=?x-unknown?q?16795=3A__Benodin=3A__=5BWindows-1252=5D_Amiot_?==?x-unknown?q?M=E9tayer=2C_the_powerful_leader_of_popular_org?==?x-unknown?q?ani=5BWindows-1252=5D_zations_in_Gona=EFves=2C_is?==?x-unknown?q?_dead_=28fwd=29?=

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

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

Tuesday, September 23, 2003

Amiot Métayer, the powerful leader of popular organizations in Gonaïves, is
dead. Paul Pollyx, the mayor of Saint Marc, confirmed his death on Radio
Métropole.

According to Mr. Pollyx, the head of  "The Cannibal Army" had been
assassinated. Mr. Pollyx, who could not confirm the exact time and date of
the murder, stated that Métrayer's body was found in a place called Bas Gros
Morne near Saint Marc in the morning of Monday September 22, 2003 and
transferred to a morgue in that city.

According to relatives, Métayer -- aka "the Cuban" -- was shot many times in
the back and the head. According to the same relatives, Métayer left his
home on Sunday September 21 in the company of Paul Odonel, leader of the
Gonaïves-based organization MODLIN, and never returned. According to  Luc
Mésadieu, leader of the opposition party MOCHRENA, Odonel is an employee of
the National Palace and his parents left Saint Marc following the incident.

For his part, Biron Odigé, Saint Marc coordinator of Fanmi Lavalas [the
party in power] stated "At last, Métayer is dead" and wondered what the
opposition would do next for it used  Métayer's depredations as its excuse
for refusing to participate in elections [called by the GOH.] In addition,
Mr. Odigé accused the opposition and the international community of
complicity in the murder of Métayer.

Métayer had been "on the run" since he escaped from the Gonaïves jail on
August 2, 2002. Since then, Métayer was known to move about Gonaïves freely.
The opposition and the international community had been pressing for his
arrest due to his involvement in the violence that accompanied the events of
December 17, 2001. His arrest was one of the conditions set in OAS
Resolution 822  as a precondition for establishing a climate conducive to
the implementation of proper elections.