Aristide Confirms He’ll Step Down : Haiti: President blames confusion about his plans on incomplete quotes. He says he won’t be part of next administration.

President Jean-Bertrand Aristide confirmed Thursday that he will step down Feb. 7, 1996, as promised, and he said he will not accept any official position in the next Haitian administration.

Any confusion created by his remark a week ago that he “would not turn his back on” supporters who wanted him to remain in office despite a constitutional ban on reelection was caused by publication of incomplete quotes, he said. He also had said he would not turn his back on those who wanted elections, scheduled for Dec. 17.

The ambiguity of his statements set off speculation that he planned to stay in office, angering the Haitian business people and foreign diplomats who supported his return to power last year, which was backed by U.S. intervention and ended three years of brutal military rule.

Aristide could not bluntly turn down his supporters’ request that he stay in office and still encourage a process of reaching decisions through consensus, he told a small group of foreign journalists.

“We are building this nation slowly, as in putting pieces of broken glass together,” he said. “If we want a new Haiti, we have to create a spirit of respect for dialogue.”

Aristide said he will not campaign for his party’s candidate, who is expected to win in a landslide, and will not accept a position in the new administration. “I can serve without an official post,” he said.

In a wide-ranging interview, Aristide renewed his call for more international help in confiscating high-powered weapons on the island and for renewal of U.S. aid held up because Haiti’s economic reforms are behind schedule. He said he recognized that his government must still fight corruption within the administration.

Speaking a few hours before he fired the head of the Haitian national police, he said to expect changes in the leadership of the newly formed force. Accusations that the police lack sufficient training and are prone to use weapons too readily came to a head last week when an officer fired on a bus and killed a girl. Her funeral is scheduled for today, and there have been concerns that it could turn into a protest against the police.

*

Aristide also explained the factors behind his fiery eulogy at the Nov. 11 funeral of his slain cousin and political ally, which many observers believe set off several days of disturbances that threatened a return to instability.

“From our information, we know killers were ready to attack priests on Nov. 11,” he said. “I would feel guilty if I did not tell them to stop.”

His voice breaking, Aristide said, “I am president of every single citizen, and I will not tolerate it.”

The only other time that the president, dressed in a black and white tweed suit, showed emotion was when he spoke about the Haitian refugees who have once again begun setting out on boats across the Caribbean to Florida. The first group caught by the U.S. Coast Guard was returned to Haiti this week.

Aristide said he was not consulted about the repatriation and considers it illegal but decided to accept the refugees out of compassion for his fellow citizens.

*

“This is the largest number of boat people since 1991, because despite the peaceful climate, they don’t have jobs, jobs that would give food to them,” he said. “Some friends are urging us to create jobs and at the same time [are] withholding the money that could be used to create jobs.”

That remark was an obvious reference to the U.S. decision to hold up more than $4 million in aid because of Haiti’s lack of progress on economic reform. The government is talking with the International Monetary Fund and World Bank to find a way to release an additional $100 million held up for the same reason.

The economic reform program, particularly the sale of state-owned companies, was slowed down because of popular objections, to prevent unrest, he said.

“It has been more than a month since we do not see people in the street burning tires against privatization,” he said, referring to a traditional form of protest in Haiti.

Asked whether foreign troops should remain in Haiti in some form to support the nascent national police after the United Nations peacekeeping force is scheduled to leave Feb. 29--three weeks after he leaves office--Aristide said, “I would prefer that you ask my successor that.”