Latinnews Daily - 28 August 2003

The vice-president of Haiti's Roman Catholic bishops' conference, Guire Poulard, has stirred up controversy in Haiti by publicly expressing his doubts that President Jean-Bertrand Aristide will call free and fair legislative elections this year. The Organisation of American States (OAS) has demanded that Aristide create a provisional electoral council and name a date for elections later this year or 'face the consequences', namely another OAS mission. Last June, US Secretary of State, Colin Powell set a date of 4 September as the limit for Haiti to comply with the OAS demand.