Aristide Calls on U.S. Troops to Disarm Thugs, Army Units : Haiti: He says return to democracy is jeopardized. American military is wary of being drawn into law enforcement.

President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, voicing his government’s growing distress, said Friday that Haiti’s fragile return to democracy will be jeopardized if U.S. troops here fail to disarm civilian thugs and army units with questionable loyalty to the new rule.

“You have to continue disarming the terrorists, those who are killing people and still have weapons, waiting for the moment to come out and make trouble,” Aristide said in an interview in the Presidential Palace. “It is not enough to just disarm some of them. We should be moving fast. This is the cry of the Haitian people. It is the will of the Haitian people, and I welcome this cry, and I share it.”

Aristide’s comments marked the first public note of discord between his government and Washington since his return Oct. 15, although he and U.S. officials stressed that working relations remain excellent. In his statements, the president betrayed what appears to be increasing nervousness over some U.S. actions here--particularly concerning the size and role of the Haitian army--and over the Clinton Administration’s plans to turn security duties over to a U.N. force within the shortest time possible.

Aristide, sitting in a sparse office, showed a flash of indignation when asked why U.S. forces, which had arrested many of those suspected of participating in political violence against his followers, have freed some of the most notorious people after about three weeks’ detention. Among those freed have been Max Paul, the former head of the port and a close business associate of former Port-au-Prince police commander Michel-Joseph Francois.

U.S. officials had said previously that those arrested would be turned over to the Haitian judicial system once it is functioning again.

U.S. officials have declared that they now view the Haitian situation as stable. Wary of getting sucked into law enforcement activities they are not trained for, they have stopped searching for weapons.