Haiti's council of "wise men" picked Gerard Latortue, a former foreign minister, as the country's new prime minister to replace Yvon Neptune on Tuesday.

While the United States said there is no indication of a humanitarian disaster in Haiti, the United Nations called for increased international aid to the crisis-stricken country.

DIFFICULT CHOICE

The council of "wise men" had submitted the appointment to Haiti's interim President Boniface Alexandre to make it official, said reports from Haiti's capital Port-au-Prince.

"We had a difficult choice," said council member Ariel Henry, adding that council members chose Latortue because they believed he was "an independent guy, a democrat."

Another member of the council credited Latortue with the ability "to pull everybody together."

Latortue, an economist, was one of the four candidates to replace Neptune, who refused to resign after former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide fled the country on Feb. 29.

Latortue was foreign minister in 1988 in the government of President Leslie Manigat and left Haiti when Manigat was overthrown in a military coup the same year. He has since been living in the United States and working as a business consultant. He was expected to fly to Haiti from Miami, Florida, as soon as Wednesday.

The first task of the new prime minister will be to form a cabinet and assume responsibility for the police, the only armed corps of the Caribbean country.

　　UNABATED CHAOS

Supporters of former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide staged a massive demonstration Tuesday in Port-au-Prince to demand the return of their leader.

The demonstrators blocked one of the main roads to the capital with improvised barricades and burning tires. Police forces tried to disperse the protesters, who responded with barrages of pelted stones.

The international peacekeeping forces deployed in Haiti Tuesdayshot at a taxi that disobeyed an order to stop, killing the driverand wounding a passenger in the capital city.

The incident cast a shadow on the situation in the country, where the multinational force assured in a statement that order and security were returning to Haiti.

Marine General Peter Pace, vice chairman of the US Joint Chiefsof Staff, said the Pentagon could send more troops if the US commander there requested.

Pace told a Pentagon briefing that the 1,600-odd troops were within the 1,500 to 2,000 range previously provided by the Pentagon.

"And the commanders on the ground will make sure the secretary understands what they need, and I'm sure he'll provide," he said.

US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said the Pentagon is already working on the follow-on force, a UN authorized multinational force led by the US troops. He said the Pentagon hopes the UN force "will come in within 90 days."

BRACING FOR THE LONGHAUL

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan on Tuesday called for 35 million US dollars in long-term international aid for Haiti.

"Only through a long-term commitment to help the country can stability and prosperity be assured. Half-hearted efforts of the past have been insufficient. We can not afford to fail this time,"he said.

Annan said on Canadian Broadcasting Corporation programs, "We should not expect to do a Band-Aid job for two years or so, and then turn around and leave, only to have to return."

The same day, the United Nations made an emergency appeal for 35 million dollars to meet the medical and nutritional needs of 3 million Haitians over the next six months.

UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Jan Egeland told reporters thatproblems in the already troubled country have been exacerbated by recent turmoil.

"What we saw is that the dramatic events of the last few weeks put the Haitian people, who were already suffering from deprivation and poverty, in an even more vulnerable position," he said.

Humanitarian access is very limited in Haiti, which remains volatile, Egeland said. More than 3,000 prisoners have been released -- and then armed by various gangs -- while thousands of political activists are also carrying weapons. Looting, killing and arson are widespread in the capital, Port-au-Prince, he added.

But the United States appeared to try to dilute the sense of urgency that drove UN officials to urge emergency aid for Haiti.

"There is no indication of a humanitarian disaster. There is ample food in the country from everything we are told. There may be some distribution problems, but neither of those are currently an issue," Rumsfeld told a Defense Department briefing.