14012: (Chamberlain) Violence escalates in Haiti (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

     By Michael Deibert

     PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, Dec 7 (Reuters) Political tensions in Haiti
escalated with the burning of an opposition party headquarters in the
capital, Port-au-Prince, and the attempted shooting of a senator from
Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide's ruling Lavalas Family party.
     Arsonists set fire on Friday to the downtown Port-au-Prince
headquarters of politician Hubert de Ronceray's Mobilisation pour le
Developpement National (MDN) party, two days after the party had received
threats that the attack would happen, de Rocerary said.
     "We were threatened on Wednesday that this would occur, but the police
would do nothing," de Ronceray said. "President Aristide is responsible for
this as he supports this kind of action, and this is another step by the
government making it clear that he must step down."
     Aristide, a former Catholic priest, was elected president in 1990 but
ousted in a coup months later. U.S. troops helped restore him to power in
1994 and he won a second term in Nov. 2000. Since then he has been mired in
a dispute over May 2000 legislative elections, which has stalled foreign
aid for his eight  million people as the economy has deteriorated.
     Recently, opposition politicians and student groups have begun to call
for Aristide's resignation.
     Also on Friday, unidentified gunmen opened fire on a car carrying
Lavalas Senator Dany Toussaint through the capital's suburban Pelerin
district. Toussaint said that no one with him was injured, and that they
returned fire on the assailants, who then fled.
     Toussaint said that the Haitian National Police, who provide security
to all elected officials and government ministers, had withdrawn his
security detail earlier in the day.
     "This may have happened because I am speaking out on sensitive issues
in parliament, regarding the police, regarding kidnapping," said Toussaint,
speaking on private Radio Metropole. "No one was injured on our side, thank
God, though we may have shot some of the assassins."
     Another Lavalas senator, Norma Forpe, was also rumored to have been
fired upon Friday night, though the report could not be immediately
confirmed and there were no reports of injuries.
     The violence comes in the wake of a a barrage of criticism directed at
Aristide over the disintegrating economy and for violence allegedly
committed by his supporters.
     Government supporters beat anti-Aristide demonstrators in
Port-au-Prince on Tuesday and five other protesters were shot and wounded
in the provincial city of Petit Goave.
     At least four people were wounded by gunfire two weeks earlier as
Aristide supporters set up barricades of flaming tires around the capital
and fired automatic weapons from the backs of pick-up trucks.
     At least five people, including a judge, have been killed in political
violence since November 17th.
     A general strike called last week by Aristide's political opposition
and 15 business groups in response to the violence saw hundreds of
businesses closed around the country.