13948: (Chamberlain) Haiti-Protests (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

   By MICHAEL NORTON

   PORT-AU-PRINCE, Dec 3 (AP) -- Thousands of government supporters broke
up a demonstration in Haiti's capital Tuesday, wielding whips and throwing
stones to drive away protesters opposed to President Jean-Bertrand
Aristide.
   At least a dozen people suffered minor injuries in the melee, witnesses
said.
   Police also fired tear gas as they disrupted an opposition march by
2,000 people in northern Cap-Haitien and wielded batons to break up an
opposition march by about 500 people in the northwestern city of Gonaives,
witnesses said.
   "What is the opposition afraid of?" said demonstrator James Petit-Frere,
21. "We're here to prove we are stronger than them. Even if we have to
fight a civil war, we won't abandon Aristide."
   He was among about 2,000 government supporters who filled the United
Nations Square and drove away a group of about 100 Aristide opponents.
   Government backers encircled a group of several businessmen and women
and threw stones, bruising two in their arms before police intervened to
rescue them. Other Aristide supporters wielding short, rawhide whips chased
away opposition supporters.
   The opposition called for the demonstrations in remembrance of
journalist Brignol Lindor, who was killed one year ago by Aristide
supporters outside Petit-Goave, about 45 miles west of Port-au-Prince.
About 1,000 anti-government demonstrators marched through the town Tuesday.
   "Lindor's death is something that has affected the national
consciousness of Haiti," said Arbrun Alizy, 31, director of Radio Echo,
where Lindor used to work. "He was killed so brutally and there still has
not been any justice."
   Members of the pro-Aristide group Asleep in the Woods allegedly ambushed
Lindor on Dec. 3, 2001, and hacked him to death. Petit-Goave Deputy Mayor
Bony Dume had called Lindor a terrorist and urged followers to chastise him
after opposition politicians spoke on his radio talk show.
   Ten members of Asleep in the Woods have been indicted in the slaying and
two have been arrested.
   In the past year, 64 journalists have been threatened or assaulted -- 62
by government supporters, two by opposition supporters -- said Guyler
Delva, president of the Association of Haitian Journalists.
   Aristide has said his government will not tolerate threats against
journalists, but has also criticized the media for "telling lies."
   Hundreds of mourners remembered Lindor at St. Peter Catholic Church in
the Port-au-Prince suburb of Petionville on Tuesday. Outside, a group of
government supporters shouted: "If Aristide isn't there, who will replace
him?"
   In the past two weeks, government opponents have staged dozens of
demonstrations across the country, calling for Aristide to step down. At
least three people have been killed and scores injured in clashes between
Aristide supporters and opponents.
   Presidential spokesman Jacques Maurice said the government accepts the
opposition's right to protest.
   "We encourage Haitians to demonstrate freely and nonviolently," he said.
   Aristide won the presidency in 1990, but was overthrown in a coup after
less than a year in office. He lived in exile in Washington until U.S.
troops helped restore him to power in 1994, then ceded power to chosen
successor Rene Preval in 1996. Aristide won a second five-year term as
president in November 2000.