18285: Walker: Haiti News 2-5-04 (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Edwin Walker <edwinwalker@earthlink.net>

Government opponents torch police station in Haiti, at least four killed
6 février 2004


Caribbean envoys end Haiti visit with opposition sticking to calls for
Aristide¹s resignation
Tourists staying away from a chaotic Haiti
Haiti¹s Descent
Haiti¹s Aristide refuses to step down
Students protest in Haiti while Caribbean envoys meet opposition
Police fire tear gas as violence mars protest in Haiti

Government opponents torch police station in Haiti, at least four killed

Caribbean envoys end Haiti visit with opposition sticking to calls for
Aristide¹s resignation

Students protest in Haiti while Caribbean envoys meet opposition

Police fire tear gas as violence mars protest in Haiti

Caribbean leaders begin visit with Haitian opposition and government to
break impasse

Aristide militants hurling rocks and bottles halt Cap-Haitien protest
demanding Haiti¹s president resign

Mourners of slain high-school student demonstrate against Haitian government

Haitian student shot and killed as demonstrators burn coffin in front of
U.S. Consulate

Thousands of Haitians Protest Aristide


PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti_A crowd of government opponents set fire to a police
station in a northwestern Haitian city Thursday and freed inmates from its
jail during clashes that left at least four dead, Haitian radio reports
said.

Opponents of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide also set fire to the home of
mayor Stephan Moise and a gas station he owns, the private Haitian station
Radio Kiskeya said.

A group known as the Gonaives Resistance Front began the assault shortly
after noon, setting afire the mayor¹s home and then dousing the police
station with fuel and lighting it while officers fled, radio reports said.
At least four government opponents were killed in exchanges of gunfire with
police, group leader Wynter Etienne told Radio Vision 2000.

"Aristide has to go," Etienne said. "We¹ve liberated the police station and
freed the population" from Aristide¹s rule.

The group also set fire to a hotel where police often stay, according to one
witness who spoke on condition of anonymity.

It wasn¹t immediately clear how many inmates were released from the jail
during the unrest, the latest in a series of clashes in the Caribbean
country.
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Caribbean envoys end Haiti visit with opposition sticking to calls for
Aristide¹s resignation
5 février 2004


PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti_Two envoys from the Caribbean Community concluded a
two-day visit to Haiti while opposition leaders insisted Thursday there can
be no political solution with President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in power.

Bahamas Foreign Minister Fred Mitchell and Colin Granderson, assistant
secretary-general of the Caribbean Community, finished talks with the
opposition on Wednesday afternoon, then met separately with Aristide.

Leaders of the Democratic Platform opposition alliance said in a statement
that they used the talks "to explain why Aristide and his government have to
go." The opposition leaders said they would "never engage in any kind of
negotiation to maintain Aristide in power."

The 15-member regional bloc, often known as Caricom, "will continue to
engage with both sides," said Granderson, who left Wednesday following the
talks.

Meanwhile, officials said Aristide renewed pledges to allow protests, disarm
politically affiliated gangs, reform the police force and work with the
opposition to appoint a new prime minister acceptable to both sides.
Granderson said Aristide has four to six weeks to make good on the pledges.
"We will monitor their implementation," he said.

But the opposition has refused to hold talks with Aristide and has said he
must resign, accusing his government of incompetence and corruption.
"If Caricom has its road map, we have ours _ which begins with Aristide¹s
resignation," opposition politician Mischa Gaillard said.

The government and opposition have been in a deadlock since 2000 legislative
elections that observers said were flawed. The opposition has refused to
participate in new elections while Aristide remains in power.

But Aristide has refused to step down before his term ends in 2006 and has
defended his government, saying it has made progress in the Americas¹
poorest country despite many obstacles.

"The government¹s position is that of dialogue and negotiation," government
spokesman Mario Dupuy said. "Unfortunately, the opposition is committed to
violence. The international community should take note of that and allow the
country to free itself for elections."

At least 51 people have been killed since mid-September in clashes between
police, protesters and Aristide supporters.

In the latest protest Wednesday, police fired tear gas and warning shots
after government supporters hurled rocks and bottles at a group of about 100
student protesters, witnesses said.

Dupuy blamed the students for the violence. No one was injured.
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