U.S. Presses Skeptical Aristide to Back Accord : Leadership: Aides claim exiled president finds pact too vague. Americans say he has no choice but to accept deal.

A high-level delegation of U.S. officials Tuesday pressed exiled Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide to embrace the terms of the weekend agreement that allows Haiti’s military leadership to remain in power until Oct. 15.

But Aristide so far has resisted the Clinton Administration’s requests, instead releasing a frosty six-sentence statement that pointedly avoided any mention of the agreement and indicated that he remained embittered by the accord, which was negotiated without his approval. The accord leaves his sworn enemies in power for several weeks and allows them to stay in Haiti even after they step down.

Aristide broke his silence with the Tuesday statement, which decries the murder of 5,000 Haitians, allegedly by the forces of Lt. Gen. Raoul Cedras, the leader of the bloody military coup that ousted Aristide three years ago. The statement makes no mention of the landings of thousands of U.S. troops now in Haiti to ensure Aristide’s peaceful return to power next month.

Aristide’s spokesman and political allies, who are potential members of his Cabinet, said the populist Roman Catholic priest rejects a number of provisions of the accord. The exiled leader wants concrete assurances from the U.S. government that his enemies will be purged from the army, that international sanctions will not be lifted until he returns and that Cedras and his cronies will leave the country.

National Security Adviser Anthony Lake and Marine Corps Lt. Gen. John Sheehan, director of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, went to Aristide’s apartment Tuesday evening to brief him on U.S. military operations in Haiti and to plead for his public endorsement of the agreement.

After the meeting, the White House said Lake “stressed (President Clinton’s) commitment to work closely with Haiti’s legitimate authorities led by President Aristide as we achieve the departure of Haiti’s military leaders from power by Oct. 15.”

An official familiar with the meeting described the atmosphere as cordial and productive but would not say whether Aristide expressed more confidence in the agreement than he had up till then.

An Aristide spokeswoman, Leila McDowell, said the Haitian president had no comment Tuesday night on the meeting but will make a statement after a meeting at the Pentagon today with Defense Secretary William J. Perry, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. John M. Shalikashvili and other officials.

A senior Administration official said that Lake and Sheehan tried to convince Aristide that the agreement “achieves the basic objective that he has sought”--the removal of Cedras followed by Aristide’s prompt return to power.

The official said the talks focused on “the big picture here and what will happen in 25 days”--after which Aristide is to be restored to office in Port-au-Prince.

But the official acknowledged that there are aspects of the deal brokered by former President Jimmy Carter that are unacceptable to Aristide.

Aristide aides and Administration officials indicated, however, that the exiled president has little choice but to accept the conditions of the accord.

“Obviously we would like him to support us on this issue,” a top White House official said. He and other officials said that it may take some days for Aristide to get over his bitterness at the accord and his lack of involvement in its crafting.

The deal was worked out by Carter, Sen. Sam Nunn (D-Ga.) and retired Gen. Colin L. Powell in marathon negotiations last weekend. It was signed by acting Haitian President Emile Jonassaint and Carter and ratified by Clinton. Aristide was not consulted on its terms but was briefed after the deal had been struck.

The seven-point agreement does not mention Aristide by name, nor does it guarantee a deadline for his return.

Aristide worries that the accord is so vague that it could give Cedras a chance to delay stepping down from power, Aristide’s aides say.

Jean-Claude Martineau, Aristide’s spokesman, stressed, however, that Aristide does not reject the accord completely and will work with the Administration to try to iron out an effective policy.

“I know that President Aristide will return and put Haiti back on the road to democracy,” Martineau said.

Other Aristide aides said, however, that he may stall his return.

“If the conditions for his return are not right, he will not go back,” said Chavannes Jean-Baptiste, a member of Aristide’s Cabinet-in-waiting.

In that case, the current leaders might attempt to retain power and the U.S. forces would be compelled to force them out to fulfill the Port-au-Prince agreement, said Aristide aides. The de facto ruler of the tiny island nation would then be the U.S. military, a situation, said Jean-Baptiste, that “the Haitian people will resist.”

Aristide aides said that Aristide believes that by approving an agreement signed by Jonassaint, the man installed as president by the military junta, Clinton was recognizing him as the legitimate head of government, a notion Aristide angrily rejects.

Convincing Aristide that the United States had no intention of propping up Jonassaint was one of the goals of Tuesday’s meeting, officials said.

“I think there are some reassurances that we can provide--for example, that we have not, will not and do not recognize the Jonassaint government,” a senior Administration official said.

In his brief statement, Aristide said: “We must remain committed to the agreements that we have signed,” specifically the Governors Island agreement reached more than a year ago and under which Cedras was to cede power last fall.

“He will respect everything he says and everything he signs. He did not sign this (Carter) accord,” Martineau said, adding that Aristide had “a lot of questions” about the Carter deal and was seeking “clarification” on the implications of several aspects of it.

Aristide fears that the agreement will make it very difficult to establish a law-based democracy because it allows the military troika that has ruthlessly ruled the country for the past three years to remain in Haiti and to organize politically.

“These three guys are richer than the whole nation,” Martineau said, speaking of Cedras, Haitian army chief of staff Brig. Gen. Philippe Biamby and Lt. Col. Michel-Joseph Francois, the Port-au-Prince chief of police. “They can disrupt everything. They can finance terrorism. For us it would be the same as if all the Nazi generals were allowed to stay in Germany, recover all their assets and form a political party.”

“They have to leave the country,” he added. “They are murderers, drug traffickers and rapists.”

Clinton used similar language last week in describing the regime, but now the U.S. military is working hand in hand with Cedras and his forces as a part of the deal signed over the weekend.