Agence France Presse

Port-au-Prince, March 13

Haitian Prime Minister Gerard Latortue sought a government of national unity today ahead of a visit by the top United States military officer and ex-president Jean Bertrand Aristide’s planned trip to Jamaica.

Latortue, 69, spent the hours after his swearing-in yesterday negotiating with members of Aristide’s Lavalas Family party, and opposition, business and labour leaders, then said a new government may be formed by Monday.

“We have to see what we can do to save the country,” pro-Aristide Senate president Yvon Feuille said after the meeting.

Meanwhile, General Richard Myers, chairman of the US military Joint Chiefs of Staff, was due to arrive to visit US-led troops and meet with Haitian officials, a military spokesman announced. Feuille sounded conciliatory and said the circumstances of the exiled leader’s departure had yet to be determined.