THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, October 8, 1994 TAG: 9410080238
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A11 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Short : 35 lines
The United States will shrink its forces in Haiti to 6,000 in four to six months and hand over control of peacekeeping there to the United Nations, a top Pentagon official said Friday.
``We're on a course for a rapid drawdown in our force and a hand-off to the United Nations,'' Undersecretary of Defense Walter Slocombe told the House Armed Services Committee.
Testifying only hours after Congress called for troop withdrawal as soon as possible, Slocombe and his State Department counterpart sought to reassure lawmakers that the force reduction was on target.
Both the Senate and the House approved non-binding resolutions on Haiti Thursday night that criticized President Clinton for not seeking congressional approval before committing U.S. troops.
The resolutions, approved 236-182 by the House and 91-8 by the Senate, required a statement from the president within seven days on his national security objectives in Haiti.
The resolutions also directed the secretary of state to report by Jan. 1 on human rights violations by both the government of exiled President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and the military-led regime that overthrew him in 1991.
KEYWORDS: HAITI TROOPS by CNB