Decision is an exception to embargo rule

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — The United States will provide Haitian police with firearms and tear gas to aid the fight against militants ahead of elections this fall, the American ambassador said Friday.

The shipment is an exception to the arms embargo that the United States imposed on the Caribbean nation in 1991, U.S. Ambassador James Foley said.

"Given the state of insecurity in this country, the attempts to create chaos, we had to do our best to protect the people from the forces of insecurity and criminality,'' Foley said.

U.S. officials previously acknowledged giving 2,600 used firearms to the Haitian National Police last year to help re-equip and professionalize the force.

Haitian officials have claimed that police are outgunned by gangs and militants, some of whom are loyal to ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Human rights groups, however, have alleged that the force is corrupt and brutal and responsible for unjustified killings.

Foley did not specify the arrival date for the $1.9 million shipment, which officials said will include some 3,000 handguns, several hundred rifles and tear gas.

The United States imposed the embargo in 1991 when Aristide was overthrown the first time.

Aristide pleaded to have the embargo lifted after 20,000 U.S. troops returned him to power in 1994. But U.S. officials cited the police force's links to cocaine trafficking and the slaying of government opponents — charges still made by human rights groups.

Violence and kidnappings are a constant threat in Haiti, undermining efforts to organize the elections in October and November to replace the interim government that was put in place after an armed rebellion toppled Aristide in February 2004.