WASHINGTON (AP) --The United States is disappointed with Haitian President
Jean-Bertrand Aristide and regrets that there is little to show for the military
intervention that returned him to power, the U.S. ambassador to the Organization of
American States said Wednesday.

"Any regret that I might have is that we did not make the most of that
opportunity," Roger Noriega told an audience at the Inter-American Dialogue,
a Washington-based think tank. "I think that opportunity was absolutely
squandered."

"We did not expect any kind of gratitude from Mr. Aristide," Noriega added,
"But we are disappointed in the results, that nothing has come out from that
international effort."

Aristide won the presidency by a landslide in 1990, receiving 67 percent of
votes in a process international observers declared fair and free. The military
overthrew him after less than a year in office, and Aristide lived in exile until he
returned to office in September 1994. He completed the remainder of his
five-year term, then ceded power to Rene Preval, who won a popular vote.

Aristide returned to office in 2000 after his Lavalas Family Party swept a vote
that international monitors said was plagued with irregularities. Once he was
back in power, Aristide refused dialogue with opposition leaders and started a
repressive campaign against political rivals, irking the U.S. administration.

Since Aristide's return, "We are stopped in the mud," Noriega said. Aristide, he
said, "is on his way to being treated as a pariah state, if not by OAS, by the
United States."

The OAS approved two resolutions asking Aristide to engage in talks with
Haitian opposition, but Aristide has not responded to them. He did agree to
form an independent electoral council by November 4 for the 2003 local and
legislative elections.

"I have very serious doubts that Mr. Aristide would do anything the
international community has asked him to do," Noriega said. "I have serious
doubts that he would even meet any of his commitments."

President Clinton ordered a military operation to restore Aristide to office
mainly because Aristide's democratically selected government was undermined
by a military coup, Noriega said.

The operation cost about $2 billion, Noriega said. Now, there is a sense of
disappointment "because we got almost nothing out of those $2 billion," he said.

Copyright 2002 The Associated Press.