PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – Rebel leader Guy Philippe on Tuesday declared himself the new chief of Haiti’s military, which had been disbanded by ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
Flanked by other rebel leaders and senior officers of Haiti’s police force, Philippe told a news conference: “I am the chief.” Asked what he meant, he said, “the military chief.”
“I am not interested in politics,” he said. “The president is the legal president, so we follow his orders,” he said.
Philippe also said the rebel forces that took part in the uprising that sent Aristide into African exile would disarm.
Haiti’s Supremem Court Chief Justice Boniface Alexandre was installed as interim leader Sunday, just hours after Aristide fled under pressure from the United States and France.
Philippe, a former provincial police chief during Aristide’s tenure, has said he wants to reconstitute the army that ousted Aristide in 1991. Aristide disbanded the military in 1995, a year after he was returned to power by 20,000 U.S. troops.
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