13069: Chamberlain (news item): 20 dead, 100 injured in Haiti slum gang war (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

                           20 dead, 100 injured in Haiti slum gang war


     PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, Sept 5 (Reuters) - At least 20 people were
killed and up to 100 injured in a week of fighting between rival gangs in
the Cite Soleil slum in Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince, private Radio
Metropole reported on Thursday.
     Haitian National Police officials were not available for comment, but
residents confirmed the death toll and said dozens had been hurt in the
violence.
     The fighting began last week when a gang leader named Valentine was
killed by rival gang members in a dispute over stolen firearms, residents
said.
     Hundreds of houses were set on fire and rival gangs engaged in battles
with automatic weapons, residents said. Police fired tear gas and
ammunition to quell the fighting over the weekend, but retreated when they
were unable to stem the violence.
     By Thursday, the disturbances had largely quieted in the sprawling
seaside shantytown that houses some 200,000 people. But residents remained
fearful.
     "I love my life, and living like this is terrible," said 22-year-old
resident Benson Louis. "We need to have peace and not so much fighting."
     Gangs of young men have often been used by the government of Haitian
President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and the opposition Democratic Convergence
coalition as paid mobs to demonstrate and burn tires in the streets in
times of political tension.
     Aristide and the opposition have been locked in a two-year dispute
over May 2000 legislative elections that his opponents contend were biased
in favor of Aristide's party.