18314: (Chamberlain) Haiti-Unrest (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

   By MICHAEL NORTON

   GONAIVES, Feb 7 (AP) -- Under a hail of rocks, police pushed back into
this city Saturday in a bid to retake it from rebels seeking to oust
Haiti's embattled president.
   About 150 heavily armed officers inched into the city from the main
highway, aiming their rifles at the side of the road as protesters tossed
stones. Sporadic gunfire rang out, but there were no immediate reports of
casualties.
   Rebels with the Gonaives Resistance Front took the city of 200,000
people Thursday after a five-hour gunbattle with police. At least seven
people were killed and 20 wounded.
   Militants said they wanted to draw the police into their stronghold in
the seaside shantytown of Raboteau. They hid on side streets and crouched
in doorways, many armed with rifles and pistols.
   "If the battle turns against us, retreat," a militant commander called
out to several other gunmen.
   "Look, we're going to get them. We're going to draw them into a trap,"
said the commander, who refused to give his name.
   The Gonaives Resistance Front once was allied with President
Jean-Bertrand Aristide. But the group turned against Aristide last year,
accusing his government of assassinating its leader.
   Discontent has grown among Haiti's 8 million people since Aristide's
party swept flawed legislative elections in 2000 and international donors
froze hundreds of millions of dollars in aid.
   It was unclear how many gunmen from the group intended to confront the
police, but they had popular support.
   "We have placed our trust in the Gonaives Resistance Front. If the
police counterattack, they'll meet with stiff resistance," said Jean
Roland, a 23-year-old resident who wasn't among the fighters.
   On Friday, thousands of protesters marched onto the main highway leading
to Gonaives, chanting "Aristide must go! Too much blood has flowed!" Some
rode in a looted police truck, flaunting stolen police uniforms and
weapons.
   Former soldiers of Haiti's disbanded army carrying heavy weapons
patrolled the streets in support of the uprising in Gonaives.
   At the jail, where the attackers freed more than 100 prisoners, looters
dislodged metal gates and bars. Stores and schools remained shut and
severed telephone lines were strewn in streets covered with rubble.
   Government spokesman Mario Dupuy called the attacks "terrorist acts" and
said police would restore order in the city 70 miles northwest of
Port-au-Prince, the capital.