U.S. troops handed off responsibility for security in post-Aristide Haiti to a U.N.-sanctioned international force.

BY MICHAEL A.W. OTTEY

PORT-AU-PRINCE -- U.S. troops officially ended their peacekeeping mission in Haiti Friday, leaving the peacekeeping work to the United Nations at a time when the impoverished nation remains gripped by growing street violence and political infighting.

The chief executive of Air France in Haiti, Didier Mortet, became the latest victim of the violence Thursday when three men on a motorcycle rode up to his vehicle and shot him dead in Port-au-Prince. Robbery may have been the motive, authorities said.

''The availability of weapons and the climate of impunity continue to fuel insecurity and human rights violations in Haiti, as measures to stop this are nowhere to be seen,'' Amnesty International said in a statement highly critical of the interim Haitian government and the U.S.-led multinational force brought in to reestablish order.

TARGETING WEAPONS

Interim Prime Minister Gerard Latortue told hundreds of military and civilian dignitaries at the U.S.-U.N. command transfer ceremony Friday that his government would in time begin to disarm the factions whose violence is racking the nation.

Latortue, who was handpicked to lead Haiti after a bloody revolt helped force President Jean-Bertrand Aristide to leave the country, said it would take the help of the international community to stabilize Haiti as it moves toward elections next year.

But the London-based Amnesty International had harsh words for the U.S.-led Multinational Interim Force, comprising security forces from Canada, Chile and France, and branded it a ``failure.''

Gen. James T. Hill, commander of the Miami-based U.S. Southern Command, said at the change-of-command ceremony that a complete disarmament is impossible but that significant disarmament is up to Haitians.

''There is violence in Haiti and there will continue to be violence in Haiti just as there's violence in other parts of the world,'' said Hill, whose command supervised the U.S. military operations in Haiti.

But U.S. military officers nonetheless called their three-month mission a success.

''To the interim government and the proud citizens of Haiti, our mission is complete,'' said U.S. Marine Corps Brig. Gen. Ronald Coleman, commander of the interim force. ``We have brought about stability, calmed your fears and facilitated the arrival of the U.N. forces.''

Nearly 2,000 U.S. troops -- 1,500 of them Marines -- started a gradual pullout from Haiti earlier this month when the new U.N. peacekeeping force began arriving. The Americans have been loading the last of their gear and heavy equipment onto military transports bound for Camp Lejeune, N.C., home of the 8th Marine Regiment.

Four U.S. military officers and 25 American police officers will remain behind to help the security situation in Haiti, a U.S. State Department official said.

Troops from Canada and Chile will stay on as part of the U.N. force, to be joined by troops from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil and Paraguay. At least 10 other nations have pledged support or expressed interest in sending troops or police officers, said Valerie Mainil-Varlet, a spokeswoman for the U.N. mission in Haiti.

THE U.N. MANDATE

The U.N. Security Council has authorized a force of up to 6,700 troops and 1,622 civilian police. Brazil will make up the bulk of the force, with 1,200 soldiers, and a Brazilian, Lt. Gen. Augusto Heleno Ribeiro Pereira, will command it.

Mainil-Varlet said that getting nations to commit troops to the mission in Haiti is an ongoing process but that by August the United Nations expects troop strength to be at 4,000. She said Ribeiro believes the current troop strength in Haiti -- 1,200 Brazilians, 530 Canadians and 500 Chileans -- is sufficient to carry out the mission until more troops arrive.

Latortue had appealed to Washington to keep a small contingent of U.S. forces -- perhaps 100 to 200 soldiers -- in Haiti, saying he was concerned that armed gangs loyal to Aristide would reemerge once the Americans left.

Aristide is now living in exile in South Africa, insisting that he's still president of Haiti and that he was forced out of power by Washington and Paris. Both countries deny it, but some of his supporters in Haiti recently staged a large protest demanding his return.

Col. Luis Felipe Carbonell of Brazil said his men are as prepared as any army to carry out the mission.''Our mission is one of peace and to deter violence,'' he told The Herald.

Asked about criticism that the U.S. forces were pulling out of Haiti too soon, Southcom spokesman Col. David R. McWilliams said Washington has many military commitments around the world. ''And we have a substantial force replacing us'' in Haiti, he said.