12608: Gunmen attack provincial police station in Haiti, free 159 (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Robert Benodin <r.benodin@worldnet.att.net>

BC-Haiti-Jailbreak,0397
Gunmen attack provincial police station in Haiti, free 159
prisoners
By MICHAEL NORTON
Associated Press Writer
   PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) -- Heavily-armed gunmen stole a
tractor and crashed it through the wall of a provincial jail,
freeing 159 prisoners Friday and leaving the town in chaos,
officials said.
   After the jailbreak in the northern town of Gonaives, revelers
set fire to the town courthouse and city hall, authorities said.
   "For the moment, the situation is uncontrollable," said
Jacques Maurice, a spokesman for office of President Jean-Bertrand
Aristide. "We are reinforcing the police to re-establish order,
but we want to avoid hurting the civilian population."
   Of 221 prisoners in the jail, 159 escaped once the tractor
opened a hole in the jail wall, said Clifford Larose, director of
Haiti's prison system. One prisoner was shot and killed inside the
jail during the escape, he said. It was unclear who killed him.
   The escapees included former army Capt. Cenafis Castera and
street activist Jean Tatoune, who were serving life sentences along
with others for their role in the 1994 killing of about 15 people
in the nearby shantytown of Raboteau, Maurice said.
   A band of supporters loyal to detained political activist Amiot
Metayer were behind the assault, Maurice said.
   Authorities said police retreated from the town as the freed
prisoners took to the streets. Metayer, a former supporter of
Aristide who was arrested last month on arson charges, was seen
parading through the town at the head of his armed band.
   "Disorder has taken possession of the country," said human
rights advocate Jean-Claude Bajeux.
   The band of gunmen struck before noon in the town some 60 miles
northwest of the capital, Port-au-Prince. As automatic gunfire rang
out, people cleared the streets and shopkeepers closed their doors,
the independent broadcaster Radio Galaxie reported.
   Metayer's supporters, who call themselves the Cannibal Army,
have been demanding his release since his arrest on July 2,
blocking traffic with flaming tire barricades and shooting into the
air and at police patrols.
   They set fire to the Customs House on July 8, partially damaging
it.
   Metayer was charged with burning down houses of a rival gang in
Jubilee, another Gonaives slum. The alleged arson took place in
May.
   (Copyright 2002 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)
   APTV-08-02-02 1852EDT