#4730: No Suspects in Two Haiti Blasts (fwd)

[Robert Corbett <bcorbett@netcom.com>]

From:nozier@tradewind.net

Friday July 28 2:30 PM ET  No Suspects in Two Haiti Blasts 
 By MICHAEL NORTON, Associated Press Writer 
 PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) - A grenade exploded in the driveway of the
Canadian ambassador's residence and police detonated another           
at the former U.N. headquarters as tensions over elections results
mounted Friday between Haiti and its international community.An attacker
lobbed the grenade over a low wall surrounding the residence in suburban
Petionville about 10:50 p.m. Thursday, damaging the ambassador's car but
causing no injuries, a Canadian Embassy official said. Ambassador Gilles
Bernier and his wife were in Canada at the time. Another grenade turned
up Thursday in the courtyard of the former U.N.civilian mission
headquarters in suburban Delmas. Police detonated that grenade safely.
The attack on the Canadian residence was the first act of violence
against the international community since it began questioning recent
election results. No suspects have been named and the attacks were under
investigation. Meanwhile, police increased security for the 15 Canadians
who work at the embassy, Foreign Affairs spokesman Carl Schwenger said
in Toronto.Elections in May, June and July, intended to restore
constitutional government to Haiti, gave former President Jean-Bertrand
Aristide's Lavalas Family party overwhelming control of Parliament and
of most city and rural councils. By law, candidates need only a simple
majority for a first-round victory.But officials only counted the votes
for the top four contenders in each race, yielding what observers say
were numerous false Lavalas victories. Foreign donors and the United
Nations, criticial of the method, have threatened to suspend aid if
Haiti fails to revise the results of the elections.      Japan suspended
$13.5 million in aid earlier this month because     President Rene
Preval, Aristide's hand-picked successor, refused to hold
new elections for 10 disputed Senate seats. On Tuesday, the European
Union initiated a procedure that could suspend a five-year, $200 million
aid package.The United States and Canada, Haiti's biggest individual
donors, have also threatened to cut aid. Canada has given Haiti about
$180 million since 1994, when U.S. troops intervened to restore
democracy after three years of a repressive military-backed government. 
Another $400 million in international loans were put on hold after
Preval shut down Parliament in January 1999 after an 18-month showdown
with the then-majority party. Opposition politicians accuse Preval and
Aristide of working to return dictatorship to this impoverished
Caribbean nation. The popular Aristide is expected to win presidential
elections in November