Ja: Powell in Haiti

US Secretary of State Colin Powell pledged yesterday to help Haiti's interim government gain recognition by the Caribbean Community and insisted that no useful purpose would be served by Caricom's call for an international investigation into circumstances under which President Jean-Bertrand Aristide left Haiti on February 29.

Powell, who was on a one-day visit to Haiti, also promised that convicted killers and known human rights violators, who formed the core of a rebel group that helped to oust Aristide, would not be part of Gerard Latortue's government, although the prime minister has publicly embraced the rebels as liberators.

He had been given that assurance, Powell said. "I'm sure, as we go forward, any names that are known to us who are involved in wrongdoing or acts of violence we will make known," Powell told reporters.

That Latortue distances himself from the rebels and put Haiti back on a path to democracy was a key condition for Caricom leaders for welcoming Latortue's government into the 15-member bloc which Haiti joined in 1998.

Did Caricom make any such stipulations to Aristide?