilize Haiti’s military was approved by President Clinton, and a formal notification called a “finding” was delivered to eight leaders of Congress, as required by law, early this month.

The finding authorized the CIA to spend up to $12 million on covert efforts in Haiti, a source said.

In addition to destabilizing the military regime, the U.S. intelligence agencies were also authorized by the finding to spend an unspecified amount of money to move Cedras and his colleagues out of Haiti if they ask for the assistance.

The money was not intended as a bribe, but as “transition or departure money,” a source said. He said that the money is still available in a “contingency fund,” in case it is needed for what he called “persuasion or facilitation.”

The Administration appeared to be making a distinction between legitimate relocation expenses and plain boodle.

Clinton has sent several messages to Haiti’s rulers offering a comfortable exile in South America or elsewhere. Officials said the Administration is willing to provide transportation, protection and assurances that the Haitians will not be prosecuted for their actions in power.

But the Haitians have not responded, they said.

The secret operation was launched after months of conventional diplomatic efforts to stir discord in the Haitian armed forces--and after months of pressure from members of Congress’ intelligence committees to try something covert.

But the Administration spent months debating what kind of action to undertake, officials said, and what actions would be out of bounds.

Lawyers at both the CIA and the Justice Department researched a long list of possible actions to determine whether they would be legal.

Among other limits, Administration officials said they were strictly observing a longstanding prohibition against promoting the assassination of any foreign leader.

Times staff writer Ronald J. Ostrow contributed to this report.