18014: (Chamberlain) Haiti-Protest (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

   By MICHAEL NORTON

   PORT-AU-PRINCE, Jan 18 (AP) -- About 4,000 protesters marched through
Haiti's capital Sunday to demand the resignation of President Jean-Bertrand
Aristide, defying government supporters who hurled rocks at them and set up
a flaming barricade.
   One man was shot in the abdomen when a carload of people opened fire on
the demonstrators. The man, a street peddler who had been on a nearby
sidewalk, was in stable condition, police said.
   Later, hooded men fired on students with a shotgun as they left the
demonstration, wounding two, Radio Vision 2000 reported. They also were in
stable condition at a hospital.
   Pressure has been building on Aristide's administration since his party
swept 2000 legislative elections that observers said were flawed. Poverty
has deepened and unrest has risen. In the past four months, at least 46
people have been killed in demonstrations.
   As the demonstrators wound through Port-au-Prince on their way toward
Haiti's national television station, they were met by a handful of Aristide
supporters who threw rocks at them.
   Security guards and police fired rounds in the air to chase the
rock-throwers away after they broke several windows of the TV building. At
least two Aristide supporters were detained by police, witnesses said.
   The Democratic Platform -- a coalition of opposition political parties,
clergy, students and business leaders -- has called a number of protests
and refused to participate in new elections unless Aristide resigns.
   On Jan. 11, the opposition drew its largest crowd ever to protest
against Aristide, with tens of thousands marching in the capital.
   The opposition has refused to meet Aristide or his representatives,
saying he must step down and be replaced by a transitional governing
council.
   Aristide became Haiti's first freely elected president in 1990, but was
overthrown in a 1991 coup. He was restored in a 1994 U.S. invasion. Forced
to step down in 1996 due to a term limit, he was re-elected in 2000 and
says he plans to serve out his term until 2006.